The University of Akron Athletics
Telegraph-Forum Features UA's Matt Roberts
July 08 | Baseball
Bucyrus Grad Caps
Baseball Career at Akron
By Dan Messerschmidt
Telegraph-Forum
AKRON
- The dream of many high school baseball players
is to continue their careers on the diamond at the college level.
Few get that opportunity, and fewer still with a Division I
program.
For Matt Roberts, the road took some hairpin turns before reaching
the destination he had envisioned.
Roberts put up some gaudy
numbers while playing at Bucyrus High School - especially during
his senior season of 2004.
The right-handed hitting outfielder set single-season school
records for batting average (.571), hits (56), stolen bases (36),
triples (4) and home runs (11). He earned first-team all-state,
all-North Central Conference and all-district honors. He had a .487
career batting average, unofficially the 15th highest prep mark in
state history, according to the Ohio High School Athletic
Association. All of this got the attention of then-coach Tim
Berenyi at the University of Akron.
"They came after me," Roberts said of the initial contact with the
Zips. "My high school coach, Chris Smith, said they'd be interested
in offering me. The decision came down to Akron or Baldwin-Wallace.
It's tough to turn down a D-I offer. I would have always wondered,
'What if?'"
But it was far from a
happily-ever-after story for Roberts. He sat out fall baseball his
first year with a nagging hamstring injury suffered during summer
baseball. Then, in his first spring, he dislocated his shoulder and
was red-shirted. After that season, Berenyi left Akron and Pat
Bangston came over from Ohio State as the new head coach.
"The guys that recruited me never got to use me," Roberts said of
Berenyi and his staff. "Some of the new coaches had never seen me
play. They had their own philosophy and brought in their own guys.
I got lost in the shuffle."
As a result, Roberts saw limited playing time, with only 26 and 29
plate appearances his freshman and sophomore years, respectively.
His batting average was well below .200.
His break came early in his
junior year. After experiments playing in left field and right
field, the natural center fielder resumed that position due to an
injury to a highly-recruited freshman.
"I got inserted into the lineup and never lost my job," Roberts
said. "I hated to replace someone due to an injury, but you take
what you can get. Division I baseball is more of a system than at
other levels. You get replaced easily."
Roberts let the numbers speak for themselves. The righty took
advantage of his opportunity, hitting .302 his junior year, scoring
20 runs and driving in 16 in 34 games. That set the stage for his
terrific senior year.
He started 51 of 52 games for the Zips in 2009 and led the team in
slugging percentage (.562), runs scored (54) and stolen bases (6).
His 10 homers, 118 total bases, .440 on-base percentage and 72 hits
were all good for second on this year's squad.
Roberts' 210 at-bats put him sixth all-time at Akron. Other top 10
single-season slots in Zips history were home runs (seventh), hits
(ninth) and runs scored (10th).
The only real disappointment for Roberts this year was the failure
of the team to reach its goals. The Zips finished with a 19-33
record, 12-15 in the Mid-American Conference. They lost a
tie-breaker to Central Michigan to qualify for the MAC post-season
tournament.
In addition to the thrill of
prolonging his baseball career, Roberts helped pay for a Bachelor's
Degree, with a major in business communication and a minor in sales
and marketing.
"I started out on a partial
scholarship," Roberts noted. "It increased every year and by my
senior year, I wasn't really paying for school."
It isn't a fluke that the 6-foot-1, 207-pound Roberts excelled on
the diamond. His uncle, Tom Roberts, played first base for the
University of Toledo in the late '60s and was drafted by the
Cleveland Indians. His father, Dave, played college ball at Tiffin
University in the mid-'60s. No singular event stands out to
Roberts, however.
"It's my career at Akron as
a whole," he said. "Not really one game or moment. I was in so many
different cities, how things went last year and fan support."
Roberts has fond memories of Akron, despite early struggles that
might have led some to quit. He hopes to tell them to his children
and grandchildren some day.
"It was fun while it lasted," Roberts said. "I endured injuries and
a coaching change. But I went from the outhouse to the penthouse.
My fortunes took a 180 degree turn in one year.
"I hope I made the whole town proud," he added. "I wanted to help
put Bucyrus on the map.
