Sports

Schmidt Takes on 'Double-Duty' at MCC

Two-sport athlete gets ready for baseball while focusing on the basketball post-season.

Matt Schmidt is a very busy student-athlete these days. In addition to classes at McHenry County College, Schmidt has been practicing with the baseball team which begins play Feb. 24 in Tennessee.

This past January he also added basketball to his daily agenda, joining the Scots’ team for the second half of the season that included the grueling Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference and the upcoming postseason schedule.

Schmidt believes it’s a labor of love.

Find out what's happening in Crystal Lake-Carywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“It’s most definitely time-consuming and hard on the body but as long as you remain healthy, stay focused on your goals and with what you are trying to do academically, it’s doable. Time management is the key,” Schmidt said. “It’s not really as hard as people think but it’s a challenging experience. If however you love to do both sports, it’s not that difficult. As long as I have the opportunity to double-up, I’m planning to play two sports.”

Matt “Double-Duty” Schmidt added that his day starts at 8:30 a.m. with classes, up until baseball practice begins around noon, followed shortly thereafter by basketball practice. Schmidt, who is a first baseman/pitcher and occasional outfielder in baseball and a shooting guard in basketball, continued by saying that the two sports together help to keep him in good physical condition.

Find out what's happening in Crystal Lake-Carywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Basketball does help to keep my legs in shape and helps my aerobic conditioning, that’s a key. As far as baseball pre-season weight training and conditioning, we’re just trying to maintain our levels at this time, since the start of the season is here,” Schmidt said. “The dual sports definitely keep me in shape and the throwing and shooting both help my upper body strength. I’m able to go in there and exercise and condition in basketball as much as needed to also get ready for the baseball season. The two sports go hand-in-hand for me.”

The MCC basketball team is preparing for the playoffs which begin on the road March 1, so that is Schmidt’s primary focus right now. At this time of year there is a slight overlap between the two intercollegiate sports schedules for Schmidt, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

— Wally Reynolds


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here