By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- His first season with the Bridgewater State University baseball team was spent backing up a two-time All-Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference catcher.

Philip Messina (Dunkirk, N.Y.) had transferred from Cayuga Community College, 30 miles south of Syracuse, N.Y., for the 2024 season and started just seven games.

Mathew Pigeon, who had been in the lineup since 2021, put together a sensational senior season, hitting .392 while starting 35 of the Bears' game and made the All-MASCAC second team for the second straight year.

So Messina watched and learned, getting six hits in 27 at-bats while appearing in 13 games last spring.

Pigeon, with one year of eligibility remaining, left BSU to play at Division I Valparaiso University in Indiana this season, so Messina had the opportunity to win the job as the Bears' starting catcher.

Messina, now a senior, made a smooth transition into the No. 1 slot at catcher, helping BSU win a fourth straight MASCAC tournament championship.

The Bears (30-13) are hosting a four-team NCAA Division III regional starting Friday at Alumni Park. BSU meets Endicott College, ranked third and fourth in the national polls, at 10 a.m. to start the double-elimination tourney.

Messina was selected to the All-MASCAC first team in his initial Division III season.

He is batting .331 (40-for-121) in 34 games with 34 RBI, seven home runs and seven doubles. Messina has had a hit in 26 of the 34 games he's appeared in.

"His production is way more than we thought we were going to get," said coach Greg Zackrison. "He's done a great job.

"We knew he was going to be a solid player. When he transferred in, Matt Pigeon had one of the best seasons we've ever had out of a catcher and put Phil at No. 2. Phil has come back this year and has done an outrageous job and been one of the 'X' factors and sparks this whole season."

Messina hit .380 in 23 games as a freshman at Cayuga CC in 2022 and .300 with 24 RBI in 43 games as a sophomore in 2023.

He was drawn to Massachusetts in large part by his older brother, Chris, who was working for the Boston Red Sox as a strength and conditioning coach.

Messina would come to Boston to attend Red Sox games and visit with his brother, who now works for a sports performance company in Arizona.

Messina emailed coaches all over Massachusetts when he was transferring from Cayuga CC and Zackrison quickly responded.

"He had me come for a visit and I loved it," said Messina, a physical education major. "I'm glad I found it.

"It's a bigger campus but a small campus at the same time. You see similar faces every day, class sizes are really small and baseball, we know how to win and it's fun being part of it."

Messina knew the situation last season as Pigeon led the Bears in hitting and had the experience.

"I understood," said Messina. "He had a great year. It was fun to watch him and learn from him."

Messina stayed in the area last summer, living in Wareham, Mass., and playing in the Cranberry League for the Acushnet Aztecs.

The team included several of his BSU teammates, and it helped Messina prepare to become the starter in '25.

"I didn't have the utmost confidence in myself," said Messina. "I had a feeling of I can do it, but it was whether or not I could go out and do it because of how little I played and how little coach Zackrison and the staff saw me play.

"I didn't know if they were going to trust me or not, but it worked out in the end. It was summer ball that helped. It was getting closer with teammates, playing with them. They realized, hey, you can do this. That gave me a big boost of confidence to play."

Messina started the opening game against UMass Boston on Feb. 28 and then five of the eight games in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in early March. He settled into the lineup and has been an asset at the plate and handling the pitching staff.

"Coming in as a junior college kid, you're feeling your way around the first year," said Zackrison. "Now he's comfortable with friends, the coaches. Just being comfortable and getting the opportunity, he's rolled with it."

Messina did not hit a home run in his two seasons at Cayuga CC, but he is third at BSU with seven.

"I didn't think I was going to do as good as I have hitting," said Messina, who will pursue a Master's degree. "I knew I could hit. I'm more of a line drive hitter. I've never hit seven home runs in a year."

Now, Messina gets the chance to play in the NCAAs as the Bears take on one of the nation's best teams in Endicott.

A two-year stay with the BSU baseball program will be coming to an end for a player who lives near Lake Erie.

"It's exciting and upsetting at the same time," said Messina. "I'm excited to go play in the regionals because I think we have what it takes to win it. But it's also like, dang, this is my last year.

"I wish this was my freshman year. It flew by so fast. I was telling a couple of guys (Sunday) I've never had so much fun playing baseball than this year. I'm so close with everybody. It's awesome. It's been a great experience."