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There are over 480 thousand high school baseball players in the United States. Of those, only 7% participate at the collegiate level. Matthew Reese is a 2013 graduate of Wellsboro who is currently attending Wilkes University. We got to speak with him on this edition of Making the Cut.

Reese participated in many sports throughout high school. During his freshman year he was a part of a baseball squad that made a run to the district championship game. “Freshman year we had a magical run in baseball and I think that’s kind of where it all started to give me a little confidence for other sports.” He was also a part of a basketball team that won 3 NTL titles and a district runner-up his senior year.

In high school, Reese received many leadership roles, including Captain of the baseball and basketball teams. He believes these positions helped prepare him for college stating, “It gives you the confidence and the boost that you need going to college, so as soon as I step on the field at college or step on the court, it’s kind of like I belong here. Like I can move onto the next level.”

Reese has completed three years with the team and is entering his final year. His journey was different than most as a “walk-on.” A walk-on is an athlete who is not actively recruited, but still makes the team. “Quite honestly I actually was working out with a friend who works at Wilkes. He asked, ‘Have you visited?’ And I said no. So I went down for a visit and I had the opportunity to meet the coach and have a talk with the coach. I wasn’t recruited at all by them, but walked on and happened to make the team.”

Reese had to make major transitions on and off the diamond. On the field, he said that the most difficult transition was the pace of the game. “It’s a lot faster – I kinda had a rude awakening to that.” Off the field, academically, Reese said the transition was easier, “I was able to grasp it pretty well when I got on campus. I had a lot of help with mentors that I knew due to some of the connections I had there.”

We asked Reese for advice for perspective students and his advise was simply, “Commitment! I think commitment is one of the most underrated things. Like I said, even from a high school team to a Division III team.”