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Business News
Blue Springs, MO —
Matt McHenry didn’t think baseball could get much better than his junior year, when he starred on the Blue Springs High School Class 4 state championship team.
The next season was a loss, as the senior underwent delicate surgery to reattach the tendon to the bone in his right arm – the result of a lingering football injury.
“Because of the surgery and missing most of my senior baseball season, I didn’t get many looks,” said McHenry, a 2008 Blue Springs grad who was pleased when NAIA Judson University Christian College (Elgin, Ill.) offered him a scholarship.
“I had talked to a couple of Division II teams and some junior colleges, but they all lost interest after the arm surgery.”
In retrospect, that might be the best thing that ever happened to McHenry, who single-handedly rewrote the Judson record books.
He closed out his career at Judson in style, earning NAIA All-American status in 2012. He is the first All-American player under coach Rich Benjamin, who took over the reins of the baseball program McHenry’s freshman year.
“I’ll never forget the first time I saw the Judson baseball field,” McHenry said. “They didn’t have a fence in left field and they just had a chain link fence for a backstop.
“I was wondering what I’d gotten into, after playing at Blue Springs and (American Legion ball) Hidden Valley Park.”
McHenry enjoyed a solid freshman season, but was homesick and wanted to transfer to a school that had a more advanced baseball program.
That’s when he had a heart-to-heart talk with his coach that not only turned McHenry’s outlook, but the outlook of the entire program.
“I was going to leave,” McHenry said. “But one of my teammates, Zach Williams, told me that if I stayed, I’d break every record in the baseball program. He asked me to go talk to Coach before I made my final decision.”
McHenry took the advice to heart, and had a long talk with the rookie coach.
“I found out we both wanted the same things at Judson,” McHenry said. “We’d never won more than 21 games in a season and our field was pretty much pathetic. But Coach told me all that was going to change, and that I could be a big part of it.”
He was right.
Following that freshman season, a real fence was constructed in left field.
Matt McHenry didn’t think baseball could get much better than his junior year, when he starred on the Blue Springs High School Class 4 state championship team.
The next season was a loss, as the senior underwent delicate surgery to reattach the tendon to the bone in his right arm – the result of a lingering football injury.
“Because of the surgery and missing most of my senior baseball season, I didn’t get many looks,” said McHenry, a 2008 Blue Springs grad who was pleased when NAIA Judson University Christian College (Elgin, Ill.) offered him a scholarship.
“I had talked to a couple of Division II teams and some junior colleges, but they all lost interest after the arm surgery.”
In retrospect, that might be the best thing that ever happened to McHenry, who single-handedly rewrote the Judson record books.
He closed out his career at Judson in style, earning NAIA All-American status in 2012. He is the first All-American player under coach Rich Benjamin, who took over the reins of the baseball program McHenry’s freshman year.
“I’ll never forget the first time I saw the Judson baseball field,” McHenry said. “They didn’t have a fence in left field and they just had a chain link fence for a backstop.
“I was wondering what I’d gotten into, after playing at Blue Springs and (American Legion ball) Hidden Valley Park.”
McHenry enjoyed a solid freshman season, but was homesick and wanted to transfer to a school that had a more advanced baseball program.
That’s when he had a heart-to-heart talk with his coach that not only turned McHenry’s outlook, but the outlook of the entire program.
“I was going to leave,” McHenry said. “But one of my teammates, Zach Williams, told me that if I stayed, I’d break every record in the baseball program. He asked me to go talk to Coach before I made my final decision.”
McHenry took the advice to heart, and had a long talk with the rookie coach.
“I found out we both wanted the same things at Judson,” McHenry said. “We’d never won more than 21 games in a season and our field was pretty much pathetic. But Coach told me all that was going to change, and that I could be a big part of it.”
He was right.
Following that freshman season, a real fence was constructed in left field.
The players worked on the infield his sophomore year, cutting out dirt basepaths, which gave it a more professional look.
“My junior year, someone donated $50,000 and they put up a wood fence around the park and a 10-foot fence in the outfield. And my senior year, we put in foul poles in the outfield and got a professional backstop. It was awesome.”
So were McHenry’s numbers. This past All-American season he led Judson in batting average (.376), at bats (221), doubles (21), home runs (9), hits (83) and RBIs (52).
The right-fielder leaves Judson holding six career records for at-bats (734), hits (245), RBIs (152), runs scored (159), doubles (59) and home runs (21).
McHenry played in 219 career games in four years and leaves with a .334 batting average.
The former high school catcher didn’t just star at the plate as he was named to the All-Christian Collegiate Athletic Conference first-team and was a CCAC Gold Glove award winner. He had a .961 fielding percentage with only four errors. He led the conference in home runs, doubles and total bases.
As part of the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association, McHenry was named the regional Player of the Year and to the NCCAA All-American first-team.
McHenry helped Judson to their first CCAC regular season title and a berth in the NAIA opening round. Judson broke the single-season record for wins for the third year in a row with 47 and also won the program’s first NAIA postseason game over Dakota State. Judson also won a program-best 25 games in the CCAC.
“When you hear those stats, it’s pretty amazing,” McHenry said. “I have so much pride, knowing that I helped lay the cornerstone in a program that is going to continue having great success.”
He also graduated in four years, and in a month leaves for the Virgin Islands where he landed a banking job.
“I have a job!” he said enthusiastically. “That might be the best part of all of this. My mom’s in banking, and she knew some people on the Island of St. Croix, in the American Virgin Islands. It’s a dream job in a dream location.
“Talk about a win-win situation, I’m living it.”
