Clovis' Woodbury signs with South Carolina junior college

As part of a military family, Matt Woodbury is more than accustomed to only spending a few years at an elementary school before moving on.

With that in mind, his college baseball experience should be a relatively smooth transition, as the Clovis High senior committed to Spartanburg Methodist College in Spartanburg, S.C.

The 6-foot-5 Woodbury, who pitched and played first base for the Wildcats, is hoping he can make an impact in the Pioneer rotation.

"I loved the school, I really liked the pitching coach," Woodbury said. "I really felt at home when I was there. I'm from the area, and I'll be close to my family."

He chose the Pioneers over Francis Marion University, another South Carolina school, the University of New Mexico and Florence-Darlington Tech in Massachusetts.

Woodbury, who previously played in Colorado Springs before his family moved to Cannon for an assignment, said he made huge developmental leaps with former Clovis coach Drew Hatley — who resigned his baseball coaching position last week as a result of what Clovis High officials will not discuss beyond noting it was a disciplinary issue.

Assistant coach T.C. Nusser said the coaching staff never had to worry about Woodbury not giving a full effort.

"At every opportunity, he wanted to have the ball in his hand," Nusser said. "You've got to have that competitiveness. Most of the great ones have that in them.

"He's going to do whatever you ask, give 110 percent."

The Wildcats finished the season 10-17 this season. They were seeded 15th in the Class 5A state tournament, where they were knocked out by eventual state semifinalist La Cueva.

Woodbury, who hopes to either play Division I or be selected in Major league draft following his two years at Spartanburg, added that playing for the Wildcats should aid him in college.

"I felt like it was kind of a college prepping program, because of the distance we had to go to play," Woodbury said. "In my last school, our farthest game was 45 minutes away. Here, the closest game we had was two hours away."

The Pioneers are 43-15 on the season, and won the National Junior College Athletic Association Region X championship last week over South Carolina-Sumter. They now face Region 20 champion Harford Community College in a three-game series for the right to advance to the NJCAA JUCO World Series.

Pioneers coach Tim Wallace, who is also the school's athletic director, could not be reached for comment Thursday night.