MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — There is a new pipeline running through northern West Virginia — not the type that moves oil, but rather recruits.
Morgantown Post 2 baseball pitcher and outfielder Colton Matthews announced his decision Wednesday to attend Potomac State College — he is the third Post 2 player in the Class of 2019 to choose the program, and the fifth in the past two seasons.
“It feels good. This is a decision I should have made a long time ago, but I kind of got recruited more and started talking to coaches more,” he said. “I didn’t think I wanted to play, but after talking to Potomac State, I figured it out.”
Post 2 coach Tyler Barnette said that Matthews’ versatility and efficiency are his biggest assets and expects him to make a large impact at Potomac State.
“I think he’s the most underrated baseball player in the state. He does everything right. He’s always in the right position, in the right spot and making the right play,” he said. ” You can put him anywhere on the field and not worry about him. If a ball gets hit to the outifeld he’s going to catch it, if you put him on the mound he’s going to get out in under 70 pitches.”
Matthews joins Devon Neal and Caleb Taylor, who also previously announced their commitments to Potomac State.
The trio has spent the majority of the last four years on the diamond together — all three competing together for Morgantown High as well as Post 2.
They hope to bring the chemistry and playing style they developed to their new school.
“I think Potomac is getting three good players,” Matthews said. “Post 2 has always been a good program and we were taught how to do things right here, and hopefully we can continue that there. It’ll be a fun time to be there with my friends.”
“It’s pretty awesome that all three of us will be going off together. It shows that the hard work we’ve put in together the past four years have paid off. If we take the hard work and intensity we put into the game here with us, we can do some special things with it,” Taylor added.
Potomac State — known as the Catamounts — is a two-year junior college, with athletic programs competing in the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference of the Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Association, as well as the National Junior College Athletic Association.
The Catamounts have won at least 30 games in four of the last five seasons — advancing to the NJCAA Eastern District Championship in 2015 and this past season.
Barnette said he attempts to replicate Potomac State’s style of baseball within his program and believes that the similarities combined with the Catamounts’ success is what is attracting Post 2 athletes.
“We run our programs a lot alike. We run ours like a college program and we like to mimic what they do because of the talent they put out. For ours to move onto them is very special,” he said. “They’re a great baseball program and juco is unique. You can go there and get drafted your first year. You can go straight to a Divison I or Divison II program. It’s a place to go to develop.”
