Player Profile: Matt Shaw

As the Royals baseball season approaches their first home game on April 8, the team and coaches start to look for key players to lead the team this year.

Among them, Matt Shaw, senior, captain.

Shaw started playing baseball at age five, and has loved it ever since. As he entered high school he started playing for Hopkins Legion, in addition to the high school team.

Co-captain and senior, Morgan Holmes, has played baseball with Shaw for years and thinks highly of his skill set.

“He has a really good glove [at shortstop],” Holmes said. “His communication is great and he’s a smooth player overall.”

As Shaw prepares to continue his baseball career at St. John’s University, he believes there’s certain things that make him unique among other players.

“My work ethic and dedication to the game sets me apart from other players,” Shaw said.

In his 13 years of playing baseball, Shaw pinpoints one game from his 2016 summer season as one of his favorites.

“[My biggest accomplishment] was beating Wayzata, the number one ranked team in the state, in a legion sub-state game last summer,” Shaw said. “But my ultimate goal is the win state this year.”

No matter the results of the 2017 season, Shaw has a bright future at St. John’s and credits a portion of his growth to baseball.

“Baseball has taught me many valuable life lessons that I can apply to my everyday life,” Shaw said.