March 15, 2009

By Kelly Barbour, Capaha Arrow

Southeast baseball is off to an impressive start (4-2), and one of its most promising athletes is Southeast senior Matt Wagner. Though Wagner has only played two seasons for Southeast, his list of accomplishments is almost as remarkable as his story. In his first week of playing for the Redhawks, he was named OVC Conference Player of the Week.

Wagner is a native of Wahoo, Neb., where he and his friends would play sports all the time.

"We'd play baseball 'til you couldn't see the ball anymore," he said.

Wagner grew up watching his father, Rick Wagner, play competitive fast-pitched softball and recreational slow-pitched softball. Watching his father play instilled a love of baseball into Wagner, and he began playing in summer leagues. At age 14, Wagner played for the Lincoln Dominators, and it was then that he realized he wanted to play baseball at more competitive levels.

"[My father] helped me develop my skills, and, even during the winter time, we'd go work on baseball and hitting. We used to take wiffle balls into racquetball courts in the winter," Wagner said.

Wagner's alma mater, Bishop Neumann High School, had an athletic department but lacked a baseball team. At Neumann, Wagner played on the basketball and football teams. Not having a high school baseball team didn't keep Wagner off the field; he played on summer teams and, during the school year, he played on Sunday leagues.

After high school, Wagner had offers to play basketball and football for several schools, but baseball was where his passion lied, and he found his break at the University of Nebraska.

Nebraska saw Wagner's talent for baseball and signed him as a player they wanted to develop. Getting signed onto Nebraska without playing high school baseball is as impressive as it is unusual. In 2005, Wagner was red-shirted and, in 2006, after playing in only two games, was afflicted with a knee injury.

After his injury, Wagner and his coaches at Nebraska "mutually decided" that transferring would be the best career move for him. During college summer leagues, between their freshman and sophomore years, Wagner met Matt Wulfers; they were teammates both years. Wulfers, who had originally played ball at Mizzou, transferred to Southeast after an injury. It was his encouragement that brought Wagner to Southeast.

"When I decided to come here, I had no idea where I was going and, within a week, I had committed to [Southeast], " Wagner said.

Luckily for Southeast, Wagner found his niche in Southeast's baseball team and has become one of its leaders. Wagner said he embraced being a leader and that having the experience of playing at a bigger school has helped give his teammates a confidence-boost. Wagner emphasized that Southeast's baseball team is as good as any team in the league, and that they can compete against any of them.

"I feel our one-through-nine is as good as any in the country. It's hard to dodge as many bullets as we can in the lineups. If someone's having bad day, there's someone out there who'll be having a good day," Wagner said.

Wagner is as strong of a fielder as he is a batter. In 2008, he was named First Team All-OVC First Baseman, finished the season with a .337 batting average, and tied for fifth in Southeast's history with a .985 fielding percentage. While Wagner's a great first baseman, he loves to bat.

"I've always loved hitting. The feeling you get when you hit the ball right, you get a rush. Hitting by far is the 'funnest'," Wagner said.

As far as career goals after Wagner graduates with a degree in business, he is leaving his options open. He has considered opening his own business, being a graduate assistant coach or playing baseball professionally.

"I want to win. Playing the pro game isn't the end-all, be-all. If you play well and do the right things, it will happen," he said.

For the mean time, Wagner is looking forward to a great season with his fun-loving teammates. While his teammates tease him about being the oldest on the team, "Grandpa" has already hit three homeruns in their first six games of the season.

Wagner had to fight for his spot on Southeast's baseball team. Not having high school experience followed by an injury made it that much harder. Wagner credits his parents for his success. They have always supported his baseball career and make it to nearly every home series as well as some away series. This is Wagner's final collegiate season, and he wants to go out with a bang, so to speak.

"I want to go out on a high note. A high note for me would to be a conference championship and then a chance at Regionals," Wagner said.