Howell's Watson all the way back from surgery
Ex-Rebel, now at Wagner, playing in NECBL
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Matt Watson was one excited baseball player driving up to western Massachusetts last week.

For the former Howell High School star, it represented yet another step forward on his comeback trail. He had received a call from the North Adams Steeplecats, telling him they needed his pitching services for the rest of the season. The Steeplecats play in one of the best college summer leagues in the country, the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

"It was a surprise," Watson said of the phone call that was sending him to North Adams. "I'm pumped and very excited."

Watson will be staying with a host family in North Adams while getting the chance to test himself against some of the best collegiate players in the country. Prior to getting the phone call from the Steeplecats, Watson was pitching for the Freehold Clippers in the ABCCL loop.

Last year at this time, Watson wasn't throwing the ball for anyone. He was rehabing from Tommy John surgery. Early in his senior year at Howell, he felt something pop in his elbow while delivering a pitch. It turned out to be the worse-case scenario for the strong right-hander, as he would require Tommy John surgery. Despite the setback, he was determined not to have his senior year be a wash. He returned to the team as a designated hitter, making All-Freehold Regional District after batting .433. But that would be it for his baseball for a year following the surgery. It was purgatory.

Tommy John surgery has become so routine, however, that Watson admitted he never thought his baseball career was over.

"The success rate is pretty good," he said of the surgery. "I was pretty confident I'd come back."

The biggest challenge, he said, was mentally overcoming the fear that he'd injure the elbow the first time he uncorked a fastball, and that he would never reach the velocity he once had.

"You remember the last time that you threw this hard what happened, you have to get over it," he said. "It's a natural reaction.

"My elbow doesn't hurt anymore," he added. "The only memory I have of the injury is the scar."

Wagner College head coach Joe Litterio still held a scholarship open for the Rebel, allowing him to rehab his freshman year at the college.

"It was a tough first year because I had no role with the team," Watson recalled. "I tried to stay with the team, going to all the games and cheering for them."

While becoming a cheerleader, Watson was doing the lifting and throwing that were part of his rehab one year after the surgery. Finally, he was able to start throwing.

"I starting throwing from 25 feet," he recalled. "I felt like I was a kid."

He knew throughout the rehab that he had Litterio and the Seahawk coaching staff on his side. There was no pressure to push too hard.

"The coaching staff stayed behind me the whole time," he said. "They eased me back in. There was no rush.

"It was a long road to hoe, it took a lot of patience," he added. "There were a lot of ups and downs. One day my arm would feel fine and the next day it would hurt."

Slowly, but surely, Watson regained his velocity, throwing his fastball consistently in the 89-91 mph range. It turned out, that regaining the hop of his fastball wasn't the hardest part of the comeback.

"I was able to get my velocity back," he pointed out. "Control was the hardest to get back. I had lot of walks early. I had to find my arm spot. That was the biggest thing. It was like teaching yourself how to throw again."

Finally, Watson was mentally and physically ready to play, and to make his Division I debut - one inning in relief against Florida International. He pitched one perfect inning, registering one strikeout among his three straight outs.

"Just to be back on the mound in real game competition was a nice feeling," he said. "It took a while to get there."

From one inning in relief, Litterio kept increasing his innings until the former Rebel was to move into the starting rotation.

"In my first start, in the third inning I was tired," he pointed. "You have to work up to it going five, six, seven innings."

The season had its expected peaks and valleys with Watson going 2-5 making 14 appearances, seven as a starter. But he ended the season with a hint of things to come. In his final appearance, he tossed his first complete game, a 4-1 win over eventual Northeast Conference champion Monmouth University.

That year on the sidelines red-shirting was not a complete waste. Watson got a firsthand look at the challenges of going up against Division I college lineups. He did not go into the 2007 season unprepared for what was ahead.

"The biggest difference between college and high school ball is that one through nine in the order in college, every kid was the best player on his high school team," he noted. "They can all hit."

The injury and time off made Watson appreciate the opportunity he has even more.

"It was such a long run to get back, I don't take it for granted," he said.

That's why he had every reason to smile all the way up to North Adams as he looked to build on the steady progress he had made in the second half of the collegiate season.