With MLB draft on the horizon, Pine-Richland grad Matt Wood slugging at Penn State

The 2022 college baseball season is big for Matt Wood for numerous reasons.

It’s the draft-eligible year for the Pine-Richland grad ,and his name is popping up on plenty of scouting services as someone who will be selected by an MLB team in the first 10 rounds.

That’s a humbling notion for Wood, but his main goal is being a part of the renaissance of the Penn State program.

Wood’s play in the early going has helped in both regards.

He celebrated his 21st birthday March 1 with the honor of being named the Big Ten Player of the Week after collecting five hits in a three-game weekend series against Maine.

It was a weekend that certainly didn’t hurt his draft stock and helped Penn State take two of three games against the Black Bears.

“Every kid dreams about it, and I’m working towards the opportunity if it presents itself, but right now my focus is (at Penn State),” Wood said about the potential of being drafted.

“Not many people have the opportunity to play professional baseball, but that’s also true for college baseball. I’m trying to soak in this experience because it has the potential to be something great. I do pay attention to (the draft), because it’s something present in my life, but at the same time almost all of my attention is focused on pushing (Penn State) forward.”

Through seven games, Wood hit .458 with three homers, two doubles and nine RBIs. Add in six walks, and his on base percentage is over .500.

It’s not a surprise for Penn State coach Rob Cooper to see Wood succeed. He got a good illustration of Wood’s character early on. A week after Wood committed to the program, Cooper’s oldest son, Tyson, committed to Penn State and both of them are catchers.

Competing against a coach’s son for playing time may have warded off some recruits, but Wood didn’t bat an eye.

“The first person to reach out to Tyson was Matt Wood,” Cooper said. “I think it speaks to his want to be really good and his desire for competition. I think there’s some kids out there that would’ve said ‘wait a minute…the coach’s kid is a catcher, too?’ It’s important to understand about Matt is that he is very competitive and has great confidence in his own ability.”

An example of Wood’s competitiveness was his determination to improve his arm strength behind the plate to pair with what Cooper described as exceptional receiving and pop-time skills.

Wood spent last summer playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League and went to work on his arm strength.

“He went and played in one of the tougher summer leagues, and it’s hard to improve your arm strength when you play every single day, but he did,” Cooper said. “I wouldn’t even have called it a knock, because he’s so good glove to hand and with his footwork throwing down, but the one thing that some people may say he needed to get better at, he did.”

Wood reiterated several times that he takes a lot of pride in playing for Penn State. Another source of pride for him is being a part of a trio of former Pine-Richland players that plays baseball at Division I programs with Troy LaNeve (Vanderbilt) and Josh Johnson (Kent State).

The three of them have been best friends since they were 10 years old and still communicate often.

“It’s crazy to think about because we’ve been dreaming about this since we were kids,” Wood said. “Just to see how hard they’ve worked and their success has been surreal. I talk to those guys all the time. When we’re at home we’re training together. Our goal is to play against each other in the postseason. It would be pretty cool if we all were in the same regional.”