Fielding nine positions in one game would be enough for most players, especially considering it had never been done in a North Carolina High School Athletic Association baseball game before.
But
Overhills (Spring Lake, N.C.) sophomore
Todd Matthews isn't your average player, so he didn't stop there.
Todd Matthews became the first NorthCarolina player to officially play allnine positions during a baseball game.
Photo courtesy of Greg Suazo
The 5-foot-4, 130-pound catcher, who made all-conference as a freshman last year, wound up playing 12 positions in a recent game against Westover (Fayetteville, N.C.) in a game that was shortened to six innings because of a 10-run mercy rule.
"I just love to play anywhere, it doesn't really matter to me," Matthews said. "I just want to go where I can help the team out."
Matthews started at his regular position and then moved counter-clockwise around the infield, pitching between stints at second base and shortstop. He then played all three outfield positions before taking another turn at shortstop, third base and left field.
Overhills coach Greg Suazo came up with the idea as a way to reward Matthews, an honor roll student with a 3.5 GPA who was named captain despite being a sophomore.
"As a coach you try and save if for a special kid, and he's such a hard-working, humble player," Suazo said. "But you also want someone really athletic so it's not showing up the other team. (Matthews) can actually play all nine."
Suazo, who had a player successfully play all nine positions while coaching at Robinson (Tampa, Fla.) in 2003, was shocked to find out that it had never happened in North Carolina.
"Josh Hamilton and all those great players, and no one's ever done it," Suazo said.
To make it official, Matthews needed to be credited with a putout or play at least two outs at every position.
"I was pretty confident," said Matthews, who never had a set position growing up until he settled on catcher in middle school. "I knew I wouldn't have any trouble playing all nine positions, but I was worried we wouldn't have enough innings. I knew there was a chance of us run-ruling them."
That didn't seem like an issue when Westover, down 4-2, had the bases loaded with one out in the fourth inning.
"If they get a hit here, forget this little stunt, we're losing," Suazo remembered thinking. But Overhills got out of it and eventually pulled away for a 12-2 win.
Catching and pitching would be the biggest challenges for most players. But Matthews also serves as the team's closer, so he had those positions covered. Instead he said the toughest spot was first base — the same position his older brother
Tyler plays.
Lineup cards just aren't designed forplayers to play nine positions in a game,like Todd Matthews did.
Photo courtesy of Greg Suazo
"Just finding the footing around the base and in the dirt," Matthews said. "That was one position I had only played a couple times before because I was so small."
The defensive maneuvering didn't have any effect on his offensive approach, either. Matthews went 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. He also deflected attention to his teammates for giving him the opportunity to make state baseball history.
"That was neat to know that everybody else could move around too, and it was never like we had a weak spot in our lineup," said Matthews, whose father Bobby is the school's athletic director.
In fact, when Todd displaced his brother at first base for one inning, Tyler moved to third base and had a hand in all three outs.
In the end, the attempt went so well that Suazo will try it again later this month with Matthews' best friend,
Travis Holder. Matthews will keep his advice simple.
"Just stay focused and don't really worry about any one position," Matthews said. "I don't really feel like it will be too much of a struggle for him either. Just stay calm, don't get big-headed. Just go out there and do your thing."
Harold Gutmann covers the state of North Carolina for MaxPreps.com. He lives in Durham and can be reached at haroldgutmann@gmail.com.
