As the final out marked a win against a star-studded Florida baseball team, containing players such as current Orioles seventh ranked prospect Coby Mayo, 6-3, an unlikely Naaman’s Little League team based in Wilmington, Delaware, was crowned the 2018 Senior League World Series national championship.
“I can still remember the feeling of being on the mound when I pitched that last ball,” said closing pitcher Jacob Andreoli. Among these boys from Delaware was Matt Querey. The focal point of Querey’s life has been baseball since he was a child . “That was the last year I could play baseball with my friends who I had been playing with since I was 8,” Querey said, as he relived the memory of winning the national title.
Now entering his third collegiate season, Querey is slated to become the starting shortstop for the University of Scranton after sitting behind former senior Tyler Kirsten. Looking back on his growth from the past two years, Querey said, “I was learning everything that I could off of him.”
Father Mike Querey said, “Many say that success in baseball is a direct result of the dedication to getting better every day and Matt Querey is proof of that statement.” Success fell in the direction of Querey during his underclassmen years at Scranton by his late game heroics contributing to his immediate impact in the program. In the
Landmark Conference championship game against Elizabethtown College during Querey’s freshman year, he showed his ability to keep himself composed.
Querey found himself at second base in the late innings in a bases loaded situation with two outs. As a ball was hit firmly up the middle, Querey was ready. “I laid out, made a backhand stop, flipped to second off my butt and ended the inning,” Querey recalled.
Querey attributes his success to his family, especially his mother. “Everyday she asks me what I am going to be doing whether that is working out or hitting,” said Querey. The baseball mentality in Delaware is a major factor that pushed Querey in his adolescence. “Since it is such a small state, it felt like you had to do more than others to get attention or spotlight,” Querey said. “Everyone is gritty.”
Querey’s career in baseball has not been all sunshine and rainbows. An injury occurring at a young age, placed his hopes and dreams for the sport in jeopardy. As a 12-year-old, Matt sustained an elbow injury pitching during a game against crosstown rivals, Brandywine Little League, in the Little League All-Star playoffs. “At that time baseball was bigger to me than it is now,” said Querey. Due to his age, Tommy John surgery was out of the question, therefore a full recovery was uncertain. Querey was dedicated to his recovery process in order to get back to the diamond as soon as possible. “Matt worked extremely hard after the cast came off and was thankfully able to play eight months later,” Mike Querey said.
In his third year at the University of Scranton, Querey is working toward a degree in accounting with the hopes of earning a master’s degree. When the final out in his time at Scranton is marked on the scorecard, the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination lies in the distant horizon for Querey.
No matter the circumstance, Querey’s addiction for improvement in the sport is on par with those seen in drug rehabilitation clinics. “The amount of time he put toward baseball outweighes everything else,” said Andreoli.
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