Matt Antonelli is a North Shore (Mass.) baseball legend as a player, and he is now using the second act of his professional career to make a sizable impact on the area's next generation of aspiring college baseball players.
Antonelli will provide players in his Antonelli Baseball program with a new home as early as this week with the opening of an indoor facility in Middleton, Mass. Antonelli Baseball has previously trained out of the Sports Plex in Danvers, Mass.
"This gives us an opportunity to have a place -- 24-7 -- where we can tailor a program to how we want it," Antonelli said. "We'll put a weight room in there. It gives us the ability to have strength training 365 days a year. That's the next step for our program."
Antonelli, who was recently hired as the head baseball coach at Bishop Fenwick High, starred at St. John's Prep (Danvers, Mass.) in high school before continuing his career at Wake Forest University. He earned a selection by the San Diego Padres in the first round of the 2006 MLB Draft.