Fort Ann’s Tyler Mattison gets ready for college baseball
GLENS FALLS — Tyler Mattison was an easy choice. Glens Falls Dragons coach Cameron Curler isn’t sure if Albany’s Nick Davey or Amsterdam’s Keith Griffin first mentioned the pitcher’s name, but he was the first suggestion for the PGCBL’s Prospects Game. And a unanimous decision.
Not bad for a 17-year-old who hasn’t even made it to college ball yet.
Mattison only graduated from Fort Ann a month ago. There’s enough of an age gap that he doesn’t understand all of his older teammates’ childhood pop culture references, never mind the college party references.
That’s why he’s playing with the Dragons this summer. Mattison is heading to Division I Bryant University in the fall, where coach Steve Owens likes to see his advanced incoming freshmen start early and get a leg up.
LSU Baseball unlikely to use two-way players in 2018 Season
BATON ROUGE, La. — Nearly all sports leagues are copycat leagues, but the LSU baseball team isn’t quite ready to jump on one of the trendier bandwagons in college baseball.
The Golden Spikes Award, the trophy given to the best player in college baseball, went to Louisville two-way standout Brendan McKay this year. McKay was among the most deserving winners you’ll ever see, excelling as Louisville’s best power hitter and best starting pitcher, leading the Cardinals to the College World Series.
But while Louisville was ousted in Omaha, the Florida Gators weren’t. Florida tripled down on Louisville’s McKay strategy, employing three two-way players throughout the 2017 season. While in Omaha, Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan referred to the strategy as his main response to the roster and scholarship limits imposed on college baseball. If you can only have so many players, might as well have a few who can do it all.
