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To All Aspiring Collegiate Baseball Players—
My name is Matt Byrne and I pitched for Saint Michael’s College (D 2 , Vermont) from 1998-2002. Roughly 10 yrs ago I was in the tough position many of you were in—choosing the right academic/athletic experience that would suit me not only in the short term…but moving forward into my life afterwards. Having completed the single most amazing experience of my life in 2002….I am here to share whatever information that I can to you all about the Saint Michael’s College Baseball experience.

After looking at many amazing programs throughout my search---everything from D1 schools such as Providence College and the University of Vermont to D2 schools such as Bryant University and UMASS Lowell to D3 schools such as Middlebury College and Colby College….I found that the single most appealing, exciting and fulfilling experience OVERALL could be found at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester VT. Saint Michael’s provided the perfect blend for me…an amazing community, vibrant atmosphere, nationally recognized top notch faculty/academics, beautiful campus nestled in the green mountains and minutes from the great college city of Burlington, fantastic athletic facilities and easily one of the best baseball fields I have ever played on (Doc Jacob’s Field). At Saint Michael’s….academics were always stressed over athletics….yet we worked extremely hard…and we were all rewarded w/ a simply amazing collegiate baseball experience.





I highly recommend that any of you who are currently still in limbo w/ your college choice to contact new SMC Head Baseball Coach Seth Cole. Seth takes over this year for Perry Bove…who departed after 17 great seasons. Seth is very upbeat about the future of the program and is really looking to recruit aggressively both in the Northeast and throughout the East Coast and the rest of the country. I am helping Coach Cole w/ some recruiting now as we are looking to bring highly committed student athletes to our campus in Vermont to show you all what we have to offer. Please contact me directly at mbyrne@smcvt.edu should you have any questions about the program and/or the institution. I would be happy to personally contact Coach Cole for you…and also to send you information and pictures of our athletic facilities, baseball experience, field etc.

Almost four full years removed from making the decision to attend Saint Michael’s….I still consider it the best decision I have ever made in my entire life. I would choose it again tomorrow if somebody said I could play/go anywhere I wanted to in the country. I look forward to sharing my experiences w/ you all and to hopefully helping some of you live out the great experience that I was lucky enough to have had….

On behalf of the entire Saint Michael’s College Baseball program we wish you all the best and look forward to hearing from you. Saint Michael’s College is a very special place…and if you are looking for a COMPLETE and rewarding college experience which will benefit you for life…please contact us because we are committed to bringing in quality individuals and hard working baseball players to our institution.

Regards,
Matt

Go Purple Knights

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Hi Tom!!!!
WOW it is great to hear from you. So funny I cross your path today as I was JUST speaking with our head coach about the experience I had attending your showcase!!! I had an amazing 4 yrs at Saint Michael's...truly just loved my total experience there both on/off the field and in the classroom...and I'm just out here now doing some recruiting on the side trying to sell kids on having the same great experience that I did. PLEASE CONTACT me directly anytime if you have anybody who may be interested in playing some ball @ Saint Michael's...we are playing a pretty mixed schedule these days and are very excited about the future (my Coach -Perry Bove- @ SMC just left after 17 yrs and they kept the job w/in the family and gave it to SETH COLE (class of 01))...

Wow. Great to hear from you. Look forward to being in close touch! We're lookin for a few arms for next yr and yrs beyond!
Matt
Some great collegiate games for us last night at the beautiful LeLaucher Park in Lowell MA against UMASS-Lowell. Playing in 30 degree temps and our first time out of the fieldhouse we hung neck and neck w/ UML both games...eventually losing game one 4-2 (had bases loaded and one of our guys went down on strikes) and game 2 we lost big...but it was 2-1 going into the 6th. Very proud of our guys.
I'll share my non - baseball review.

St Mike's offers a terrific liberal arts education, Catholic but not 'overwhelming' in that aspect so non-Catholics feel very comfortable. If there was such a thing as a 'happiness factor' I think this campus would get a 9 out of 10 on that. They just seem to be so grounded, have focus, love the school and faculty, the town is an amazing place to go to college. UVM, St Mikes and Champlain in one town adds up to a diverse college mix of kids, and Burlington is a great college town. Bars have great music, the local indie music scene is strong, the town has a very nice artsy vibe.


I see it as a great place to grow.... faculty will know your kid, administrators really care, the admissions staff is great, students are into a healthy Vermont lifestyle for the most part.

Oh yeah, great skiiing of course. But we don't let our ball players do that and risk te broken bones, right??? (just kidding!)
St. Mike's is also a good example of a school that is D2 yet has 0 baseball scholarships to offer. I believe the school is still WELL worth a look as they have generous merit and aid offers available to the general student body. I don't believe I have spoken to a single student or graduate who does not sing its praises.

Just want to point out that D2 does not automatically guarantee the availability of baseball scholarship money. The NE10 Conference requires bas ketball scholarships to qualify for the conference, but no other sports there have them from what the coach told us.

Again, a great up and coming program that is just rejoining the NE10 in full.

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