Wahconah's Schneider Signs to Play DII College Baseball

DALTON, Mass. — Matt Schneider has been around the Wahconah High School baseball program for nearly a decade, going back to his days as a bat boy.

 

But it was more than his time on the field in the spring that led him to the next level.

 

"I did a lot [of showcases]," Schneider said on Thursday after signing a National Letter of Intent to attend Assumption College on a partial athletic scholarship.

 

"I played in the Massachusetts Junior All-Star Game. Then he saw me play at the Blue-Grey New England Invitational at Worcester State. And then he saw me play at the Bay State Games. It was midway through the Bay State Games that the coach, Mike Rocco, sent me an e-mail and asked me to come up the next week.

 

"Without all that showcase and summer baseball I played, I woudn't have had this opportunity."

 

Next fall, Schneider will have the chance to compete for playing time with the Division II Greyhounds, who play in the Northeast-10 Conference. He committed to the program in mid September and officially accepted the school's offer of a partial athletic scholarship in a brief after school signing ceremony on Thursday in the Wahconah cafeteria.

 

Schneider said he plans to major in business management with a minor in sports management with an eye toward working on the business side of sports after graduation.

 

Assumption quickly rose to the top of a long list of schools he was considering after he was contacted by Rocco.

 

"It was just the best fit for me athletically, academically and the campus was the best," Schneider said. "I was looking for a school that could offer me my best chance to succeed after high school, and Assumption was the best place for me. I'm really looking forward to it."

 

Wahconah coach Jared Shannon is looking forward to one more year of having Schneider behind the plate and enjoying the residual benefit of having such a standout student athlete come through the program.

 

"It speaks to the depth of what our community is building in baseball," Shannon said. "He's the leading edge in that. He went through a rough year as a freshman a couple of years ago; we took some lumps. He's part of the class that really led us to a couple of good years in a row and revitalization of baseball.

 

"Now our numbers are going to be really high for a while. When you have kids like him who are good students, really great people and also good at baseball, I think it drives other kids to want to play."

 

Shannon said he believes Schneider is the first Wahconah baseball player to earn a college scholarship since Ken Bilodeau, who played at New Haven, also in the Northeast-10. Bilodeau was part of the Western Massachusetts Championship team whom Schneider served as a bat boy.

 

Schneider said he looks forward to the high level of competition Assumption sees in the Northeast-10, a conference that routinely sees players taken in the Major League Baseball draft.

 

Now that the ink is dry on his commitment letter, Schneider glad to have the recruiting and decision process behind him.

 

"Signing is November is great because now I can focus on my basketball team and baseball team," he said. "I don't have to worry about all that other stress that other seniors need to deal with."