All his life Matthew Russo wanted to play college baseball.
Saturday morning, it became official. That dream is going to become a reality.
The 6-3, 235-pound power hitting lefty made it official when he signed his National Letter of Intent with Southern Mississippi in front of friends and family.
“It absolutely feels surreal now,” he said. “All you have worked for is finally coming to fruition and you are seeing that all the hard work has really paid off for you with the achievement of a lifelong dream. It’s different than verbally committing to a school for sure. It’s real now.
“The word that keeps coming to my head with me signing to play baseball is satisfied. All the work that I have put in to get to this moment is amazing. I feel very accomplished. Was I nervous that this day was never going to happen? I’m not going to lie, I was.”
In his three years thus far playing for St. Paul’s High School out of Covington, Russo has a .350 career batting average. He has hit five career home runs, driven in 54 and had 15 doubles. As a sophomore, Russo helped the Wolves capture the 2019 Division I State Baseball Championship.
“The coaching staff there is awesome,” he said. “But honestly one of the biggest reasons I chose USM was I wanted the opportunity to play as a freshman. If I had chosen a power five school, it would have been harder for me to get on the field earlier. I want to play from day one. Southern Miss is a great school that presents me with a great opportunity to succeed. It also doesn’t hurt that my dad went there and played there. USM was the best fit for me.
“It’s been a wild four years for me at St. Paul’s. We win a state title as a sophomore, then you lose a season to COVID-19. I am ready to go out with a bang this upcoming year at St. Pauls.”
Projected to play first base at USM, Russo said he may also see some time at third base as well.
Saturday morning, it became official. That dream is going to become a reality.
The 6-3, 235-pound power hitting lefty made it official when he signed his National Letter of Intent with Southern Mississippi in front of friends and family.
“It absolutely feels surreal now,” he said. “All you have worked for is finally coming to fruition and you are seeing that all the hard work has really paid off for you with the achievement of a lifelong dream. It’s different than verbally committing to a school for sure. It’s real now.
“The word that keeps coming to my head with me signing to play baseball is satisfied. All the work that I have put in to get to this moment is amazing. I feel very accomplished. Was I nervous that this day was never going to happen? I’m not going to lie, I was.”
In his three years thus far playing for St. Paul’s High School out of Covington, Russo has a .350 career batting average. He has hit five career home runs, driven in 54 and had 15 doubles. As a sophomore, Russo helped the Wolves capture the 2019 Division I State Baseball Championship.
“The coaching staff there is awesome,” he said. “But honestly one of the biggest reasons I chose USM was I wanted the opportunity to play as a freshman. If I had chosen a power five school, it would have been harder for me to get on the field earlier. I want to play from day one. Southern Miss is a great school that presents me with a great opportunity to succeed. It also doesn’t hurt that my dad went there and played there. USM was the best fit for me.
“It’s been a wild four years for me at St. Paul’s. We win a state title as a sophomore, then you lose a season to COVID-19. I am ready to go out with a bang this upcoming year at St. Pauls.”
Projected to play first base at USM, Russo said he may also see some time at third base as well.