I received an e-mail from Stephen Green (above) of John Jay yesterday saying he had committed to pitch at Boston College. Green makes Section 1’s big three from 2010 into a big four. Seriously, has the Section 1 recruiting period ever kicked off with a bigger bang? Four players are headed to major-college programs.

Green and I spoke last night and I will have a story for tomorrow’s paper. He went to visit four schools (Fordham, Penn State and St. John’s being the others) but decided he liked BC the best.

Green actually visited to BC in February and made his ultimate decision back in May, after the Eagles had dispatched coaches to watch him pitch twice, once against Somers and another time against Greeley.

“”I wanted to stay in the Northeast, and I wanted a good academic school that also had good sports and it had that,” Green said. “I didn’t really know anything about it (in February). I just wanted to see what it looked like. It seemed like the best one I saw.”

I asked the hard-throwing southpaw about his arm. As you probably know, he missed the second part of sophomore year with a sore shoulder and more than three weeks late this season with a sore elbow. Green returned to earn the save over Suffern on May 30. He said he was healthy ever since, and pitched the entire summer for the Taconic Rangers.

Green hit as high as 91 on the gun down at the big tournament in East Cobb, Ga.

“My arm feels good now,” he said.

Good news to report on former Stepinac pitcher Pat Massaroni. Two family friends told me the 21-year-old was released from the hospital today and home, resting comfortably in White Plains.

Massaroni, who was a hero in a Jersey Shore in an early-morning house fire on July 19, suffered burns to his hands, face and neck. He was flown via helicopter to the burn center in Livingston, N.J. shortly after the fire. He was improving last week, and was eventually taken off a respirator, from what friends had told me.

(Also, here is a first-hand account of the fire.)

Pat has received well-wishes from a number of people in the area, even from Keith Hernandez during a Mets telecast on SNY last week. (Pat worked as an intern for the Mets this summer.) With all the interest in his story, I just wanted to keep everyone up to date.

We will have a full story on Mike Rosenfeld (right) and his decision to commit to Duke in tomorrow’s paper. For now, I just wanted to pass along the gist of the conversation I had with him this afternoon.

1. He felt at ease with Duke coach Sean McNally. And why not? McNally is a Westchester guy who made it as a player and a coach down South. Rosenfeld was even impressed when he found out McNally once hit in the Mamaroneck basement of Ralph Vasami, who has leant his hitting cauldron to Rosenfeld as well. Rosenfeld said he felt more of a “connection” to McNally than any of the coaches he spoke to.

2. Nearly 30 schools were involved. Since July 1, Rosenfeld, by his estimate, fielded calls from nearly 30 schools. Six, including Duke, made formal offers. He declined to name them, but said he heard from schools in the Pac-10, ACC, Big East, SEC and Ivy League. I don’t think I’m being presumptuous to speculate that Stanford was among them.

3. The location played a major role. Rosenfeld flew down to and back from Duke in one day. It was an hour and 10-minute flight. Compared to others he visited, it was nothing. (McNally and his coaches also took him on the court at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the home of Duke basketball, which he called “a nice recruiting point. True that.)

— I will have a few other commitments soon, possibly as soon as this week, so stay tuned.

— As always, send me your college commitments. E-mail me at JTHOMSON@lohud.com.

Here’s a few quick thoughts from Ryan Pennell. I never followed through yesterday after I spoke to him.

First off, he had around 10 offers total, including St. John’s and Duke. Some of the others I had mentioned did not make offers as formal, but had expressed heavy interest (Wake, Louisville, etc.). He was very impressed by Elon’s determination. The Phoenix seemed to be everywhere he pitched this summer, and their efforts did not go unnoticed by the Pennell clan.

“Every game I pitched, they were there, which helped a lot,” said Pennell, who will join former Pleasantville pitcher Ken Ferrer and Stepinac slugger Alex Maruri at Elon. “It showed they were very interested. No matter where it was, whether it was in Virginia or Georgia, they were there.”

Pennell made his decision, in part, because he knew all the offers wouldn’t last forever. Although he was sought after, he believed the time to strike had arrived. “It seemed like the perfect opportunity at the right time.”

For the full story, read what I wrote about Pennell for today’s paper.

Mamaroneck catcher Mike Rosenfeld became the third member of the LoHud’s Big Three (2010 edition) to decide where he’ll play ball in college. The senior slugger has picked Duke, where he’ll join head coach Sean McNally, the Rye High School product.

I’m scheduled to talk to Rosenfeld later today and I will check back in with his thoughts afterward. Why did he pick Duke? What other schools offered? Was he close anywhere else, etc.?

As always, if you’re a senior-to-be and you picked a school, shoot me an email and let me know. E-mail: jthomson@LoHud.com

A few days ago I wrote about the spirited chase for Ryan Pennell. It appears the Rye Neck star has ended that chase, choosing to pitch for Elon.

I confirmed it earlier tonight with Pennell, who had received offers from more than 10 schools since July 1.

I’ll have more from Pennell about his decision tomorrow.

One part of research that was a little lost in Tuesday’s Behind the Scenes story is the fact that the recruitment of Ryan Pennell (above) has really exploded in the last three weeks. I wanted to provide a little more detail on Pennell here.

1. Pennell has received nearly a dozen offers already. And they are not from podunk programs. I was told Pennell has received offers from: Wake Forest, Louisville, Michigan, Duke, Jacksonville, Coastal Carolina, High Point, Elon, Winthrop, and Manhattan.

2. LSU is in the mix. And, as I mentioned in the story, the defending national champ has dispatched a key member of its staff to watch the Rye Neck senior-to-be pitch a couple times. All signs point to the Tigers liking him, too.

3. His phone has been busy. Pennell has been besieged by calls since the latest recruiting period began on July 1. It has actually made the process more complicated than he originally anticipated. “It’s pretty overwhelming,” he said.

4. He could end up anywhere. His coach, Joe Mercurio, told me Pennell won’t necessarily end up at the highest-level program available to him. Baseball, of course, is different than basketball or football. Every offer is different. A smaller program may offer him close to a 100 percent scholarship. A larger program may be half as much. As with any star player, don’t read the list of colleges and think any program is out of the picture.

5. Pennell hopes to decide in the next six weeks, but… . As the lefty tries to wrap his mind around the numerous opportunities, the choice grows more and more difficult. Here’s what he said about making a final decision: “I wanted to make a decision by around when school starts, but I don’t want to rush it.”

Many of you have asked for more on the summer baseball circuit. It isn’t exactly results, but I delved into the topic for a story in today’s paper. There are various levels a player can choose to play summer ball now. Some teams are nearly free. Others can cost upwards of $3-4-5,000. But it’s safe to say the more major tournaments a player competes in, the more looks he will get from scouts.

Indeed, showcases and major showcase tournaments have changed summer baseball forever, it seems. The story takes a look at how.

Read about the interesting case of Pat Farina, who went from a player with few, if any, options to one with $40,000 in scholarship money.

I’ll have more either later today or tomorrow on the recruitment of Ryan Pennell, who has been besieged by phone calls from colleges since July 1.

If you know Pat Massaroni (left) at least a little, and I do, you know, at minimum, these three things about him: 1. He loves baseball; 2. He loves local sports (Stepinac in particular); and 3. He doesn’t have a bad bone in his body.

Unfortunately, his life took a terrible turn yesterday. I received an e-mail this morning from Stepinac AD Mike O’Donnell. Reportedly, Massaroni, a 21-year-old former Stepinac pitcher, was one of nine people caught in a house fire Sunday morning on the Jersey Shore and was severely hurt.

Reports said he was the most severely injured of all the victims. He reportedly suffered severe burns and was airlifted to the burn center in Livingston, N.J. from the house in Toms River where he spent the night. He and other had been there for a 21st birthday party.

Massaroni was listed in critical condition on Sunday. You can read more about this terrible story here, here and here.

I know many of you out there know Pat, so I wanted to pass along the news. I hope everyone keeps Pat in their thoughts. Here’s hoping for his speedy recovery.

I talked to Suffern star Robbie Aviles earlier tonight and we discussed a few things, including: 1. His college choice and 2. His (fractured) pitching hand. Here are the updates…

— Aviles has committed to the University of Florida. The rumors are true. The hard-throwing right-hander chose Florida. I asked him why and he told me he always liked the school. He rooted for the Gators in football and basketball and knew they had a strong baseball program. His father, Brian, looked into it and told Robbie he approved of head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, who is from Goshen, and how the Gators handle their pitchers. The rest is now history.

“They were always my No. 1 option,” Aviles said.

He received interest from several other powerhouses, schools like Clemson, South Carolina and UNC. He told me he was “100 percent committed to Florida,” and that he expects to make an official visit this fall during the World Wood Bat Championship in Jupiter, Fla.

— Aviles’ hand is healed. As you may’ve read, he suffered a fracture in his hand. It was his pitching hand, and he told me he suffered the injury playing pickup basketball with his friends. He missed a few weeks but returned two weeks ago. He pitched in a tournament recently for the Rockland Astros.

“Now I’m building up my arm and doing whatever I can,” Aviles said.

I’ll have more on Aviles on Thursday.