Matt Doughty: From North Cross Raider To NCAA National Champion

Matt Doughty throws a submarine pitch that has offered a new look for the University of Virginia bullpen.
Matt Doughty throws a submarine pitch that has offered a new look for the University of Virginia bullpen.

Few people saw this coming. Even the athlete himself.

In the spring of 2014, Roanoker Matt Doughty was finishing up his senior year at North Cross School where he had been a standout in both basketball and as a baseball pitcher and infielder for the Raiders.

Doughty had applied to college at Washington & Lee, where he knew he had a chance to play Division III sports, and at UVA in Charlottesville where academics were expected to be his sole focus.

Things changed in a hurry after Doughty heard the answer on his application to the University of Virginia.

“I was waiting for the answer from W&L and was nearing the point of having to put up a binding deposit where I couldn’t back out,” Doughty said during a recent interview. “I had also applied to UVA just to say I had applied there. I didn’t expect it, so it was an incredible moment when the letter came that I had been accepted. I’ve been a UVA fan my whole life, so I knew I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to attend college there. I was totally resigned to just being a student.”

Matt continued baseball that summer as a member of the Roanoke Post 3 American Legion team. That’s where the groundwork was laid out by Post 3 manager Scott Smith to develop a new pitch that would alter Doughty’s future in baseball.

“I had tried throwing submarine-style a little in my junior and senior years at North Cross,” Doughty noted. “It never stuck. Then during the Legion season, Coach Smith said if I was serious about making the change, we’d give it a try. Coach Smith was helpful with everything and instrumental in getting me through the transformation. I had my best success that summer.”

“I had watched Matt play shortstop at North Cross and knew his natural arm level was lower when he threw the ball,” Smith said. “Matt is very athletic, so I told him to take a shot at throwing the submarine pitch as a pitcher. I knew he wouldn’t play at a program like UVa as a position player, but the submarine would give him an advantage and make them look harder at him as a pitcher.”

Smith contacted UVA assistant baseball coach Kevin McMullan to plead the case for Doughty helping the team, and McMullan took Smith’s recommendation seriously. UVA was ready to give Doughty a shot.

“I played on the club team, then they threw me out there with a catcher to go against three of the top Cavalier hitters,” Doughty recalled. “I got all three to ground out and they told me they’d keep me for the full year.”

Doughty made his first career appearance for UVA on April 5th in a ninth inning relief appearance against Louisville and threw one perfect inning in relief at Georgia Tech six days later. He later would pitch in three games in relief at the ACC Tournament, finishing the year with a 2.70 ERA.

Despite an up-and-down regular season plagued by injuries and juggled lineups, the Cavaliers made it back into the College World Series where they had lost to Vanderbilt in the 2014 final. This time around Doughty was a player on the field instead of a fan in the stands as UVA began playing its way through the regionals and super-regional rounds.

“I came to Omaha in 2014 as my graduation present,” Doughty said. “I saw them lose in the national championship game and knew they wanted to take the next step. To come back and work our way through the tournament as a player was an incredible experience. It was really neat to be part of it all.”

“Getting back to Omaha was huge for our team, especially after things weren’t going our way early in the season with injuries and losing close games. Coach O’Connor (UVA head baseball coach Brian O’Connor) kept telling us, ‘We’re still in this…..no one wants to see us.’ We just kept taking it one game at a time.”

The Cavaliers responded by making it to the CWS finals, where they defeated Vanderbilt in the best-two-of-three games national championship. Doughty was in uniform for the winning Cavs when the team stormed the field and accepted the trophy.

Doughty, despite only five appearances this year, made great strides as a freshman. He now looks forward to his future with UVA, as does Cavalier pitching coach Karl Kuhn.

“Matt was a long shot to make the team, and he did,” Kuhn said while visiting Roanoke in late August. “He was a long shot to help us out, and he did. Matt earned his way on the team, we don’t give anybody anything. Matt threw strikes and got outs, which makes him a valuable asset to our bullpen. Plus, he’s an energy-giver to our team.”

“The submarine pitch is his strength and what brought him on the team,” Kuhn added. “It gives a different look to opposing batters who have been seeing pitchers throwing from over the top. Seeing that pitch for the first time as a batter is like trying to write with the wrong hand. I see a great future for Matt as a short reliever for us. If we need a ground ball, Matt’s a guy to go to. The thing to remember about Matt is that he was just a freshman.”

“Coach Kuhn has helped me tremendously,” Doughty says. “He’s hands on, cares about every pitcher and is the best pitching coach I’ve ever known. He analyzes every aspect of the game like a mad scientist.”

Doughty now looks to continue improving in the Cavalier program.

“It’s been a big adjustment,” Matt says of playing at the college level. “You’re playing nearly every day, year-round. And, it’s different pitching in front of so many people. Plus, you miss classes which is hard since UVA is so tough academically. There’s a lot of responsibility.”

Matt credits his parents, Beth and Doug Doughty, as being an integral part of him attending UVa. “My parents have been incredibly supportive with everything,” Matt said. “I’m  planning on majoring in politics with emphasis on leadership and public policy.”

“I’m prepared to give it everything,” Doughty adds. “They took a chance on me. I’m fortunate to be among the small number that gets to play at this level. I still have to pinch myself that this is real.”

Bill Turner

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