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Chaputian wins Diamond Award in Nassau

BY LAURA ALBANESE | laura.albanese@newsday.com

June 20, 2008

You'd never know that North Shore centerfielder and Diamond Award winner Pat Chaputian is this good just by talking to him.

That's what his longtime summer league coach, Jim Vena, said, and his words are difficult to dispute. Chaputian, a power hitter who led Nassau with 10 home runs in 62 at-bats, is soft-spoken and articulate - "cerebral," Vena said - and attributes his success to others more than to himself.

"I put a lot of hard work into it," Chaputian said. "But I really credit my coach [Dom Gatti]. He put in a lot of extra time working with my hitting. He's one of the greatest guys I've ever met and one of the greatest coaches I've ever met."

Although Chaputian avoided praising himself, his offensive numbers tell the story of a player who spent the year bulking up and striving for improvement. He hit .470 this season with 30 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. He goes to the local YMCA every day to weight train, according to his father, Bob. It's something he began after he hurt himself playing football his junior year.

That motivation, combined with his numbers, was enough to earn him the Diamond Award awarded to the top position player in Nassau.

"I knew I had a good year because I led the county in home runs," he said. "I knew I was up for it but my coach and I never even spoke about it." When he heard the news, he was ecstatic.

Vena, who has coached Chaputian since he was 10 years old, said it's been Chaputian's goal to play college ball, and it was something that drove him to step back from pitching and focus on his offense. "His motivation was to be a home run hitter," Vena said. "He wanted to compete at this level, but he was long and lanky and, as he bulked up, he just became a better hitter."

The strategy worked. This fall, Chaputian, who is 6-3 and about 220 pounds, will be playing on an athletic and academic scholarship at Pace. He was Pace's top recruit.

Chaputian emerged as a leader at North Shore. He isn't vocal, Gatti said, but leads by example. "He's very unassuming in his nature and the team took on his personality," Gatti said. "There's no complaining, no nonsense, just work."

Vena added that between Chaputian and his own son, James Vena (the Vikings' promising shortstop), "they were driving me crazy."

"Everyone knew that they were the best two players but they were so quietly competitive that they would never criticize another player or get on another player," he said. "Rather than being vocal, Pat would just put the team on his shoulders and try to make up for the mistakes."

Chaputian has earned an All-County selection for his trouble, in addition to being named one of the Golden Nine, the equivalent of conference MVP. While he's reticent to speak about his prospects, his coaches are ready to do it for him. If he continues on his current trajectory, Vena said, he might even make it to the major leagues.

"He's going to go far no matter what he does in his life," Vena said. "He's a diamond in the rough and that's difficult to say, because he is so good, but I don't think we've seen anywhere close to the best of Pat Chaputian."