By Jacob Infald
COMMACK – Commack High School baseball alum Chris Messina just capped off an exceptional freshman campaign pitching at Division I Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU), which saw him receive the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year Award for the 2026 baseball season.
Leading up to the start of his freshman season, Messina was tested with adversity, and with the support from others around him, he was able to overcome it and feels he is now stronger than ever.
“Tommy John”, two regular words that are nightmare fuel for pitchers. However, this was the reality that Messina faced in April of 2024, halfway through his junior season at Commack High School. Messina, a left-handed pitcher, said he had been experiencing elbow pain for months, and after physical therapy did not resolve the issue, knew he would need to take drastic measures and get surgery for his torn UCL.
Despite getting the diagnosis in April, Messina did not get surgery until June. This was because in addition to being a standout pitcher for Commack, he was also one of their best hitters, batting fifth in the order as their starting designated hitter all season. Sacrificing his rehab timeline, Messina said he loved hitting and knew he had to find a way to contribute to the team in ways besides pitching.
“I knew we were going to make a really good run, and I just wanted to be a part of it, even if it meant delaying the surgery a couple of months,” Messina told The Messenger.
Messina’s sacrifice paid off as later that season, Commack won their second consecutive Class AAA Long Island Championship and Messina was able to have his surgery shortly thereafter.
Messina said he was unable to throw for about four months post-surgery, and it would be about another four months after before he was able to get on the mound. Messina said the early stages of rehab where he was not able to do much were challenging, and despite already being committed to play Division I baseball at FDU, there were moments he did not feel like an athlete during his recovery process.
“There was one day where I was writing in my journal, about three months after surgery and I was just writing about how I haven’t been able to do literally anything, like I can’t move my arm at all,” Messina said. “It was really debilitating because I knew that I had to build that trust from not being able to throw at all to eventually working up to throw max intent again.”
During his senior year of high school, Messina once again played as the designated hitter for Commack High School, and about 11 months post-surgery was able to make a few short starts on the mound for Commack before shifting his focus to doing everything he could to prepare for his first collegiate season.
Upon arriving at FDU in the fall of 2025, Messina said he still had some discomfort in his elbow, and it was challenging to build up his workload while managing that pain. Messina said the support from his coaches and teammates helped him work through those challenging moments where he was doubting himself early in the school year.
“Knowing that everyone else is also battling some sort of discomfort gave me some sense of security,” Messina said. “Everyone is fighting their own fight, and the coaches knew about my injury, so I had time to prove myself.”
Fortunately for Messina, he had familiar faces on the field, with junior outfielder Joey DiMotta and senior catcher Anthony Chiappetta also being Commack graduates. Messina said getting to throw his first collegiate bullpen to Chiappetta was an awesome full circle moment.
In terms of the other pitchers on the team, Messina said he immediately gravitated towards redshirt sophomore Cooper Montelbano. Montelbano’s redshirt comes from a torn labrum he suffered his senior year of high school, which caused him to miss his freshman season at FDU. Montelbano said the upperclassman in the pitching staff his freshman season helped him get through the challenges that come from rehabbing a major injury, and he wanted to pass that guidance down to Messina.
“Ever since the beginning you could see he wanted to grow and he wanted to succeed so I kind of clung towards him,” Montelbano told The Messenger. “He would just always ask me questions, whether if they were simple or just anything about baseball or school…I knew he was gonna be one of the guys.”
Montelbano’s hunch was correct, as Messina became a consistent contributor every Friday, the day where college baseball teams will typically throw their top pitchers to set the tone for the weekend series. Messina led the Knights in strikeouts with 48 and threw 51 innings en route to a 6-0 record, without starting a single game. He embraced a long reliever role, often relieving Montelbano who was the Knight’s Friday starter for the majority of the season.
Messina said he would always have a catch with Montelbano before games, and would go to him whenever he needed someone to talk to. Messina said one of his biggest takeaways from Montelbano was to throw seven days a week, an adjustment for Messina, but one he trusted in and it paid off.
“Knowing that there’s an older guy who’s so knowledgeable and knows how to take care of his body, it was nice to know that people were supporting me, especially him,” Messina said.
Montelbano said Messina’s presence on the mound is what separates him from other pitchers he has seen. He said Messina throws strikes and competes regardless of the opponent and his confidence is obvious to anyone watching.
“He just competed and he showed fire on the mound which he [maintained] throughout the year,” Montelbano said. “He was just a reliable dude, you knew when he was out there, he was gonna do his thing and he was always gonna give us a chance [to win].”
Messina said that confidence comes from a mindset shift he made during the rehab process from Tommy John surgery, saying that once he was able to trust that his body could do anything, his confidence skyrocketed.
“You can trust that you’re protected by all the work you’ve put in, the consistency, knowing that all those reps throughout the year build confidence every day,” Messina said. “That confidence lies in the preparation, so if you know your preparation was good, you know you put yourself in the best possible position to succeed.”
This summer, Messina will have to have another procedure, this time on his knee to remove loose bodies. He said the surgery should not impact his status for next season, and after overcoming a much more serious procedure in Tommy John, he is confident he can overcome another obstacle. Messina said he even has an optimistic approach that the surgery will make him stronger and help to improve his velocity.
Whether it is continuing to throw out of the bullpen or becoming a starter, Messina said he is ready to do whatever it takes to contribute to FDU baseball the next three seasons.
“Coming into FDU, never in my dreams did I think I would actually end up throwing as much as I did,” Messina said. “I just threw strikes, put the ball in the zone and it ended up working for me. My teammates were all for it and I was able to get on the mound every Friday and just compete, and I loved every second of it.”
