During the summer of 2012, Matt Crohan had a routine that was unique for a 16-year-old. As one of the top prep left-handed pitchers in the country, everyone wanted to see him play against the best competition and that happened to be in the south.
“I used to fly to Florida on Fridays and wait to hear where I was pitching the next day,” said Crohan. “I would pitch a couple innings, then I would hang out for the next couple days until it was time to go home,” he added. That was during a time in his life in which his name became increasingly more synonymous with the best amateurs in the nation. On one particular weekend, he recalled flying to Fort Myers, FL to pitch in a Perfect Game tournament in which he threw four shutout innings with nine strikeouts, allowing just one hit and one walk. His work was done so he spent the next three evenings dining at The Cheesecake Factory with his father.
He also pitched at the Area Code Games, East Coast Pro and East Cobb. Baseball occupied much of his time. He played for the South Florida Bandits, an elite travel organization in which several notable professional players have been a part of in order to gain exposure.
Around that time, teams started to take notice of Crohan’s increased velocity. As a southpaw sitting 88-90 MPH, he was in some rarified area for an 11th grader. He worked with pitching coach Danny Maccagli at MLI to help improve his velocity. The scholarship offers started to flood in.
Seventy offers to be precise. Those included schools like LSU, Mississippi State, Duke, Kentucky, St. John’s and Vanderbilt. Crohan chose Winthrop University in South Carolina because they offered him a great package and because their pitching coach was one of the few that was a left-handed pitcher with pro experience. With a 92 average in school, he was a good enough student that they were able to package a deal that allowed him to get a full-ride.
Adding to the appeal of Crohan, he was the ultimate small-town kid with no mileage on his arm. He pitched once during his freshman season and very little as a sophomore so it was not until his junior season did he really tack on significant innings.
Fast forward to his senior season in high school and the scouts starting calling. It takes a legitimate prospect to get Area Scouts to drive out to the east end of Long Island, but with an unusual amount of premium arms that year, they had no excuses.
In 2013 alone, there were four Long Island pitchers that were draft-worthy. As we know, Anthony Kay of Ward Melville was selected by the New York Mets, but Matt Vogel was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Stephen Woods was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays. So the scouts were always around, but sometimes they favored the other three due to the fact that they played better competition.
“I’m from such a small area so they always got more attention–that kind of motivated me–but I don’t like losing and I don’t like being second best,” he added.
Another thing that motivated him occurred during his Opening Day start at East Islip. He noted that the weather was miserable that day and there was no chance they would play but there was no announcement.
“It was cold and rainy but they were acting like we were going to play. I saw their pitcher get ready so I got ready too. Once I got warmed up, they decided to cancel it,” he added.
Ticked off and with something to prove, he got his revenge during the re-scheduled game when he threw a no-hitter.
Asked if the attention from the scouts was overwhelming, he laughed.
“I was too young and dumb,” he said. “I could never concentrate on two things at once–just throw to the glove and nothing else mattered,” he added. He followed that outing up with another gem–a no-hitter against Centereach. Fourteen innings, no hits to start the season.
During that time, Crohan became a mini-celebrity in the small world of Long Island baseball as word had spread about his superhuman start to the season. Ironically, Crohan stated nothing really changed at school, which was a football town through-and-through.
“Baseball wasn’t really big,” he said. “People noticed but nothing crazy,” he said.
Looking to extend his no-no stretch to three games, he went up against an over matched Copiague team, but a sixth inning hit ended his pursuit of perfection. Regardless, he continued to dominate in 2013 and took home the coveted Carl Yastrzemski Award given to the top player in Suffolk County. He compiled a record of 6-1 with a 0.64 ERA and even batted .408.
Crohan did not hear his name in the MLB Draft most likely due to his asking price which scared teams off.
So off to Winthrop he went, with a bright future ahead.
As a freshman, he held his own posting a 4.37 ERA over 35.0 IP. As a sophomore, though, he really blossomed into a staff ace. He compiled a record of 7-4 with a 3.05 ERA over 76.2 IP. He struck out 87 batters and allowed just 60 hits. His fastball was up to 97 MPH.
A left-handed pitcher, 19-years-old with a 97 MPH heater is enough to get the scouts drooling. He was invited to participate for Team USA Collegiate Team under legendary coach Ed Blankmeyer. Just before that time, he had began to feel some forearm tightness in the conference tournament, which he “was able to manage”, he said.
During the summer with Team USA things did not get better, as he experienced some discomfort warming up in the bullpen.
The next season, he was voted Preseason Pitcher of the Year for the Big South Conference. Mock drafts had him going in the first round. After pitching 19.0 IP, going 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA his arm injuries worsened and he was forced to shut down his junior season. After consulting five doctors, he decided to go under the knife to repair a torn labrum on July 5.
He did hear his name called in the 32nd round by the Cincinnati Reds but he admits that was a situation of “hey, you wanna get drafted?” and nothing that signified him being part of their future plans.
He wound up going back to school in 2017 but it was not meant to be. The fastball simply was not there although he noted he never lost his command or feel for his terrific slider. The opposing coaches had so much respect for him that they voted him Preseason Pitcher of the Year again despite his availability being in question.
And he had to undergo another labrum repair.
The irony is that he was never overworked during his youth and didn’t really pitch until his junior year in high school. It simply goes to show treating pitchers is an inexact science.
He admits the next couple years were “not good” as he struggled with the reality of life without baseball. Adding to the frustration was watching his former teammates with Team USA begin their professional careers.
Once a die-hard baseball fan that grew up idolizing Derek Jeter, he lost interest in watching games on TV knowing that he should’ve been there. In fact, he deleted all the pictures of him pitching from his phone during that time.
Crohan now works an office job but has not given up on returning to the game of baseball in some capacity–even giving lessons.
“I’d like to give lessons but I want it to be all-encompassing and include pitching and arm care.
I just want kids to learn from my situation and not have to go through what I did.”
