An all-star catching family.

His oldest brother Chris, the valedictorian of his graduating class and now the assistant strength and conditioning coach of the Boston Red Sox, was an all-star catcher for Dunkirk head coach Frank Jagoda.

The Messinas’ middle son, Drew, was also a second-team all-league catcher for Jagoda and the Marauders.

But Phil, the youngest son and brother who has started at catcher since eighth grade, took the family tradition to a new level the spring.

Photo by Ron Szot Dunkirk’s Phil Messina hit .491 with nine doubles and a triple while driving in 24 runs and scoring 17 this season.

As a senior, not only was Phil a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 West First-Team All-Star, but he was also named the league’s Al Stuhlmiller Player of the Year.

“He fit right in as an eighth-grader. They knew he was the best catcher on the team from the time he stepped on the field. He gained a lot of respect early,” Jagoda said recently. “He gained a lot more respect from the younger kids the last couple of years. He set a solid example for everybody in the program with his work ethic.”

Phil hit .491 with nine doubles and a triple while driving in a team-high 24 runs and scoring 17 for the league-champion Marauders.

Remarkably, in 82 plate appearances, he struck out just three times.

“Phil’s really worked hard. He has a great eye at the plate. … He’s always making contact and he’s a solid line-drive hitter,” Jagoda said. “He gained some power this year. He never hit a home run all of high school, then went to an American Legion game and hit a home run.”

Maybe even more impressive — and important for Dunkirk — was that he caught all but seven of the team’s 136 innings in the field.

Working with a pitching staff that used 10 arms, Phil and the hurlers worked to a 2.68 earned run average.

“He’s worked with all of them. That was a good Little League bunch and a good 13-15 (year-old) bunch,” Jagoda said of his pitchers. “Phil was always behind the plate for those guys. The comfort zone for everybody on the mound and behind the plate, it secured a lot of things. As a coach, you don’t have to worry about who the general is out on the field. He’s a true leader.”

Marauders pitchers struck out 164 and walked 92.

“He has an ability to frame pitches and gain the respect of the umpires,” Jagoda said. “I think umpires are very comfortable with Phil back there. They give him a lot of respect and he gives them respect as well. It helps out tremendously. He calls a great game.”

Phil had 12 assists from behind the plate and committed just two errors in 182 chances.

“For all of the time he did catch, he just had a lot of mental toughness,” Jagoda said. “He does the little things and he takes care of himself. He doesn’t goof around after hours. When he’s done with baseball, he goes home, does his work, rests and does things properly to prepare for the next day.”

All of this came just a year and a half after the Marauders quarterback had hardware inserted in his left (no-throwing) shoulder following an injury suffered during his junior season on the gridiron.

For his offensive contributions to the league-champion Marauders at the plate and for his handling of one of the top pitching staffs in the area, Messina is the 2021 Post-Journal/OBSERVER Baseball Player of the Year.

The son of Dean and Patty Messina will take his talents to Cayuga Community College in the fall where he’ll join the Spartans baseball team along with Dunkirk classmate and teammate Michael Norton.

“It’s expected,” Jagoda said of Phil’s level of success. Nothing surprised us. The expectation level was high and he met it.”