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 Assistant
Coach Jay Messina
Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. '77
Fifth season
Jay Messina is in his
fifth season as an assistant coach at Caldwell College. An excellent
teacher of the game, Messina has played a major role in the Cougars’
success, especially at the plate. Since his arrival, the Cougars
have batted over .300 as a team in three out of four years while
leading the CACC in batting twice, in 2005 and 2007. Also, under
Messina’s tutelage, Hasani Whitfield was named the CACC Player of
the Year in 2005 and Adric Saxon led the nation in runs batted in
per game in 2007.
Messina joined the Cougars in 2004 after serving as head baseball
coach at Essex Catholic High School for seven years until the school
closed in 2003. He also has been involved in coaching Little League
and American Legion baseball for 22 years. Last year, Messina opened
Ron’s Baseball Academy in Passaic, N.J., where he provides
instruction for youth baseball players.
Messina graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1977 with a
degree in accounting. In addition to his coaching responsibilities
with the Cougars, Messina works as a certified public accountant in
Bloomfield, N.J. He currently lives in Belleville, N.J.
 Assistant Coach Adam Taraska
University of Bridgeport ‘04
First season
Adam Taraska joins the Cougars’ coaching staff this year and
will work with the infielders. Taraska has been a head coach with
the Team Connecticut Blue Jays AAU program for six years. His
18-and-under team won the Silver Championship at the Fletcher World
Series last summer in St. Petersburg, Fla. They also captured the
gold medal at the 2007 Nutmeg State Games. This winter, Taraska has
been teaching baseball skills at the Fred Hill Sports Academy in
Verona, N.J.
Taraska played baseball at the University of Bridgeport, where he
was a starting infielder and team captain. He helped the Purple
Knights set the school for wins in a season as a sophomore and also
earned the team’s Coach’s Award as a senior. Taraska graduated in
2004 with a Bachelor’s degree in Human Services.
A native of Willston Park, N.Y., Taraska attended Herricks High
School in New Hyde Park, N.Y. He currently lives in Bridgeport,
Conn.
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