Mattingly can play ball
Andy Mattingly’s athletic future appears set. Signed to play football at Washington State University, he said he was recently told at a Cougars practice he’s been penciled in as backup outside linebacker on the depth chart as a true freshman.
Given what has transpired for the Mead multisport standout during his senior Greater Spokane League baseball season, who’s to know what Mattingly’s future may hold.
Not many high school teams have a 6-foot-4, 226-pounder in center field with so active a bat and such startling speed.
Last year Mattingly, who said he’s distantly related to ex-New York Yankees star Don Mattingly, led the GSL in stolen bases and was near the lead in home runs and runs batted in.
Batting leadoff this year, he’s hit safely in six of Mead’s seven GSL games, including three three-hit and two two-hit outings.
Among them are four triples and a home run, which for a time, said coach Jason Reich, gave him a slugging average of 1.500.
Two of the triples came against Ferris, with a bases-loaded blow in the seventh inning deciding a 6-3 upset win to open the season.
On Tuesday he accounted for all four of Mead’s runs in a 4-0 victory at Rogers that improved the Panthers to 5-2 in league.
With power provided by blacksmith-sized forearms and an easy swing, he hit a two-run fifth-inning triple to center field, legging it into a run when the ensuing throw went out of play. His sacrifice fly in the seventh plated the other run.
Not bad for a guy who hadn’t picked up a bat between last season and this. Mattingly reduces it to the simplest of terms: See the ball, hit the ball – hard.
“If I had a chance,” said Mattingly when asked if he would play two sports at WSU, “I would do it. This is a lot of fun.”
Mattingly has been dubbed the “Man-Child” by coaches and peers at Mead.
“He’s a physical specimen for anybody,” football coach Sean Carty said, “but especially for a high school senior.”
A receiver and defensive back, he ranks among Mead’s top season and career statistical leaders on the field and in the weight room, Carty said.
Although he did not see Mark Rypien play at Shadle Park, Carty compares Mattingly to him in all-around athletic ability. Mattingly’s edge is his 4.6-second 40-yard dash ability.
He played some running back during last fall’s state playoffs. During a summer 7-on-7 game he threw five touchdowns as quarterback and was Mead’s back-up.
“We could have put him at guard,” Carty said. “But what do you do? You can’t have him everywhere.”
It did take a while, Carty admitted, before he realized the Panthers had something special.
“Not until his junior year did I wake up,” he said.
Always big for his age, Mattingly will letter all three years in football, basketball and baseball at Mead. He played all three since he was little, focusing on football since fifth grade.
“I like to catch the ball and run,” he said, “but I like to hit people the most.”
Initially this year he didn’t turn out for basketball, but rejoined the team six games into the season.
“I could lift and had five hours to do homework, but it wasn’t working out,” he said. “I was getting really bored.”
He fouled out five times in 15 games – “I used them all and they were good,” Mattingly said – but he also rebounded and provided intensity and leadership for the playoff-qualifying Panthers.
This spring in baseball, he convinced coaches to let him bat first in the lineup after hitting cleanup the previous season.”There’s nobody in front of you and you can steal all the way around,” Mattingly said.
But it hasn’t prevented him from driving in runs. Mattingly’s athletic ability has taken him far in baseball, said Reich, for a player who hasn’t spent much time at the game, relying instead on raw talent.
So, could Mattingly become good enough to play football and baseball at WSU?
“It boils down to what (WSU football coach) Bill Doba wants,” Reich said. “Andy’s certainly saved our bacon quite a few times.”