VMI catcher grew into role as star behind the plate for Keydets

When Matt Winn played in the outfield, he picked at the grass, watched the sky and waited for something to happen.

That’s what most 10-year-olds do when they start baseball.

“I was really bored with it,” Winn said.

Winn told his father, who moved him to catcher. It’s a tough position with plenty of peril, dirt and kneeling. Winn loved it.

“That’s all I’ve ever done,” he said. “I like being part of the game.”

Winn is one of three finalists for the Johnny Bench Award, which will be presented to the nation’s top college catcher Thursday at the Greater Wichita Sports Banquet. LSU’s Kade Scivicque and Southern Cal’s Garrett Stubbs are the finalists with the usual pedigree from a big-name school and a shelf full of national honors.

Winn played at Virginia Military Institute, where he played on one winning team in four seasons after redshirting. The experience at VMI, a state-supported military college founded in 1839 in Lexington, is one he treasures. Students get up for roll call at 7 a.m. and march to breafast before class at 8 a.m. They wear uniforms to class, roll call for supper is at 7 p.m. and wait for taps at 11:30 p.m. to signal students must be in their rooms for the night.

“It’s given me a work ethic,” Winn said. “Now that I’m done, I couldn’t see myself doing anything different. I knew I didn’t want to go to a normal school and get a normal education. I knew I wanted to get something that would stand out.”

Winn, from Richmond, Va., had to work in the background before he could stand out for the Keydets. He redshirted in 2011, knowing experienced catchers blocked his path and that he needed to get stronger to grow as an offensive threat.

“He could have turned that into a negative,” VMI coach Jonathan Hadra said. “He got a lot better. He caught bullpens every day. His body changed.”

Winn started the next season and hit .220. His hitting clicked late in the season to set up a sophomore year in which he hit .333 with 11 doubles. A bout with mono set him back as a junior, just when pro scouts began evaluating him, and he hit .204 in 44 games in 2014.

“He wasn’t going to let mono be an excuse,” teammate and roomate Eric Mayers said. “He wasn’t supposed to come back for months. But he was still getting his work in. Then he came back earlier than most people.”

Winn returned to form this spring, hitting .304 with 14 home runs, 12 doubles and 39 RBI. In June, San Francisco picked him in the 14th round and he signed quickly.

“He came back this year and his strength had returned,” Hadra said. “He was hitting baseballs out of the yard to all parts of the field.”

While Hadra waited for Winn’s bat to come around, defense kept him in the lineup. He ranks first among VMI catchers with a career fielding percentage of .989, including a single-season record .997 in 2014. He picked off 25 runners in his career and threw out 22 would-be stealers in 2015.

“People stopped running on the kid,” Hadra said. “He would completely shut a running game down.”

Winn and Mayers roomed together for three years and battled for playing time at catcher. They hunted and fished together — Winn specializes in big bucks, Mayers owns the bigger bass trophies. They pushed each to workouts and practices.

“I’m not going to let Matt work out alone,” Mayers said. “Matt’s not taking ‘No’ for an answer. Some people might talk about it. There's others who will get up and do it.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2015 at 3:43 PM with the headline "VMI catcher grew into role as star behind the plate for Keydets."