Featured Alumni - Matt Curley

AN OFFICER, GENTLEMAN & BASEBALL PLAYER

April, 2009

The journey Matt Curley has taken from Hyde Park to the South Shore Baseball Club, B.C. High School and now the U.S. Naval Academy is just the beginning and could end-up in the Pentagon.

Curley, who with six years as a Seadogs/AAU travel team player is one shy of the all-time record, was looking for an alternate to playing summer ball in Boston when he found SSBC. He started working with the late Chris Duffy and describes those days as, “The best times of my life. I was able to go from an average baseball player to the next level. I wouldn’t have played for B.C. High or had a college baseball career if not for the Seadogs.”

Matt played mostly catcher for the Seadogs, although he also patrolled centerfield and saw service at shortstop a few times. “It wasn’t jut playing baseball, it was the entire Seadogs’ experience I enjoyed so much,” Curley added. “Two of my best friends – Dan Capeless (Georgetown) and Chris Kolwalski (Boston College) -- I met playing for the 13-and-under and 12-and-under (respectively) Seadogs teams. We will be friends for life. We have 3-way phone conversations at least twice a month. Dan will be my best man some day.”

For now, though, Curley’s a junior second baseman for Navy. Coming out of B.C. High, Matt had several college options to play baseball, including Holy Cross and Seton Hall. He aspired to play at Boston College (“It thought it would be cool to be a double Eagle”) but he was immediately enamored seeing the Naval Academy for the first time. While playing in a tournament at Wake Forest during the summer before his senior year of high school, Matt was first contacted by representatives of Navy’s baseball team.

“I didn’t even know where it was,” Curley laughed and claimed. “Any of my friends will tell you that I would have been the last kid they thought would go to a military school. I had no military background in my family, none at all, but when I went there on my official visit, I fell in love with it. Annapolis (Maryland) is a beautiful city. Everything was great about the school – class rooms, halls, people and most of all its history. It helped that the baseball program was being rebuilt and my coach (Paul Kostacopoulos) was new. I was in his first recruiting class. There’s a new stadium and new hitting complex, but, first and foremost, it’s one of the top 10 academic institutions, which was most important to me.”

A political science major, Curley will be an officer (Ensign) upon graduation and, technically speaking, he’s already actively serving his country in the military. After sophomore years, Naval Academy students sign a “letter of intent,” called a 2 for 7, in which, they agree to finish two more years of school and then serve 4-5 years of active duty in the Navy. They aren’t necessarily assigned to a ship and, in Matt’s case, with his major interests in intelligence and public relations, he could end-up be assigned to the Pentagon.

“I take it one day at a time and can’t tell you what I’ll be doing in 15 years,” the 21-year-old Curley answered a question about whether he’ll be a Navy lifer. “I can tell you that I’ll be in good standing. In 20 years, whether I’m still in the Navy or not, my degree from the Naval Academy means I will always have access to an unbelievable network. Even in a bad economy, I’ll be assured of a good job.”

As Navy’s starting second baseman this season, Curley is batting .262 with one home run and 12 runs batted in through Navy’s first 30 games (12-17-1). Everything is the same for Navy players as those from non-military colleges playing baseball, except Matt and his teammates travel to games in full uniform, blue or white, depending on the season. Sharp and chicks love men in uniforms.

Despite natural questions about staying at the U.S. Naval Academy during vulnerable times away from home, Matt Curley would do it all over again the same way. “I have no regrets at all,” he concluded. “It’s been challenging from the start, but I’ve taken everything one day at a time. Sure, I’ve struggled and thought a few times about leaving, but the good here far out weighs the tough times.

“Playing structured ball for the Seadogs and attending B.C. High helped me prepare for the discipline here. Hey, SSBC’s slogan is ‘Where the Dream Begins” and my dreams began at the South Shore Baseball Club.”

One last bit of information, Matt's younger brother Nathan is a current member of the Seadogs 10-and-Under GOLD squad. So, let the flashbacks begin!

Featured Alumni - Matt Curley

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