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College of Wooster baseball coach Tim Pettorini often speaks fondly of his pitchers who bring a “bulldog mentality” to the mound. No one may have epitomized that description more than Matt Englander, the Fighting Scots’ lone pitcher to earn All-American honors twice, and he has brought that same attitude into the biggest fight of his life.
Long before successfully having a cancerous brain tumor removed in 2011, Englander came to Wooster in the late 1990s as a highly-sought prospect, one of the centerpieces of possibly the most talented recruiting class in program history. The Solon, Ohio, native earned his way on the hill right away, and while “Mulch,” as he was affectionately known by teammates and administrators alike, admittedly struggled at times to make the adjustment to college ball, the coaches still had enough faith to give him the fourth-most innings pitched (48.2) on the squad in a variety of roles as a freshman.
That initial season, plus a not-so-positive summer league experience, allowed Englander to realize how much he enjoyed playing for the Scots, and he dedicated himself further. The hard-throwing right-hander became a “co-ace” of the staff his sophomore season, producing a 7-3 record, 2.71 ERA, and career-high 66 strikeouts over 69.2 innings as well as a team-low .225 opponents’ batting average. Those statistics brought about the first of three consecutive first-team selections on the ABCA All-Mideast Region and All-North Coast Athletic Conference Teams.
As a junior and senior, Englander was almost unbeatable. Make that nearly unhittable during the former year as he went 11-1 with a 1.87 ERA while limiting the opposition to a .183 batting average, good for the 2001 NCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year award and second-team All-American accolades.
Englander’s renowned determination and work ethic was needed prior to his senior season, as he fractured an ankle in late December but still was ready for the spring and produced similar numbers (10-1, 2.31 ERA, 89.2 innings, .232 batting average) and honors (NCAC Pitcher of the Year, third-team All-American). Most impressive, he led Wooster to a 34-3 regular season record, which included a victory over Ohio State (Englander picked up the win in relief), and the No. 1 ranking in NCAA Div. III heading into the postseason, which saw the Scots win the conference championship that had been eluding the talented senior class before they were upset at the regionals.
What makes Englander’s career numbers – 32-8, 2.78 ERA, 237 strikeouts in 275.0 innings – even more impressive is that he wasn’t necessarily the most gifted athlete.
“He’s definitely one of the top pitchers in Wooster history. (It wasn’t) that he had super, super stuff … he had good stuff, but it was his mentality and his work ethic, and all those things combined that made him special,” Pettorini explained.
After his eligibility was used up, Englander stayed on with the Wooster program as an assistant coach, serving a key role on some of the Scots’ best teams. They won three-straight NCAC championships from 2004-06, with the 2005 team finishing third-place at the NCAA Div. III Championship.
Englander turned his Wooster experiences into the head baseball coach position at Case Western Reserve University, and he has turned the long-time stagnant program into one of the best in the region. The Spartans won a school-record 33 games (33-15) in 2010 and went 29-14 with a No. 21 final national ranking – the first in team history – during 2012.
Shortly after turning around Case’s fortunes, doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in Englander’s brain, and he simply reacted to the life-altering news the only way he knew how, meeting it head-on with a winning, never-say-die attitude.
“A lot of other people wouldn’t attack it the way he is,” said Pettorini. “Just like on the mound, he would just refuse to lose, and there’s a very good chance he’s not going to lose (this) battle.”
Since the successful surgery and lifestyle changes, which includes being a vegan, Englander has become a father for the first time, welcoming son Quinton into the world with his wife, fellow Wooster alum Heather Larsen, and he has run a marathon, two actually, for the first time.