Mike Draskin wins Blue Chip Silver Slugger Award

Mike Draskin isn’t just a student of the game. He’s a teacher of it.

When some kids may be playing video games, the Half Hollow Hills West senior third baseman is researching, making comparisons and fine-tuning his own swing to become as technically sound as possible.

The results followed, as Draskin went from being an unknown after he missed his freshman year due to injury to one of the most feared hitters on Long Island. Throughout his success, Draskin never stopped watching film and talking baseball. And on Monday at Villa Lombardi's in Holbrook, Draskin won the Blue Chip Prospect’s Silver Slugger Award, given out to Suffolk’s top hitter.

“The impressive part about Mike is he’s a student of the swing and he is constantly -- and I mean, constantly -- researching and adjusting for the perfect swing,” coach Tom Migliozzi said. “And not only does he work on his own swing, but he improves hitters on our team. I’ve actually picked up a couple of hitting strategies from Mike.’”

Draskin hit .471 with three home runs, nine doubles, three triples and a .750 slugging percentage this spring. He also hit safely in 20 of 22 games.

Draskin missed his freshman season with an injury and after having a strong junior varsity season, he jumped on Migliozzi’s radar. Draskin followed with a strong junior year before his award-winning senior year.

“It’s almost like when you taste the perfect steak and then you can’t go back to ground beef,” Migliozzi said. “So he tasted what it’s like to have a good hitting season and I think he liked it so much that he just wanted to prove he can get better and better.”

And he wanted to share the recipe with his teammates, passing along suggestions throughout the year.

“He made kids on our team better hitters,” Migliozzi said. “He just stands by the cage and works with other kids to make adjustments.”

Draskin will go on to play at New York Tech, where Migliozzi said he will “Rip it apart, he’s going to make an impact as soon as he gets there.” And after that, maybe even coaching in an official role.

“If he gets time in his life, somehow there’s going to be hitting involved in it,” Migliozzi said. “No doubt about it.”