[X]press goes off the field with the SF State men’s baseball team captain, Matt Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh has lead the Gators with his .339 batting average, 19 doubles, and 41 RBIs, and was also tied for leading the team with 57 hits and seven home runs. He also lead the CCAA in doubles.

[X]press: You played baseball for two other schools before settling down at SF State. Why did you leave those schools?

Matt Kavanaugh: Out of high school, I signed a scholarship with the University of the Pacific and there was a coaching change right before I got there. As I played a season of baseball there, I realized that would not be a good fit for me for four years. When I left UOP, Cal and Santa Clara University both were interested in having me play for them, but I decided to go to junior college [Butte College] so I could start right away and play catcher.

[X]: What other sports did you play?

MK: I played football for De La Salle High School. We won 151 games in a row. I was part of two national championship teams and ended up being the starting outside linebacker and free safety my junior year, and strong safety my senior year. I really love the game of football and the togetherness of the team. It’s all about brothers out there.

[X]: What other things do you like to do in your free time?

MK: I’m a big time hunter. I’ve gone deer, elk, boar, turkey, pheasant, and duck hunting. It’s just something I like to do with my dad because he’s one of my best friends. All year long, I’m playing baseball. I don’t get much time to see him or spend time with him. I love to fish all the time too. It makes me calm and feel at peace.

[X]: When did you start playing baseball?

MK: I was about five years old. As soon as I could pick up a bat, I was hitting a ball. I started catching when I was nine because my dad was the coach of a 10 to 12-year-old major league team, and I got picked up there as a nine-year-old just ‘cause of my arm.

[X]: What’s so special about your arm?

MK: I wouldn’t say there’s anything special, but ever since I was little I’ve always had a really good arm. I pitched a little throughout high school and my first year of college for UOP. I could throw lower to mid 90s but I was not accurate. I’ve always been able to throw a baseball as hard as anyone else out there and that’s what’s turned me into a pretty good catcher.

[X]: Tell us more about your injury.

MK: This injury first started in the fall of 2004, my first year of junior college. I tore the labrum in my right shoulder. I rehabbed every single day in the fall there. The injury started to get progressively worse as the years went on. Then my second year at SF State, first game of the year, I made an off-balance throw down to third, just trying to do a little too much there on the field, and I hurt my shoulder. I couldn’t even move my arm for a couple days straight. I realized that I couldn’t really help out the team defensively and I’m just going to be an offensive player ‘cause that’s not helping the team, so I decided to take a red shirt and have surgery.

[X]: How has the rehabilitation process been?

MK: I’ve been rehabbing daily with our trainers since February 2007. I’m working with our trainer, Mark, quite heavily with a rehab program, and it’s a daily struggle because every day it’s different pains. I gotta see my doctors all the time. It’s something different every single week, you gotta stay on top of it and fight through it. When you wake up in the morning, you gotta stretch out your shoulder. When you go to bed, you gotta make sure you either have just iced it. You gotta take your Advil throughout the day. You gotta have Mark stretch you out. So it’s not easy, but I’m not gonna act like it’s the worst thing in the world ‘cause there’s a lot of worse things out there. It’s just something I gotta deal with to get to the next level.

[X]: What keeps you motivated to continue playing through tough seasons?

MK: The ongoing motivation I have to continue playing, especially with a team that doesn’t have the numbers that other teams might have, is that we’ve put so much blood, sweat, and tears into everything we have. I think the character is there in all of our team. Now it’s just a matter of executing and doing the little things. But no matter what our record says, I don’t care if we’ve never won a game, I would never ever turn my back on these guys.