Canterbury coach Todd Mathewson has basked in his enjoyment of having eight seniors/post-graduates who have provided the strong leadership and talent for his club.
"It is so unique and special to have eight players that will be graduating, and that all eight will go on to play at the college level,'' said Mathewson. "This is now my 13th year coaching at the high school level, and that has never happened to me before, and I don't know if it will ever happen again."
The eight Saints seniors/PGs who have made a significant difference in Canterbury's fortunes are Avery Smith, CJ Johnson, Evan Burke, Luke Pliego, Jake Elston, Nick Sturino, Ian Cooke and Nick Sheth.
"All eight have made a tremendous impact on our club,'' Mathewson said. "The past fall and winter, they were in our field house almost daily working on their swings, throwing and specializing on their individual defensive skills. We have created a culture here where players want to put work in on their own and compete to get better. But more importantly, all of them work very hard in the classroom too. Our overall team GPA is 3.9 for the first semester this year, and every player has earned a 3.5 GPA or better. The seniors have done an outstanding job creating this baseball/academic culture and it is something we will strive in continuing to improve upon and make it even stronger every year moving forward.''
