Frank Valentino (NYIT ’17) has extended his baseball career for at least another season as he signed a pro contract with the Florence Freedom of the Frontier League. The 23-year-old RHP attended West Islip HS and graduated in 2013.
Last season, he played with the Vallejo Admirals in the Pacific Association, going 5-8 with 5.05 ERA and striking out 92 in 98 innings in 16 starts. The 6’3″ RHP has a low-to-mid 90s fastball which helped him dominate at Suffolk CC before transferring to NYIT and leading the rotation for two seasons along with fellow RHPs Elias Martinez and Matt Diaz.
During his senior year, he suffered from some extremely difficult luck. His seasons defied all logic by going winless at 0-9, despite pitching two complete games and pitching deep into every game. Regardless, his combination of size, velocity and command was enough to garner the attention of scouts and we invited him to participate in the 2017 Axcess Baseball Battle of the Border. He performed well enough and was able to parlay that into his first professional contract.
He is the 64th player in program history to sign a pro contract and the second from the 2017 graduating class (Louis Mele).
His brother is a 2017 graduate of West Islip and is currently pitching at Suffolk CC.
