Jeffery heads south again
Matt Jeffery is going to give baseball south of the border another shot.
The 19-year-old Sir Winston Churchill graduate committed to the Lourdes Gray Wolves for the 2020/21 season, but decided to return home after only a short time at the Ohio school.
“One of my roommates had COVID and the rule at the time was if 15 athletes get positive cases they were going to shut down athletics and I didn’t feel like it was worth sticking around,” Jeffery said. “We’re allowed to take a gap year and I just didn’t feel confident there wouldn’t be too many cases.”
Jeffery, who was able to get a refund from Lourdes, regrouped and recently committed to Bossier Parish Community College in Louisiana.
“It’s a two-year school,” Jeffery said. “They play in a Texas conference, a really good baseball conference, so I’m hoping I perform and play good ball,” he said.
Jeffery had discussions with a couple of other junior colleges, but felt Bossier was the proper fit.
“This one is really good and my coaches said if you get a decent offer you should take it and see what you can do,” he said.
Jeffery admitted it was difficult to make such a big decision without visiting the college in person.
“That was a big thing for me. I texted the coach and called him but I’ve never been,” he said. “I’ve seen pictures of the field and they told me things. It’s hard when you can’t visit. I was a hesitant at first but it’s a good opportunity and I think it will be good for me.”
Bossier features six athletic teams, including baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country and softball. The Cavaliers and Lady Cavs compete the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Bossier City is located in the northwestern region of Louisiana and has a population of about 68,000.
Jeffery, who is slated to leave for the school in mid-August, feels a community college will help prepare him for the future.
“After that I would like to go to a decent Division 1 school,” he said. “I think most people think of junior college as a stepping stone.”
Jeffery is a member of the Fieldhouse Pirates Baseball Club and was able to see some game action with the Pirates last summer. He was working out at the Pirates facility in Burlington last fall until Ontario went into lockdown due to the COVID pandemic.
“That was a tough one because right now even though we’re in lockdown I can go outside and throw but in December I went out and threw a couple of times but it was in the snow,” he said.
Jeffery, who was coached by Greg Carpenter, Chris Jeffery and Luke Phelan with the St. Catharines Cobras and Niagara Falls Falcons before moving to Burlington for two seasons and then Fieldhouse, is a right-handed pitcher who had topped out at 89 miles-per-hour on the radar gun.
He was also a standout volleyball player at Sir Winston where he won a pair OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) silver medals and participated in track and field and badminton.
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