NOT A PROTOTYPICAL THREE HITTER
By: Ben Waring
At five-feet, nine-inches and 165 pounds, Matt Simonelli does not fit the prototype of most three-hole hitters in college baseball today. That hasn't stopped the redshirt senior from anchoring a squad that won the 2010 Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles.
"I always give my parents grief for giving me these small genes," says Simonelli. "I joke about it a lot with my teammates like Justin Mackert and Brad Felder who are bigger than I am, but we all just have fun with it and I have more home runs than both of them right now. I am probably the smallest guy hitting in the third spot in the Southern Conference and maybe even in Division I baseball, but I welcome it. I hope people see my size and try to lay a pitch down the middle for me."
Born and raised in a sports house in St. Mary's, Fla., a suburb of Orlando, Simonelli's father played baseball and football throughout his life, pitching at a small community college before blowing his arm out. For Matt, it was his father's dream to see him finish what he could not do by playing baseball at the collegiate level. "Playing college baseball at the Division I level was always my dream and The Citadel was the only D1 school to make an offer so I came to visit. I saw the Bulldogs beat No. 3 Nebraska on my recruiting trip in 2006 and that was all I needed to make my decision."
Simonelli stuck with baseball in high school after an interesting run at football in middle school. His coaches wanted him to play quarterback, which didn't last long so they moved him to running back. That didn't work out either so he went to wide receiver where he was unable to find success. Eventually at five-foot two, 140 pounds, Simonelli was moved to the offensive line where his football career ended shortly thereafter.
After playing shortstop in high school, Simonelli was moved to the outfield when he got to The Citadel due to his speed. "Looking back on things now, I think it was a good transfer to move to the outfield for me to be able to use more of my abilities speed wise." Simonelli had played in the outfield his entire career as a Bulldog until the Southern Conference series opener against Appalachian State this season where he played shortstop again. Since then, he has bounced between right field and the infield as the Bulldogs search for the right combination to find success.
The Bulldog has had a tumultuous career at The Citadel. His freshman season, he played in 38 games, starting 19 of them, and says "it is tough to get going and find success as a freshman at The Citadel with all you have to go through." His sophomore season came to an abrupt halt in the conference-opener against Furman when he was hit by a pitch that broke his wrist, forcing him to redshirt that season. The 2009 season also proved to be tough for Simonelli as he was sidelined with a nagging hamstring injury on a squad that set several school hitting records and was an offensive juggernaut.
The 2010 season would finally be the year that Simonelli was able to put it all together, starting in 64 of the Bulldogs' 65 games a year ago in the outfield. He batted .315 with 52 runs, 79 hits, 59 RBI, five homers, 20 doubles and stole 22 bases. "It has been a blessing in disguise looking back on my career here now. I was able to be around my teammates another year, get some more playing experience and start more schooling.
"Winning a championship last year was incredible. We gelled as a team very well and having a guy like Bryan Altman coming back for his fifth year was huge for us." After watching Altman as the leader and team captain last season, Simonelli is in a similar role in 2011 as he returns as a redshirt senior with the most experience left on the team.
With 18 freshmen on the roster and the leadership of key veterans gone from 2010, Simonelli understands his work is going to be tough in 2011. "We have a lot of freshmen this year so it certainly presents a challenge. But our veteran guys have been trying to teach the younger ones to be vocal out on the field and just focus in on baseball. When school is going well, baseball will go well also and so that is what we try to get across to all of the new players."
The Florida native, who led the team in doubles, was second in RBI and hit .411 with runners in scoring position in 2010 did not receive any accolades by the conference or in the postseason. "Flying under the radar and doing what you have to do to win is just fine with me. The SoCon is tough to get accolades in with all the offensive numbers the league puts up in 2010, so I don't take it personally and I just try to go out and lead the team to get wins and let the rest take care of itself."
Simonelli, who flew out to the end the 2010 season against Virginia Tech in the Columbia Regional, says "it was really tough on me to end the careers of all those seniors last season. It has motivated me to get that much better for this season and to not let it end the same way."
