Greene: From Mop Up To Clean Up

senior athlete Matt Greene has experienced state championships in two different sports with two very different roles.

In baseball, Greene batted .400 and was an All-Area outfielder on the Whalers' 2009 Class M state title team.

This past winter in basketball, Greene was a reserve guard on the Whalers' Class L championships and No. 1 ranked team, only playing in the second half, hitting a rare 3-pointer here or a 15-foot jumper there, when the score was out of reach.

Very few scholastic athletes have experienced such opposite end of the spectrum status on championship teams. For Greene, who leads the Whaler baseball team into their season opener 3:30 today against NFA at home, both diverse roles have been educational and enjoyable in their own right.

"It's frustrating not playing because I've never sat on the bench on any team," Greene said. "I knew I wasn't going to play on the basketball team because of the talent, but I developed an appreciation for kids on the bench and I love being a part of winning."

Greene understandably takes pride in being part of New London's baseball revival. The Whalers, who owned a rich baseball heritage with four state titles under former coach Gil Varjas in the '70s, '80s and '90s, underwent average to lean years around the year 2000 and beyond until Greene and his contemporaries hit the scholastic scene.

New London went 10-10 when Greene was a part-time freshman starter in 2008. In Wheeler's first season as coach in 2009, senior pitcher Luis Sanchez junior utility man Yohendy Gonzalez were leaders of the state title team with Greene, Crespo, catcher Ed Sierra and infielder A.J. Turnier playing prominent roles.

Last year, the Whalers won 15 games and reached the ECC Final despite getting off to a slow start.

"In eighth grade I went to a couple of games and New London was struggling a little bit," Greene said. "The group I played with as a kid had success and we knew we could come up here and have some success. Hopefully we'll have another successful year."

Greene enters his senior baseball season as one of the area's best players, and he's headed for Division III powerhouse Eastern Connecticut State University. The anonymity of playing as a 10th man on a basketball powerhouse was not a comedown for him, rather an opportunity to experience a different side of team sports and, perhaps more importantly, stay in shape.

"I didn't play basketball as a junior, concentrating on lifting weights," Greene said. "As a result, my weight wasn't really great for baseball. With all the running we do in basketball, I'm in a lot better shape now."

Greene batted third primarily and clean up at times during NL's 21-3 title run in 2009 and was again a middle-of-the-order hitter while batting .350 last year in what was somewhat a disappointing 15-10 NL season. Coach Mike Wheeler told him he's leading off this year - a tribute to his improved athleticism thanks to basketball.

"I take my pitches and can work the count if I need to," Greene said. "I want to bat over .400 with some extra base power, but ultimately I just want to win. If I hit .190 and we win, I'll be happy, but it will be tougher to win if I don't hit."

Greene joins junior catcher Nova Crespo as an All-Area caliber baseball player and key member of the '09 state title baseball team. Crespo, a .420 hitter last year, also was a New London basketball reserve, playing mostly junior varsity ball.

"I think they both understand the importance of the whole team and that even though they did not contribute significant minutes in basketball, they were a part of something bigger," Wheeler said. "Besides, everyone wants to be a part of the State Championship team."

New London projects as one of the ECC's best teams in a wide-open league, void of established All-State players and pitchers that area baseball is known for year in and year out. ECC champ East Lyme, which nipped New London in the title game, 4-3 last year, graduated many seniors. Fitch and Waterford also have suffered numerous graduation losses, leaving New London, with 10 seniors, and Montville, a defending Class M state champ with returning talent, as the best teams on paper.

"The ECC has some uncertainty," Wheeler said. "For a lot of teams, pitching will be an adventure. Matt and Nova can be two of the better players in the league, and we could have the best pitcher in Edgard Santiago, a lefty who can throw in the mid '80s, and a good hitter."

New London boasts experience everywhere on the diamond with senior Greene, Juan Cruz at shortstop, Dakwan Alger at first base, Andrew Foster in the outfield and juniors Crespo at catcher and Reynaldo Sierra in the outfield.Greene thinks the Whalers can recapture some of their 2009 magic.

"In my sophomore year, all of those kids, we played together as youth players," Greene said. "In the beginning of the year, we all agreed we wouldn't be satisfied if we didn't win a state championship. Nobody else could fathom that we could do it, but we did. It was really an outstanding run, and I think this team can make that run as well."