Remember these Titans: Big baseball dreams get tempered by

Remember these Titans: Big baseball dreams get tempered by reality for 15 North Jersey athletes - Sports - NorthJersey.com
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Remember these Titans: Big baseball dreams get
tempered by reality for 15 North Jersey athletes
JUNE 21, 2014, 10:09 PM
LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2014, 10:09 PM
BY COLLEEN DISKIN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
MITSU YASUKAWA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Bergen Catholic's Anthony Apreda, (#20) and Alec DeMattheis (#14) sit together with their teammate Justin Salem (#7).
Moving day needn't be a nightmare
Both Alec and Anthony played for Teaneck Titans youth club team, which was featured in a 5-part series five years ago
Coming soon to your wallet and stores - chip cards
about the intensity of club baseball in North Jersey.
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media
Big Ten may mean big costs for Rutgers
Editor's Note: In June 2010, The Record ran “No Longer Just a Game,” a five-part series
that looked at the professionalization of youth sports, and how baseball in particular had
been transformed by the rapid growth of club teams that travel around the United States
and by the increased use of expensive professional trainers. In that series, The Record
chronicled the experiences of the Teaneck Titans, a 14-and-under baseball team that had
already begun to travel the country to play in scouting tournaments. Here’s how things
turned out for those very motivated middle schoolers.
Four years ago, the 14 boys and one girl on the Teaneck Titans knew where they wanted to
be today: the rare recipient of an athletic scholarship at a top-ranked college or — some of
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Parkway
Teaneck man killed in motorcycle crash on Route 80
New riverfront park in Garfield serves as a balm for
scars of pollution
Charity games benefit injured Bergen County police
officer Daniel Breslin
Newark Archdiocese, Bergen prosecutor host child
safety workshops
Leukemia kills son of Wallington firefighter who died
battling restaurant blaze in March
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/remember-these-titans-big-baseball-dreams-get-tempered-by-reality-for-15-north-jersey-athletes-1.1039103
Page 1 of 7
Remember these Titans: Big baseball dreams get tempered by reality for 15 North Jersey athletes - Sports - NorthJersey.com
6/22/14 8:58 AM
them dared to dream it aloud — drafted into the Big Leagues.
Pompton Lakes man dies in crash on Garden State
Parkway
They were seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders back then, playing 100 baseball games a year
for a coach who demanded they behave as if they were already pros. They skipped parties
and summer vacations for a life of tournaments and year-round training. They had a goal —
and, to a player, each would tell you — they had something that many kids their age didn’t
have: focus.
Baseball roundup: Coco Crisp's hit lifts A's over Red
Sox in 10th
So did all of that focus on baseball get these
kids — most of whom are about to graduate
high school — where they wanted to be?
Not entirely. Or perhaps the better answer —
and the one that many are still giving — is: Not
yet.
“My dream is to play professional baseball, and
I’m going to try to go as far as I can with
baseball,” said Anthony Apreda, 18, who
pitched for the Titans for years.
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Stile: Christie gets out in attempt to move on
Big Ten may mean big costs for Rutgers
Families share kids' battle with cancer on social
media
Charity games benefit injured Bergen County police
officer Daniel Breslin
Five in Washington Township face major marijuana
charges
The original 'No Longer Just a Game'
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Bergen County prosecutor says
series
Youth baseball is fast becoming a
high-stakes race
More kids are relying on pros to show
them the ropes
Remember these Titans for their
His goal lost some traction his sophomore year
focus
at Bergen Catholic High School when he tore a
ligament in his elbow while pitching. The
Buyer beware with sports trainers
injury, which the right-hander blames more on
Families struggle with time, financial
poor throwing mechanics when he was younger
commitment
rather than on the almost-year-round training
schedule the Titans maintained, occurred when
What are we teaching our kids?
he believed his fastball was approaching 90
Youth baseball checklist: Choosing
mph. He underwent the repair known as
the right path for your kids
Tommy John surgery and is headed to a junior
college in the competitive Arizona leagues and
plans on studying political science with an eye toward law enforcement. He thinks he can
eventually reach the pitching speed needed to interest a professional scout.
When Apreda and his Titans teammates set off at age 6 or 7 on a quest to play
baseball at the top youth level, they and their parents had clear goals in mind. One was
simply to give ultra-competitive kids a chance to play with others who were similarly
driven. The other was to give them the training and experience they needed to play college
ball — hopefully, on a scholarship.
Measure of success
Success is often in the eye of the beholder, so
whether their mission was accomplished
depends on the lens one uses to view youth
sports. Most didn’t score the big scholarship
dollars that would have allowed their parents
to recoup the money spent on training and
expensive college showcase
tournaments. But all have been starters for
LESLIE BARBARO / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
their high school teams, many making varsity
Coach Leon Matthews, left, and Anthony Apreda in
as freshmen — even the ones at top-ranked
2010.
parochial schools where the competition is
fierce. And all of this year’s graduating Titans
are headed to college and hope to keep playing ball.
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For now, their answer to the question of whether it was worth sacrificing most other
pastimes for baseball is a resounding “yes” — despite what a growing chorus of critics have
to say about the high injury toll and burn-out rates among kids who specialize in
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/remember-these-titans-big-baseball-dreams-get-tempered-by-reality-for-15-north-jersey-athletes-1.1039103
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Remember these Titans: Big baseball dreams get tempered by reality for 15 North Jersey athletes - Sports - NorthJersey.com
6/22/14 8:58 AM
one sport.
“I stayed with it because baseball is what I want to do, and for the other players on the
team, baseball was what they wanted to do,” Apreda said of his dozen years with the Titans.
“I definitely don’t think it’s for everyone. But for the kids who are true baseball players —
and you know a baseball player when you see one — this is what we’d rather be doing.”
Of the 11 players graduating this year, six were recruited and offered some type of financial
assistance to play for university or junior college teams. Daniella Ibarra won perhaps the
most lucrative scholarship prize: a full ride to play softball at the University of Iowa, in the
Big Ten Conference. She had played baseball with the Titans from age 7 until her freshman
year at Immaculate Heart Academy, when she switched to softball. Another Titan,
Dominick Paiotti, was a standout shortstop at St. Joseph’s in Montvale and won a partial
scholarship to Division I Long Island University in Brooklyn.
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Three others said they turned down scholarship offers from coaches at small schools that
didn’t meet their academic standards, and two are “recruited walk-ons” at Rutgers
University, meaning they were offered roster spots but no athletic scholarship to play
baseball. Two are still juniors, but one already has his college career planned out: Brandon
Wimbush left baseball to focus on football in his sophomore year at St. Peter’s Prep in
Jersey City. A star football player, he has signed a letter of intent to be a quarterback at
Penn State under a full scholarship.
Some of the former Titans said it was tough to decide they had to lower their baseball
expectations and shift their attention to getting a degree and settling on a career path.
Making difficult decisions
“I felt I had to go with the school that was the better academic choice for me,” said Tim
Moraski, 18, a senior at Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan. He is headed
to Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in the fall after having turned down a scholarship
offer from a smaller Division III school that offered a spot on its team.
Moraski and Apreda are among the four Titans
pitchers who suffered wear-and-tear injuries
that forced them to sit out part of high school
seasons. Moraski underwent elbow surgery his
junior year and said if his pitching arm is
feeling better he might try to walk onto the
Marist team.
22
Sun
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Tue
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All
events
The JDRF Jonathan P. Altman…
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LESLIE BARBARO / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Alec Silverman faced a similar dilemma,
having received a few offers from small colleges
that he said didn’t have the stronger academics
he was seeking. He turned them down and
instead will attend Miami University of Ohio,
where he, too, will try to walk on.
23
Mon
Titan teammates, from left, Michael Benducci, Timmy
Moraski, Eric Fajardo, Dominick Paiotti and Brandon
Wimbush in 2010.
Back in eighth grade as a pitcher and catcher with the Titans, Silverman had
been convinced that all his hard work at baseball could earn him a baseball scholarship to
Stanford University. One thing that likely hurt his chances was that he developed a stress
fracture in his elbow in the spring of his junior year, forcing him to sit out in that most
crucial college-recruiting time period.
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“At first it was difficult for me to accept that I wouldn’t be going to school to play baseball
and signing a letter of intent,” said Silverman, 18, a Fort Lee resident who attended
Riverdale Country School in the Bronx. “It just didn’t work out.”
Even if they didn’t get the scholarship of their dreams, most of the former Titans still
haven’t let their childhood dreams cloud over yet, although they don’t talk about them
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/remember-these-titans-big-baseball-dreams-get-tempered-by-reality-for-15-north-jersey-athletes-1.1039103
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Remember these Titans: Big baseball dreams get tempered by reality for 15 North Jersey athletes - Sports - NorthJersey.com
6/22/14 8:58 AM
anymore with the wide-eyed look of a Little Leaguer. Instead they speak in more tempered
tones, having weathered the ups and downs of this “game of failure” — as Titans head coach
Leon Matthews long ago taught them to view the sport of baseball.
A dose of reality
“When I was a kid I used to say all the time,
‘I’m going to be a professional baseball
player,’” said Leo Voreacos, 18, a Teaneck High
School senior and former Titans pitcher who
underwent surgery for a torn shoulder labrum
when he was a sophomore.
“Right now, it’s just ‘Go to college and see what
happens,’” said Voreacos, who is headed to
Rutgers, where he and fellow Titans teammate
Jordan Matthews were promised walk-on
roster spots.
FILE
Leo Voreacos, Jaelin Johnson, Jordan Matthews
Walk-on players are common in college baseball because few colleges offer full baseball
scholarships since the sport is not as lucrative for them as basketball and football. Under
Division I rules, full scholarships can be offered only to fewer than a third of a college
team’s roster, so coaches routinely offer only partial scholarships to be able to spread the
money around to more players.
Two of the former Titans have a year of college ball under their belts. Kwestin Smith of
Teaneck walked onto the Division I team at Delaware State University, and Ringwood
native Eric Fajardo did the same at Fairfield University, also a DI program. Both believe
they will be offered scholarships as sophomores.
The two say they had been disappointed as high school seniors not to have received
scholarship offers from the schools they wanted to attend but think the fact that they are
still playing means they still have a chance at improving and potentially being scouted for
the pros.
“There was a little frustration when there weren’t coaches calling and there weren’t offers
on the table,” said Fajardo, 18.
If he had it to do over again, Fajardo said he wouldn’t have bothered attending college
showcase tournaments, which sometimes cost his parents, who have five children, as much
as $500 each but brought him little opportunity to be evaluated one-on-one by a college
coach. In the past decade, a cottage industry has formed around getting the attention of
college coaches, with for-profit companies sponsoring tournaments and leagues that
coaches and professional scouts attend to avoid having to travel to individual high schools
to watch a prospect play.
“You’d find yourself there with 100 coaches looking at 300 different players,” Fajardo said.
Al Fisco of Emerson, whose son Joey remained with the Titans through the team’s final
years, said his power-hitting son impressed many on the youth and high school baseball
scenes. But because his son only grew to 5 feet 8 inches tall, “that discouraged Division I
coaches from even looking at him.”
Almost to a player, none of the former Titans says they regret the hours, days, weeks,
months and years playing ball. Instead, they continue to crave the opportunity to keep
putting in the same time and effort that they have been conditioned to give to this sport.
Never mind the academics and experts who caution parents about an overemphasis on one
sport — none said they have grown to hate baseball and can’t imagine ever doing so.
Still optimistic
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/remember-these-titans-big-baseball-dreams-get-tempered-by-reality-for-15-north-jersey-athletes-1.1039103
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Remember these Titans: Big baseball dreams get tempered by reality for 15 North Jersey athletes - Sports - NorthJersey.com
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“If I can’t play Division I, I don’t want to stop playing baseball,” said Jaelin Johnson, who
said he turned down scholarship nibbles from some small schools that he considered
academically inferior. The Teaneck High senior will attend the University of Connecticut
this fall on an academic scholarship that will cover a third of his tuition. Johnson may try to
walk on to the school’s baseball team, but will look to keep playing for a club team if that
doesn’t work out.
“I love the sport and I’ve played it my whole life and I don’t want to lose that,” said
Johnson, 17. “I’m not tired of it.”
As is typical of today’s club team culture, many players switch teams during their high
school years. Only six of the Titans on the roster in 2010 remained with the team through
its final summer and fall season in 2013. The rest left for other teams because they wanted a
change or thought they could better their recruitment chances by playing for a team that
promised more scouting exposure. One, Alec DeMattheis, the Titans’ third baseman, quit to
play for a team that traveled less because he wanted a chance to have a more relaxed high
school experience.
“When it stopped being fun, that’s when I switched to a different team,” said DeMattheis,
18, who was recruited and offered academic aid to play baseball for Division III Fairleigh
Dickinson University in Madison. (Division III schools can’t offer athletic scholarships.)
Not only were the practice schedule and travel schedule of the youth Titans intense, so was
the coaching. Matthews is a controversial, love-him-or-hate-him kind of figure in North
Jersey youth sports, and he ascribed to a strenuous practice regimen and a near-constant
stream of feedback while his players were on the field. In the later teen years, some of his
Titans opted for “a different atmosphere” or a “change of culture,” to quote some of the
diplomatic explanations those former players used.
‘I don’t have any regrets’
“As we got older, all that yelling started to seem a little unnecessary,” said Smith, who left
the team at the end of his sophomore year.
But Smith and others who left the team credit Matthews with making them mentally tough
and instilling in them a strong work ethic.
“I don’t have any regrets because all of that time and travel got me to where I am now,” said
Smith, the team’s shortstop. “My dream since I was a little boy was to play in the Major
Leagues. If I come up short and don’t make it to the show at least I want to know that I did
all I could to give myself that shot.”
Those who stayed with the Titans still extol the value of the tough coaching, such as Michael
Benducci, a Pascack Hills High School senior who credits his many years under Matthews’
tutelage as the reason he received a full athletic scholarship to Felician College in
Rutherford.
Nationally, only one in nine high school baseball players ends up playing in college. The
Titans are faring better than those odds, but their former coach acknowledges that it didn’t
all turn out the way he thought it might for some players, with some surpassing his
expectations and others not reaching them.
“There’s some kids that I thought more would have come out of it,” Matthews said. “But
they got hurt.”
He said he did what he could to protect his players from overuse injuries, including capping
their pitch counts and not letting them throw arm-straining curve balls until they were in
their late teens. But unlike Little League and some other organizations, which enforce such
rules, the showcase tournaments and travel leagues that most older kids play in are “very
dangerous for pitchers” in that there are no such injury-prevention standards set, Matthews
said. “I did my best not to do that to my kids and to try to get them rest.”
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/remember-these-titans-big-baseball-dreams-get-tempered-by-reality-for-15-north-jersey-athletes-1.1039103
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Remember these Titans: Big baseball dreams get tempered by reality for 15 North Jersey athletes - Sports - NorthJersey.com
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The mixed results that Titans players had in chasing scholarships doesn’t surprise David
Kaplan, director of the Institute for Coaching and Center for Sports Parenting in Montclair.
“Very few people recoup in scholarships what they spend on all this training and travel,” he
said.
More concerning, Kaplan said, children who lead a one-sport-centric life can have a hard
time adjusting in the adult years when their dreams aren’t realized. “They are just so
invested emotionally in the sport they’ve played since they were little,” he said. “They aren’t
able to accept it when it’s time for it to end.”
When asked what would be a satisfying end to their playing days, most of the former Titans
struggled to answer.
Jordan Matthews, Leon’s son, is keenly aware that he and his former teammates might face
more tough choices down the road on whether to keep pursuing baseball as a career. His
older brother, Jaren, was drafted in the minors as a high school senior but accepted a
baseball scholarship to Rutgers instead. Jaren left college as a junior to accept a lowerround draft pick offer. He was recently released from an independent, non-Major League
affiliated league and is taking the remaining courses needed to complete his degree, his dad
said.
“I think about it all the time,” Jordan Matthews said, when asked if he’s pondered what he
would do if asked to choose between putting his college degree on hold or pursuing a longshot chance at the pros.
For his part, Matthews’ friend Voreacos isn’t ready to think much beyond playing for
Rutgers his freshman year.
“I’m going to try to stretch it out,” Voreacos said of his baseball playing days. “I’ll have to
see once it’s over whether I’m satisfied with the end.”
Email: diskin@northjersey.com
The original 'No Longer Just a Game' series
Youth baseball is fast becoming a high-stakes race
More kids are relying on pros to show them the ropes
Remember these Titans for their focus
Buyer beware with sports trainers
Families struggle with time, financial commitment
What are we teaching our kids?
Youth baseball checklist: Choosing the right path for your kids
Tags:
Youth Sports | Boys Baseball | College Sports | Teaneck | Montvale | Montclair | Fort Lee |
Emerson | Bergen County, N.J. | Passaic County, N.J. | Essex County, N.J. | Bergen Catholic | St.
Joseph Regional | Northern Valley Regional High School At Old Tappan | Pascack Hills | Immaculate
Heart Academy | Teaneck |
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