As a member of the Punxsutawney Chucks, he wore No. 8. On Tuesday, John Matthews — a member of the Class of 2016 at Punxsutawney Area High School — was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball Draft.
Matthews, pictured here in the on-deck circle of a game back in 2015 for the Chucks, put aside the bat over time at the collegiate level and went on to focus solely on his pitching game at Kent State. His development there led to his selection by the Rangers on Tuesday.
Matthews was especially strong down the stretch for the Golden Flashes, scoring wins in six of his last seven appearances. He ended up allowing just 47 earned runs on 73 hits in more than 77 innings of work this year, walking just 25 and striking out 91.