Homestead’s Carter Mathison has been named the Dick Crumback/Northeast Indiana Baseball Association Player of the Year. Mathison plays outfielder and pitcher for the Spartans. He is the second IHSAA baseball player to be named Crumback Player of the Year; the first was South Adams’ Grant Besser in 2019. Since the 2020 season was canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, there was no award winner last year. Mathison will be recognized at a Fort Wayne TinCaps game this coming June. The specific date is yet to be announced.
“I’m very honored,” Mathison said. “It’s a cool accomplishment to have. I know a lot of my hard work is starting to pay off.”
Mathison has put up big numbers for Homestead. He has hit 16 home runs this season and added 51 RBI’s, eleven doubles, and a .511 batting average. He has hit .618 with runners in scoring position. As a pitcher, Mathison gone 3-0, has thrown 14 2/3 innings, struck out 17 batters, and giving up an ERA of 1.43. He has not committed an error in the field and has recorded two defensive assists.
“I just go out there, and I do my job everyday,” Mathison said. “You know, I just go on the field and perform the way I need to perform.”
Indiana missed out on high school baseball last year due to the Coronavirus pandemic. But missing out on last season didn’t have much effect on Mathison’s preparation for this season.
“It wasn’t too much different,” Mathison said. “One of my big things was just to have as much fun as possible. Losing last season, I didn’t want to take anything for granted this season.”
Mathison gives a great deal of credit to his head coach Nick Byall. Homestead has put winning teams on the field under Byall (who has also served as an assistant coach under Keith Potter Steve Sotir). Byall gave Mathison a chance to join the Spartans’ varsity team early in his high school career.
“It’s been a lot of fun ever since my freshman season when he brought me up to varsity to play against the bigger guys,” Mathison said. “You know I’ve learned a lot; learned how to face guys that are bigger than me, better than me, and it’s been a lot of fun.”
Mathison will play college baseball at Indiana University. The Hoosiers are currently 25-16 and went 40-19 back in 2018. Mathison is excited to have a chance to join the Hoosiers.
“I’m looking forward to it a lot, you know getting to the next level, getting with the coaching, getting with the players down there, and just looking to make myself better each and every day,” Mathison said.
Right now, Mathison and the Spartans are preparing for the sectional playoffs. Homestead is part of the Huntington North sectional (played at Huntington University). They take on South Side in the first round tomorrow at 7 pm. Though the Spartans have a better record than the Archers, they lost to South Side in 2018 and 2019.
“It’s always challenging as we’ve learned in the past,” Mathison said. “You know, you can’t take any game lightly. You can’t take any team lightly. So we’re going to be prepared and we’re going to come out and get the win.”
