by Vinny Messana
It was another tremendous season for Smithtown West. They finished the season with a record of 20-5 before getting defeated by Northport in the Class AA semifinals. A big reason for the success was the superb season of junior Nicholas Trabacchi.
On Saturday, he committed to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County–a Div-I program that competes in the America East. I had a chance to speak with the 2017 graduate and here’s what he had to say.
First off, congratulations on the commitment to UMBC–can you talk a little about the process and how you came to your decision?
It was a long process, but definitely an enjoyable one. Everything started to pick up for me in the fall of my junior year. The majority of the schools that showed mutual interest were in my top 10 choices. When the offer from UMBC came about I discussed it with a lot of people that I work closely with like Chris Sipp and Matt Giuliano–who I work with on a consistent basis–Bobby DeMichael and Randy Rapp, who are my pitching mentors, and my coach Paul Parsolano. While all their opinions were important to me my parents and I wanted to make sure it was the right fit out of the options I had at hand. UMBC offered me the chance to play both of my positions and that was one of my goals and dreams that I wanted to pursue at any level, and being able to do it at the Div-I level is an honor and I’m very grateful.
Was this something you wanted to get out of the way sooner rather than later?
Obviously, I would of enjoyed to commit sooner rather than later, but I wanted to make sure I chose the right school. When I visited and stepped on the campus and spoke with the coaches it was apparent UMBC was a perfect fit for me.
One of Smithtown West’s best players in program history, Anthony Gatto, just graduated from there. Did his success there factor into your decision at all?
Absolutely, growing up with Anthony as my neighbor and a family friend I was able to learn a lot from him. Anthony has been a role model of mine since I was little. He was apart of a core group of players at UMBC that took the program from a 10 win season to being able to compete for an America East Championship year in and year out. Not only did he introduce me to the University of Maryland Baltimore County, he instilled in me the drive and work ethic it would take to play there.
You are coming off a stellar 2016 campaign–what are your thoughts on the season?
This past season was incredible. Being able to play with the group of guys that I did was an honor. We had fun day in and day out and no one expected us to have the season we had which made it that much sweeter. We never focused on what anyone outside our locker said. Coach Nucci always made sure we were comfortable. Nick Grande really helped my game on and off the field. We worked together on our own time a lot by hitting in the cage. He taught me how to play level headed and play your heart out every time you step on the field. Also, my off season training at Infiniti Performance took my game to the next level. All of these factors helped take my game to the next level and aided in my success to the 2016 season.
What are your goals for 2017?
My goals for the 2017 season are to have fun playing and enjoy my senior season. I want to keep learning and getting better. Obviously, I’d like to win a lot of games with West and make another deep run into playoffs. I’m confident we can do that with our team.
