In Luke Masiuk’s baseball world, everyone and everything is connected.
Thanks to his parents, who are his biggest inspirations to play baseball, Masiuk dabbled in various sports at a young age until he decided on the one that made him a Division I athlete.
“I played everything,” Masiuk said. “I played soccer, basketball, obviously baseball, lacrosse and football. When I was 9 years old, I knew that baseball was my favorite sport. And then I kind of just ran with it. I still played other sports, but I always knew that baseball was the sport for me.”
Coming from Trumbull, Connecticut, Masiuk spent four years on Trumbull High School’s varsity baseball team and was named a captain of the team his last two seasons. From there, Masiuk committed to Northeastern University.
In 27 appearances and 25 starts for the Huskies his freshman season, Masiuk batted .250 and drove in 15 runs on 23 hits, hitting one of his first collegiate home runs against his future team, Hofstra University. Masiuk’s second season saw a diminished role for the outfielder, only starting in three out of 15 of the Huskies’ 60-game season. While Masiuk initially committed to Northeastern because he was drawn to the Boston, Massachusetts, campus, baseball coaching staff and a good mix of athletic and academic opportunities, he considered his options for transferring before his junior year season to another Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) school.
“I had a great time at Northeastern, and I wouldn’t change anything,” Masiuk said. “But after my sophomore year, I felt like it was the right time to make a change, and it was a tough summer. It was a weird concept going back to school in two months and not knowing where I was going to be, but Hofstra gave me a chance, the coaches gave me a chance, and I ran with it.”
Masiuk was drawn to playing under major league baseball (MLB) veteran Frank Catalanotto, but it took time for Hofstra’s coaching staff to appreciate what Masiuk brings to the table as a student and an athlete.
“When [Masiuk] came in last year, he was like a bull in a China shop,” Catalanotto said. “He played the game, but his skills needed to be refined. He was a little rough around the edges, especially with his teammates, and we couldn’t kind of make sense of whether we really liked his style or not. And then when he started playing and we got to know him, we realized that he is just so passionate about baseball, and all he cares about is winning.”
When Masiuk came to Hofstra, he resorted more to the playing style of his first season at Northeastern. Mostly playing right field, Masiuk hit .262 and led the Pride with 16 doubles and 28 walks, helping him achieve a .787 On-base Plus Slugging (OPS) during the 2024 season.
One of Masiuk’s most memorable moments of his two-year Hofstra career came this past spring, when the Pride beat the University of Albany 20-0 via mercy rule on March 9. Masiuk contributed eight runs of Hofstra’s total on a pair of grand slams, becoming the first player in Hofstra history to accomplish such a feat.
“The first [grand slam], it was in the first inning,” Masiuk said. “It was a big spot, and then I was really locked in. I had a good day the day before. Fortunately, we kind of ran away with that game. The second one came much later, but, I mean, I was just trying to do my job. Every time I got up to the plate, I didn’t even try to think too much. I just try to do my job. And that was really cool.”
Masiuk was so focused at the plate that he was initially unaware of the feat he had accomplished after his second grand slam, which came in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“I didn’t realize it was bases loaded,” Masiuk said. “But, that was really cool, and that’s a day I’ll never forget.”
Masiuk cites playing in the 2024 CAA Championships as another of his other favorite memories with the Hofstra baseball team.
“The first game [in the CAA Tournament] we played Northeastern in the first round and beating them was really bittersweet,” Masiuk said. “Obviously, we didn’t end up winning [the tournament], but that was just an awesome experience.”
Northeastern made the tournament in Masiuk’s two years with the Huskies but lost in the championship game in both appearances. During Masiuk’s freshman year, Northeastern lost to No. 3 Hofstra in Catalanotto’s first year as the Pride’s head coach. Defeating his former team in the first round of the most recent CAA Championships was just one sign that Masiuk’s baseball career had come full circle.
As for his favorite home series of his Hofstra tenure, Masiuk thinks of the 2024 home series against Campbell University.
“We were kind of trailing behind a lot of teams,” Masiuk said. “But that weekend was a huge turning point. Taking two from them was big.”
Campbell joined the CAA for the 2024 season coming off a 46-15 season, being named the “Big South Champions” and making an appearance in the 2024 NCAA Championships. Hofstra hosted the Fighting Camels for the first time in program history from April 19, 2024, to April 21, 2024, winning the series on an extra-innings rubber game. Masiuk went 5-15 in the series, recording two multi-hit games and driving in a run in game one.
Before Masiuk’s senior-year season, the Pride’s coaching staff named him a co-captain of the baseball team alongside Dylan Palmer and Carlos Martinez, putting Masiuk in a leadership spot akin to his high school baseball days.
“One of the reasons why we made [Masiuk] a captain was because of what he does on the field,” Catalanotto said. “He’s the example, he goes out there and runs every ball out hard. He dives for everything. He plays the game hard. And I didn’t realize that he had leadership skills when it comes to the words he says to the team, and he holds guys accountable.”
Masiuk likes the dynamic he has created with his co-captains.
“I’d say I’m probably the biggest talker,” Masiuk said. “I’m the one getting everybody going pre-game in the huddles. [Palmer’s] the best player on our team, one of the best players in our conference, that’s no secret. And he gets the guys going as well. But he really leads by example with his play … For [Martinez], it’s really unfortunate that he wasn’t able to play this year, but he’s the best pitcher I’ve ever seen, and so we have a good thing going.”
Catalanotto also cites Masiuk’s energy and chemistry with his co-captains as a driving force for his young team, consisting of 18 freshmen who have received so much more playing time in the second half of the season.
“The captains, especially [Masiuk], have taken [our freshmen] under their wing,” Catalanotto said. “I think it’s important, because when you have a lot of young guys, sometimes they don’t know the right way to do things. [Masiuk, Palmer and Martinez] have been so instrumental in showing these guys the right way to do it, and the way that myself and my coaching staff [sic] like to do it and what we expect out of them.”
What was once an extremely out-of-place transfer became a reliable team leader and friend in Masiuk. Not only will Masiuk miss his athletic career, but he will miss all the relationships he made along the way.
“I’m just going to miss the time with the guys,” Masiuk said. “I’ve had such an awesome college experience. I wouldn’t change a single thing.”
With Masiuk’s college career coming to an end, he has begun to consider his post-graduation options. As a management major, Masiuk has prepared himself for a career in the business world, but he hopes that he can continue to play baseball on the professional level, possibly creating more full-circle moments in his playing career.
