Riverhead Senior Signs To Pitch At Winthrop

A Riverhead High School baseball star will be taking his winning pitch to an even higher playing field.

Senior Matt Crohan, along with his parents, Stephanie and Ed, participated in a signing ceremony at Riverhead High School on Thursday.

Matt accepted a full scholarship to pitch at Winthrop University, a Division I school in Rock Hill, South Carolina. 

"I'm very excited about playing for Winthrop," Matt said. "I really like the coaching staff, the the team, which is in a building stage, and the college itself. And, the weather in South Carolina is awesome."

Matt plans to study business management or marketing at Winthrop University. 

Ed Crohan praised varsity baseball coach Rob Maccone. "Coach Maccone was there every step of the way for Matt. He always puts the kids first over everything else. He is, in the best sense of the word, an excellent teacher as well as a great coach," he said.

But Maccone only had accolades for his star team player. "Matt is a talented left-handed pitcher with a 92 mile per hour fast ball."

Matt, Maccone said, "throws a very good change-up and a knuckle drop." He added that Matt's record on the varsity team was 3-1 as a junior, with an earned run average in the 1.00; he also plays in the outfield.  

"Over and above all his athletic abilities," Maccone said, "Matt is a great kid and deserves all the recognition he has gotten and will get in the future. I'm really going to miss him."

Among Matt's roster of accomplishments, he has been a starter on the team since he was a sophomore, and he won the All-League honor in both his sophomore and junior years.

As a junior, Matt was named a "pitcher to watch" in Suffolk County; he led the team with strikeouts. As a sophomore, he was 2-1 with an ERA in the high 1.00. As a hitter, Matt led the team in batting as a junior with an average of .500, and he finished in the top three in RBIs.

In addtion to his shining moments at RHHS, Matt has also played for Team Citius in Dallas, Texas and was selected to play on a Yankees and Phillies Scout tryout team.