No time to relax for Dombroski

If you thought for just a second that Trey Dombroski would relax for a moment after winning the most prestigious pitching award in the most prestigious collegiate baseball summer league, then you just don't know Trey Dombroski well enough.

No chance that the rising Monmouth University junior - also known as the best 10-day temporary contract signing in the history of the Cape Cod League - would sit still for even a day, lest someone get better while he rested on his laurels.

Not even with the laurels the 6-foot-5 lefty put up this summer pitching for the Harwich Mariners against some of the best amateur players in college baseball. Numbers to the tune of a 3-1 record, a 1.19 ERA including the playoffs, and that silly, eye-popping, 51-3 strikeout-walk ratio in 37 2/3 innings. Fifty-one strikeouts. Three walks.

Not even with those laurels. Not even after a summer that saw Trey shoot up the list of 2022 MLB Draft-eligible prospects, a summer that foreshadows what could be an amazing year in West Long Branch when the fall season starts next week.

"Someone at the Cape told him he had to work on his athleticism," said Johnny Volpe, the Rider University middle infielder who has been Dombroski's best friend since childhood. "So now he's out there taking ground balls with me every day. I go through my three buckets and he goes through three buckets too. Working on his footwork. Becoming more athletic. And then he goes through his whole pitcher workouts every day. He's up at the field 3, 3 1/2 hours a day. Nobody works harder."

Volpe is fond of saying that Dombroski pitches with a chip on his shoulder. The 6-foot-5, 215-pounder has been that way for years, back when he put up video game numbers (he struck out 128 and walked FIVE as a senior, leading Wall HS to the state Group III title) all the way through his time at the Cape, a mid-major arm on a 10-day contract in a world of Power 5 dudes.

Of course this mid-major guy just went on to win the Cape's BFC Whitehouse Pitcher of the Year, which has gone in the past to hurlers like Boston's Chris Sale, Oakland's Sean Manaea, and long-time relief ace Andrew Miller, now with the St. Louis Cardinals.

"It hasn't sunk in yet," Dombroski said. "Just because if it were, I'd lose my drive, my edge to take it to the next level. I don't ever want to lose that edge. Once I think about that, I'm losing what I have, what helps set me apart. I just want to keep on going, get better, and be in the best position to be drafted as highly as possible."

Dombroski didn't get drafted out of high school for one reason - it's a velo world out there and we all live in it. He only topped out in the high 80s in high school. Of course nobody hit him either, not with a fastball that moves like a paper airplane in a windstorm, a back foot slider, and a changeup that is becoming a weapon. The velo played well on the Cape - sitting 88-92, maxing as high as 94 - but it's the uncanny pitchability, the impeccable mound presence, the true ability to put the ball wherever he wants - that makes Trey a bit of a unicorn, especially for a big lefty, the type of pitcher that develops later rather than sooner.

Trey is plus-plus on the pitchability scale only because nobody uses the term plus-plus-plus.

So Day 1, Dombroski went up to the Cape, hoping to do his best to stay for the whole summer, trusting his stuff, and basically just being Trey.

"I said to the pitching coach, whatever you need me to do, I'll do it," Dombroski said. "I just wanted to stay up there the whole summer. Everyone up there is a dude. I just wanted to learn from other guys who were like me. It was something I'll never forget my entire life, something that gave me a bridge to put my name on the map. I went up there with the mentality of showing what I had. I wasn't going to change who I was, just going out there to do what I had to do."

What followed will be talked about for years out on the Cape. A two-inning relief outing, followed by a second relief stint June 29 at Yarmouth-Dennis where he recorded 11 outs - 10 by strikeout.

"Yeah, kid, we'll, ummm, we'll find a way to keep you around for the summer."

Trey didn't pitch out of the bullpen after that. He was too busy shooting up the draft charts. He finished the summer ranked No. 47 on Baseball America's list of 2-2022 draft-eligible college players. Of course, Dombroski didn't need to look very far to maintain his edge - that very article referred to him as a right-handed pitcher.

"The mental side is really important up there," Dombroski said. "You see guys 87-88 (mph) and dominating games. You see guys in the mid-90s get knocked around. That and trusting my stuff. I feel like you put all the work in, go trust what you have. You got here for a reason, go do what you have to do. So be confident in all you have, you just have to say 'I'm putting my best stuff on the line, and I'm just going to do what I can to beat you.' The competition was a step above - playing there helped me raise my level a bit. The game was fast and it looked like a pro baseball game, because like 90 percent of those guys are going to go pro."

His former Monmouth pitching coach Josh Epstein, now in his first year at the University of Richmond, knows that Dombroski's mental approach is a true differentiator at this level.

"Trey is an absolutely uncommon work ethic and attention to detail," Epstein said. "For example, as a freshman he brought things about sleep and nutrition to me that most 18-year-olds are not dialed into whatsoever. Past that, however, he’s a phenomenal team guy – he takes an active interest in helping other guys get better, working with them in the bullpen, doing drills, talking with them. His personality is such that everyone always wants to be around him, and he has really taken on the challenge of being a leader and using his natural gifts for the betterment of the group. It’s not a coincidence that every team he’s been on has won at a high level."

As much as anything, as much as Dombroski truly does have the chance to move up even higher on the draft charts and become (dare we say it) Monmouth's first 1st round selection since Pat Light was taken by the Boston Red Sox in 2012, the chance to win at a high level truly has Trey juiced for the start of Fall practice.

Monmouth had a great regular season but went two-and-out in the MAAC Tournament. Dombroski threw an incredible 7 1/3 innings of shutout relief against NCAA darling Fairfield but then had to watch as his best friend's school - archrival Rider - captured the automatic bid with Volpe himself getting the chance to play hero with a walkoff winner against Canisius to get the Broncs to the final.

Those two are among the early favorites in the conference this year. Dombroski is just one-fourth of a loaded starting staff, even if he's the one rightfully drawing national attention. Dan Klepchick, Rob Hensey, and Alex Barker round out head coach Dean Ehehalt's hand of Four Aces.

"That's all I want, what (Johnny) had," Dombroski said. "That experience. It's a good group of guys and we all push each other," Dombroski said. "We want to win the MAAC Tournament. We want to win a Regional."