By: Bradley Dilling

 

The Unthinkable

            Matthew Finley left behind all of his friends and family in hopes of attaining a degree in business, but to this day he continues to question this definitive decision. With growing up in Texas his entire life, Finley is now a sophomore at the University of Oregon. Although being admitted to the University of Oregon is a tremendous accomplishment, he has had a difficult time adapting to this drastic change. Finley continues to reminisce about his senior year of baseball at Grapevine High School. A year that brought a series of events and heartache that has altered his life forever.

Baseball has been Matthew Finley’s drive in life ever since he was little. In May of 2015, the Grapevine Mustangs finished a successful regular season and were now playing for a state championship. Now being matched up against Arlington High School in a best-of-three series, it was all or nothing. Game one went in favor of Arlington and reality started to sink in, as this next game could be his last. “The second game had a weird vibe” Finley says, “and just from the smell of the air, something didn’t seem right.” Going into game two, Finley and the Mustangs left their hearts out on the field, but it wasn’t enough. The unthinkable had happened. Grapevine was on the losing end of a 7-0 score and everything started to sink in. Filled with emotion, Finley started questioning his desire to ever play baseball again. “Before the game had ended I knew I didn’t want to play baseball anymore” Finley says reminiscing, “I did everything for that specific group of guys and without them I truly didn’t want to keep playing.” Drake Adair, former teammate of Matthew, adds, “I’ve never seen him so crushed before. That team was special. We all were numb from the ending result of that season.” With his previous determination to make baseball a career, Finley was presented a scholarship to play baseball for Vernon College. Optimistic about professional baseball, he decided to commit to Vernon College, but fate had another idea in mind. Plagued by nagging injuries, Finley’s body simply couldn’t hold up and ultimately enforced his decision to give up baseball.

In addition to being a student at the University of Oregon, his love for baseball will always endure. Although injuries decimated his future with baseball, Finley still thinks highly about his future. He hopes to devote his time into academics and graduate with a business degree to eventually become a general manager for a sport franchise. Not limited to this, he also hopes to become a coach and more importantly, teach his kids the same love and ambition for baseball that he once showed.