By Carter Mitchell and Carter Hepp 

Photo credit: Carter Hepp.

Some might say that making a varsity team as a Freshman is the most rewarding and daunting task known to man, but one Freshman, at 5’10” and 140 lbs., has made the boys varsity baseball team. Matthew Zandler (‘27) achieved his goal of making the team by working harder than any other Freshman in the field. He’s spent countless hours with his dad, Mike Zandler, a former college pitching coach, developing his mechanics and working out. 

In an interview, Zandler explained his experience so far on varsity baseball as “chill,” and he “loves being around the guys.” As a nervous freshman, Zandler was intimidated by his future teammates in live at-bats. He said, “I was super nervous about facing guys that will be going to Division I schools, but after facing them a couple of times, my confidence has really grown.” One of Zandler’s favorite aspects of being on the team is the fact that everyone is connected on and off the field. Another part he loves is the fact that everyone has the same end goal in mind: making it to Shepherd Stadium for the state championship. Regarding playing on junior varsity, he told us that nothing felt competitive about it because there were no playoffs, but he’s looking forward to being in the atmosphere of playoff baseball. 

Although this season is still young, Zandler already has goals for next season. He hopes to grow a few inches, gain a few pounds, and throw harder. Zandler is already ahead of his age group, with his fastball averaging around 80 mph, but he wishes to be in the high 80s. A significant long-term goal for him is to play baseball at the Division I level while getting a significant amount of playing time.