WHERE ARE THEY NOW? NICK MASSARI '06

Nick Massari is a 2006 graduate of Monmouth and four-year member of the baseball team, where he played the infield for Dean Ehehalt's Hawks. The 2006 NEC Player of the Year, Massari was an All-NEC First Team selection in 2006 after earning Second Team honors in 2004 and 2005. He was named the 2006 NCBWA District II Player of the Year in addition to being named ABCA All-East Region and NJCBA Player of the Year. He hit .395 in 2006, the sixth best single season average in school history, while his 210 hits still rank in the top-15 in the program. He is the all-time triples leader in Monmouth history with 13.

What have you been involved in since graduating from Monmouth (job, career, etc.)?

Upon graduation I played professionally for the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League in Pittsburgh, PA, but I soon realized that a career path to the major leagues was unlikely.  Fortunately, during my senior year at MU I took a lead role in my Business Entrepreneurship class that led to a full-time position (after my quick stint in pro-ball) with Nanina's in the Park Catering in Belleville, NJ.  I was the Director of Operations for their newly founded Italian food product company and was responsible for placing their products on the shelves in over 500 tri-state area supermarkets. After four years at Nanina's I was presented an opportunity with the newly constructed Diamond Nation in Flemington, NJ. This gave me a chance to fulfill my passion of both business and baseball. I started as the Assistant GM in 2009 and was promoted to General Manager in 2015.  I am still currently the GM and have been recently promoted to Executive Vice President as well.
 
Describe your role at Diamond Nation and how you decided to stay involved in baseball after college.

As the GM I oversee all departments, employees and procedures that make up the day-to-day operations and account for our six major revenue streams: tournaments, in-house teams, leagues, camps, rentals, and sponsorship. In 2020 my role expanded with an additional responsibility as the Executive Vice President, where I direct many aspects of our business development and manage shared service departments throughout several entities.  These departments consist of Marketing, Food & Beverage, and Facility Management, and are shared between three of our ownership's companies: Diamond Nation, HealthQuest fitness club, and Raritan Village shopping center. 

What is your fondest playing memory at Monmouth (game, moment, championship, etc.)?

Beating nationally ranked University of Central Florida my senior year.  We had never beat them before, and it just felt like it gave us the confidence to know we were just as good as the teams down south or out west.  It put us on the map as a program and empowered our younger guys who would eventually take that confidence and go on to win a couple conference titles in the following years.

If you could give advice to a current Monmouth player, what would it be?

Seize the day.  Go play by play.  At-bat by at-bat.  Baseball is a game of failure so no need to think negatively on top of it.  If you are worrying about an error you made in the first inning or how you need a couple hits in the coming days to get back up to .300 then you will most likely just dig yourself deeper.  Play every game as if it is the championship game, where it doesn't matter how you do as long as you win the game.

How did your time at Monmouth prepare you for life after graduation?

Monmouth taught me how to be responsible and accountable for my actions.  Being an athlete on campus you had to conduct yourself in a manner that best represented the name you wore on the front of your jersey.  Leading a team of people, in any circumstance, requires a mutual respect and confidence in each other that together all goals can be accomplished.

Between your former teammates and coaches, who has had the most impact on your life?

As cliché as it sounds, Coach Ehehalt.  He taught us all to respect and take care of the little things which eventually makes it easier to accomplish the big things.  There were times when he was hard on you and times where he was loose with you, but he always got the point across and did it with class.  He was a family guy and was not afraid to show it.  Instilling those morals in us was important because we were all one big family that needed to learn how to live and play together.  Now I can instill those same principles in my own family.
 
Have you been able to stay in touch and follow the MU Baseball program? If so, how?
Yes!  Because of my line of work, it is pretty easy to stay in touch with the coaches and follow the players. Almost the entire team has at one point played at Diamond Nation, and the entire staff attends quite often to recruit players at our events.
 
What has changed the most with the baseball program and the Monmouth Athletics department as a whole since your time as a student-athlete?
The most obvious must be the facilities.  Monmouth has been on an impressive run of updating the athletic venues on campus.  Since my time at MU, they have drastically upgraded the fields and amenities for basketball, football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse.  I am excited to hear that baseball is next on the list!