Senior Spotlight: Matt Green, Liam Steigerwald, Jacob Talamante
5/7/2020 11:27:00 AM | Baseball
Twice weekly we will highlight spring sport senior athletes on their careers at Saint Mary's.
Rounding out our feature of senior baseball players is a trio of Gaels who each came to Saint Mary's from different paths, but all ended up on the same 2019-20 team together. Despite vast differences in journeys, the common thread from all three was the exact same: this year's team was special.
Matt Green came from a high school program known for producing talent. Ever heard of Evan Longoria and Nomar Garciaparra? St. John Bosco in Bellflower is a long way away from Saint Mary's College, and Green had never heard of SMC until he arrived. Five years later, Green is gracious of his time in Navy and Red. With one season spent as a freshman redshirt, Green amassed 57 hits across four years on the active roster, including his only home run in April 2019 against San Jose State. He knocked in 29 runs and put up a career-best eight doubles during the 2018 season.
An observation Green had about his redshirt senior season in 2020 was that it was different from year's past, but in a good way. "The first few weeks I felt like a freshman all over again because I was trying to figure out how the new coaches run things," said Green of reacting to a new coaching staff. "The coaches give the players much more responsibility and they call it a 'player-driven program,' meaning a lot of responsibility falls on the seniors. It was fun figuring out what we should and should not do as senior leaders and I'm glad to say that I think we were starting to get it really figured out."
Any baseball player can say right away a memory that comes to mind as a favorite, but what Green mentioned as his was a bit unique. Still, any ballplayer or baseball staff worker can relate to a memory from two years ago. "We were pulling the tarp off the field and it was extremely windy. The wind got under the tarp and pulled it from our hands and it ended up on top of the right field wall, close to blowing out of our field. I have a ton of great memories, but this is the first one that comes to mind. It is still one of the funniest experiences of my life."
Liam Steigerwald may have only been a Gael for one season, but he made the most out of his senior campaign. Transferring from baseball-powerhouse UC Santa Barbara, Steigerwald was a reliable option out of the bullpen for head coach Greg Moore. Appearing in seven games, Steigerwald held opponents to just eight hits in 13.1 innings, with an earned run average of 2.02. He won a pair of decisions and picked up a save, while tossing multiple innings in five of his seven outings.
It was a return home of sorts for Steigerwald, who calls San Ramon home. "Saint Mary's checked all the boxes for me when I was looking for programs to graduate transfer to last year," Steigerwald explained about his decision to change locations. "The combination of athletics, academics, culture, and location makes SMC special."
Ending his time with a 3.32 grade point average, earning himself scholar-athlete status, Steigerwald made his impact felt not just at Louis Guisto Field, but also in the classroom. Especially in our current situation with COVID-19, animal shelters have seen an increase in adoptions. During the school year, Steigerwald and some classmates did their part in finding homes for a few loving animals. "I was a part of a team that hosted an educational event at an animal shelter," said Steigerwald. "The event was a success, which led to countless donations along with multiple dogs being adopted."
Of this group of three seniors, Jacob Talamante is the lone senior not from California, as he calls Phoenix, Arizona home. After spending three seasons primarily as a pinch-runner and defensive specialist, Talamante got his chance to shine during the 2020 season. Appearing in all but one game, he recorded a .269 average (while also seeing time in the leadoff spot), drove in his first two runs, and picked up 14 hits while scoring seven times. He also proved to be one of the more versatile Gaels in the lineup, seeing time anywhere from the leadoff and second spot, down to the eighth and ninth spots in the order, producing at every level.
His playing career almost never happened at Saint Mary's, as Talamante was not a major recruit to SMC. "I came to Saint Mary's without anything guaranteed for my playing career," recalls Talamante. "The coaching staff took a chance on me and I probably surprised them a little bit. I think about going from an extremely limited role in 2017 to playing in a majority of our games in 2018 as a role player to eventually getting to where I was this year as an everyday starter and hitting at the top of our lineup. I think about where I started this journey at and where I am now, that's something that I'm proud of that I was able to establish myself and give myself the chance to become an everyday starter and our leadoff hitter."
Putting a bow on comments about this team came together for what eventually was a shortened season, Talamante gave all the credit to the returning players. "I think anytime a team can gel easily or get along well it's because of the guys that have already spent time at the program," Talamante explained. "I'd credit that to all of our returners in building the culture that has been established at our program. Adversity brings people together and our offense went through that a bit early in the season and I felt like we hit our stride in the last week of the season and unfortunately it was cut short, but I believe our offense was just picking up."
Thank you for tuning in every week for our Senior Spotlight features. A special thank you to all the seniors who took time responding to inquiries for quotes and stories about their time at Saint Mary's. We thank you for all the work you've put into your respective sports and in the classroom to show that, in fact, #GaelsRise.
Rounding out our feature of senior baseball players is a trio of Gaels who each came to Saint Mary's from different paths, but all ended up on the same 2019-20 team together. Despite vast differences in journeys, the common thread from all three was the exact same: this year's team was special.
Matt Green came from a high school program known for producing talent. Ever heard of Evan Longoria and Nomar Garciaparra? St. John Bosco in Bellflower is a long way away from Saint Mary's College, and Green had never heard of SMC until he arrived. Five years later, Green is gracious of his time in Navy and Red. With one season spent as a freshman redshirt, Green amassed 57 hits across four years on the active roster, including his only home run in April 2019 against San Jose State. He knocked in 29 runs and put up a career-best eight doubles during the 2018 season.
An observation Green had about his redshirt senior season in 2020 was that it was different from year's past, but in a good way. "The first few weeks I felt like a freshman all over again because I was trying to figure out how the new coaches run things," said Green of reacting to a new coaching staff. "The coaches give the players much more responsibility and they call it a 'player-driven program,' meaning a lot of responsibility falls on the seniors. It was fun figuring out what we should and should not do as senior leaders and I'm glad to say that I think we were starting to get it really figured out."
Any baseball player can say right away a memory that comes to mind as a favorite, but what Green mentioned as his was a bit unique. Still, any ballplayer or baseball staff worker can relate to a memory from two years ago. "We were pulling the tarp off the field and it was extremely windy. The wind got under the tarp and pulled it from our hands and it ended up on top of the right field wall, close to blowing out of our field. I have a ton of great memories, but this is the first one that comes to mind. It is still one of the funniest experiences of my life."
Liam Steigerwald may have only been a Gael for one season, but he made the most out of his senior campaign. Transferring from baseball-powerhouse UC Santa Barbara, Steigerwald was a reliable option out of the bullpen for head coach Greg Moore. Appearing in seven games, Steigerwald held opponents to just eight hits in 13.1 innings, with an earned run average of 2.02. He won a pair of decisions and picked up a save, while tossing multiple innings in five of his seven outings.
It was a return home of sorts for Steigerwald, who calls San Ramon home. "Saint Mary's checked all the boxes for me when I was looking for programs to graduate transfer to last year," Steigerwald explained about his decision to change locations. "The combination of athletics, academics, culture, and location makes SMC special."
Ending his time with a 3.32 grade point average, earning himself scholar-athlete status, Steigerwald made his impact felt not just at Louis Guisto Field, but also in the classroom. Especially in our current situation with COVID-19, animal shelters have seen an increase in adoptions. During the school year, Steigerwald and some classmates did their part in finding homes for a few loving animals. "I was a part of a team that hosted an educational event at an animal shelter," said Steigerwald. "The event was a success, which led to countless donations along with multiple dogs being adopted."
Of this group of three seniors, Jacob Talamante is the lone senior not from California, as he calls Phoenix, Arizona home. After spending three seasons primarily as a pinch-runner and defensive specialist, Talamante got his chance to shine during the 2020 season. Appearing in all but one game, he recorded a .269 average (while also seeing time in the leadoff spot), drove in his first two runs, and picked up 14 hits while scoring seven times. He also proved to be one of the more versatile Gaels in the lineup, seeing time anywhere from the leadoff and second spot, down to the eighth and ninth spots in the order, producing at every level.
His playing career almost never happened at Saint Mary's, as Talamante was not a major recruit to SMC. "I came to Saint Mary's without anything guaranteed for my playing career," recalls Talamante. "The coaching staff took a chance on me and I probably surprised them a little bit. I think about going from an extremely limited role in 2017 to playing in a majority of our games in 2018 as a role player to eventually getting to where I was this year as an everyday starter and hitting at the top of our lineup. I think about where I started this journey at and where I am now, that's something that I'm proud of that I was able to establish myself and give myself the chance to become an everyday starter and our leadoff hitter."
Putting a bow on comments about this team came together for what eventually was a shortened season, Talamante gave all the credit to the returning players. "I think anytime a team can gel easily or get along well it's because of the guys that have already spent time at the program," Talamante explained. "I'd credit that to all of our returners in building the culture that has been established at our program. Adversity brings people together and our offense went through that a bit early in the season and I felt like we hit our stride in the last week of the season and unfortunately it was cut short, but I believe our offense was just picking up."
Thank you for tuning in every week for our Senior Spotlight features. A special thank you to all the seniors who took time responding to inquiries for quotes and stories about their time at Saint Mary's. We thank you for all the work you've put into your respective sports and in the classroom to show that, in fact, #GaelsRise.
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