Baseball Career Takes EG Alum Matt Streich To New Mexico

Matt Streich grew up playing sports, a lot of sports. While his passion was basketball, his talent pushed him to baseball. He played in East Greenwich Little League, for the Avengers and at Ithaca College. Now, after playing ball in Sweden last summer, Streich will head to New Mexico this spring to play on the Santa Fe Fuegos.

“In Sweden this past summer, there were a couple of Americans on each team. I met another American who was from Arizona,” explained Streich. “He called me up in November out of the blue and said, ‘Hey, there’s this professional team starting up out of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and we’re trying to put a team together.”

It didn’t take long for Streich to decide to say yes to the opportunity. The Fuegos are part of the Pecos League, an independent professional baseball league.

“When I was a kid, all I did was play sports,” said Streich. “I never really saw myself becoming a professional athlete, but I never wanted to stop playing.”

It didn’t hurt that Matt’s dad, Mark Streich, liked baseball so much that he built a batting cage for his kids in his warehouse just off Bald Hill Road.

“My dad played D1 basketball and baseball at Fairleigh Dickinson,” said Streich. “He was invited to a camp with the Phillies — but he had a steady job, so he didn’t go. He regrets not giving it a shot.”

So, after Matt graduated from Ithaca College, he decided to take advantage of the baseball opportunities that came his way. The first one was playing in the summer league in Sweden. Now its baseball in the Pecos League.

“It’s been a great life experience for me,” said Streich. “This summer, it’s going to be a lot of travel. But it’s something I’m going to be very excited for — to see what it’s like to be a professional athlete, the tiredness, the 70-game schedule....”

As for what lies beyond, Streich isn’t sure, other than he wants to remain involved in sports. He’s done a lot of coaching over the years, including a recent stint assisting the EGHS Boys Basketball team. The team didn’t make the playoffs, but it was an opportunity to spend time with his brother, Jeremy, who was on the team.

Matt Streich is happy to pay his dues watching his brother play sports for a change.

“He followed my mother around for a lot of years watching us,” said Matt about Jeremy. “My little brother, he could be better than I am. He’s already farther along than I was at his age.”

Stay tuned. Matt Streich will be blogging for EG Patch from the road so we all can get a taste of life in the big leagues.