Matt Hobgood’s favorite class is photography.
“I get to use my imagination in deciding how to turn a photo of an ordinary object into something unique,” he said.
That same eye for detail and imagination has helped the Norco (Calif.) senior pitcher and first baseman to become one of the most unique players in the nation and a projected first-round pick in next month’s amateur draft.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound right-hander is the No. 6 player in the Class of 2009 as selected by MaxPreps Baseball editor Kevin Askeland.
Hobgood is a combined 19-0 the last two seasons.
Photo by John Downey
After being selected the
Los Angeles Times’ Player of the Year in 2008, Hobgood has backed it up with another monster season with a .462 batting average (42 of 91) with nine doubles, 49 RBI and a whopping 18 home runs, which is tied for second in the country and first in the state for those teams who enter statistics at MaxPreps.com.
On the mound, where his career will apparently play out, he is 9-0 with a scant 0.38 ERA. Buoyed by a fastball clocked at 96 mph, Hobgood has struck out 84 batters and walked just 19 in 55 innings.
Even he wondered if he could match last year’s remarkable season when he was 10-0 with 98 strikeouts and a 1.34 ERA. At the plate, he hit .489 with 45 RBIs and 15 home runs.
He’ll have more chances to pad his stats this season as Norco (23-4), ranked 14th in the state by MaxPreps, opens Southern Section Division I playoff action Friday against Tuesday’s Brea Olinda-Moorpark winner.
More than his gaudy statistics or acclaim, Hobgood is hell bent on playing at Angels Stadium on June 6, site of the championship game.
“I just want to win a CIF championship with my teammates who I’ve been with all through high school,” Hobgood said. “I think we have a legitimate chance to win (the title). We have one of the best pitching staffs in California and batting well as a team also.”
Norco coach Gary Parcell said his big ace and top power hitter is the perfect player to lead the Cougars to the Section title.
“When a game (or situation) is close, Matt always has another level to go to,” he said. “He practices like he plays the game: hard and with passion.”
That passion, route to stardom and roots of creativity began as an 8-year-old when he’d take pieces of paper and bat tape and make a strike zone on a block wall next to the family’s garage.
“I would throw the ball against the wall for hours on end,” he said.
To work on his hitting, he’d take a bucket and bat to a local park and blast ball after ball from one end of the field to the other - fungo style.
All the while he’d imagine himself as a big league pitcher or hitter, leading his favorite team, the Boston Red Sox, to a then vastly elusive title.
That drive and vision has always been a part of Hobgood, who said his mental makeup and competitive nature is what help sets him apart.
“I go out every time with the intention of throwing a perfect game,” he said. “If things get tough, I take up another level to get the job done.”
Things got very tough for Hobgood — and his family — at a very tender age.
Matt was only six when his father Rick was diagnosed with colon cancer. He died in January 2005 and Matt, his mother Becky and four sisters moved from Arizona back to Norco where Becky graduated from high school.
Rick Hobgood was too weak to practice with his son most of the time, but he definitely guided him in the right direction.
“My dad thought I might actually have some talent for the game, so my parents decided to sign me up for baseball,” Matt said.
He also taught his son not to be a follower and not cave in to peer pressure. All have been vital — along with the mentorship of family friend Dave Wood — in the development of Hobgood, who has taken the culture of the game and made it a way of life.
He tells aspiring players to “Work hard and don’t quit. Things aren’t always going to go well for you, but baseball is a game of failures, and if you can learn to deal with those failures, you will allow yourself to be the best player you can be.”
A physical injury set Hobgood back just before his freshman year when he broke his ankle near the end of the basketball season.
He healed quickly, made the varsity team and in the team’s final league game that year, actually got to start.
“It was against Centennial and I remember being a little nervous,” he said. “But I got a base hit to right field.”
It’s been one hit after another for Hobgood ever since.
He’s earned about every honor a high school kid could including being named a MaxPreps and EA Sports All-American last season. He’s made about every non-prep All-Star team imaginable as well, including the Area Code Games No. 2 pitching prospect, the USA Baseball Tournament of Stars, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Lasorda Elite Games, the WWBA 17U World Championship team and Angels Elite Scout Team.
He played on the talented Trombly Braves summer team the last two years along with most of the top players in Southern California, almost all of whom inked Division I scholarships, including Hobgood, who has signed to Cal State Fullerton.
“My sophomore year with Trombly we went 43-3 and won the Connie Mack World Series in New Jersey,” he said. “It was a great experience.”
That same year he was first approached by a professional scout during a first-round CIF playoff game against Capistrano Valley.
“I hit 93 on the gun and a major league scout talked to me after the game,” Hobgood said. “It was pretty cool because it was my first experience (with a professional scout).”
They now swarm to his every start. It still feels like the first time for Hobgood.
“It’s fun and exciting to have scouts there, but it doesn’t effect my performance negatively,” he said. “In fact, it probably has the opposite effect.”
It’s probably just like Hobgood imagined as a youth, throwing against the wall next to the family garage.
He doesn’t take these moments for granted.
“It’s a great honor to be considered a draft prospect in high school,” he said. “Not a lot of people get the opportunity to go play pro ball right out of high school, and if I get the chance, it would be a dream come true.”
E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.
