College grads still taking cuts in adult baseball league

Matt McKenna (left) and Ja Jones play for the Dawgs in the National Adult Baseball Association. His Benedictine High School and University of Richmond baseball exploits are behind him.

Also filed into his "that's history" column is a long-shot dream of pro ball. Still, Matt McKenna has the itch.

Even after dipping his toes into the 9-to-5 rat race, he continues to crave the feel of horsehide meeting sweet spot, of a hot grounder sticking in his glove's webbing.

The fledgling National Adult Baseball Association (NABA) - Richmond Chapter - for ages 18 and over, is right up McKenna's diamond alley.

"I wasn't ready for softball," said McKenna, 23, now a financial advisor.

Last fall, McKenna played shortstop and helped manage the Dawgs to a 10-0 record in the NABA's grand opening.

There were six new fall teams in the wooden-bats only league. This spring, league director Kyle Taylor has 12 teams set to play 20-game schedules beginning in May.

"It's looking good; the fact we've doubled since fall is very encouraging," Taylor said. "Plus, I'm getting one-two guys calling a day - we call them free agents - looking to be placed on teams."

McKenna's Dawgs, featuring many former NCAA Division I players, represent the NABA's upper rim.

In '07, McKenna - playing all over the field defensively, including catcher - concluded his UR career hitting .300 with five homers. He sized up pro options in the independent leagues, but didn't take the plunge.

"It was time to enter the real world," he said.

McKenna's contacts enabled him to create an NABA hybrid of mostly former NCAA Division I talent.

It helped his roommate was Ja Jones, a 6-5, 220-pound former Spiders pitcher.

Another stylish pick-up was Matt Bristow, a former Godwin ace who hit .318 as a James Madison senior in 2006.

Other Dawgs include Justin Briggs and Phil Hendrick from VMI, former Coastal Carolina catcher Chad Oxendine (now coaching at UR) and Justin Mattison and Brian Marshall from VCU.

Mattison and Marshall played minor-league baseball.

"We've got everyone coming back from fall," McKenna said.

Another NABA team, Samuel Adams, includes some former University of Virginia talent, including hurler Canon Hickman who was 8-3 for the Wahoos in '04.

"Our league will bridge the gap between school and the VBC," said Taylor, a former King William player. "We want it to feel like college ball."

The long-established Virginia Baseball Congress started as a 30-up league but now has reduced the age minimum to 25. The NABA lineup includes the Diamondbacks, a former VBC team.

"Some people questioned how successful we would be," Taylor said. "But with hardly any advertising - just word of mouth - it just took off."