Long Island teen signs contract with Mets

A one-time Little Leaguer from Long Island has taken a step toward achieving his dream of reaching the big leagues in Queens.

Steven Matz, 18, of Stony Brook and Ward Melville High School was at Citi Field with his parents Tuesday, facing a throng of media after signing an $895,000 contract with the Mets late Monday night.

"It's surreal. It's awesome. It's my No. 1 moment," Matz said in the Mets' dugout before last night's game. "When I heard I was drafted by the Mets, I was thrilled."

Turns out, the Mets not only drafted a hard-throwing 6-4, 195-pound lefthanded pitcher in the second round. They also got a Mets fan born into a family of longtime avid Mets fans.

Luck, but at first, pluckWhile it was fate - and a little bit of luck - that allowed Matz to get drafted by his favorite team this spring, he has been a hot prospect since his Little League days. "When he was 12, I told his father [Ron] that he'd pitch in the major leagues," said Neal Heaton, the former major league pitcher and Matz's personal instructor for seven years. "He just laughed at me."

When Matz was 10, Heaton's prescient observation, Larry Izzo, then a scout for the Expos, handed Matz's father his business card. "He told me to keep in touch," Ron Matz said. "And look where it ended up."

It ended with Ron and his wife, Lori, joining their son at Citi Field Tuesday night where Steven was introduced by Mets general manager Omar Minaya. Matz will join the Mets' rookie league team in Port St. Lucie, Fla., this weekend.

But his future is bright. Oh, and the area scout who recommended that the Mets draft him in the second round, sign him to a contract and set this itinerary in motion? None other than Izzo.

The journey that Matz hopes will lead to more than just a cameo at Citi Field began on the North Shore of Suffolk County. "From Day 1, as a pitcher he was exceptional. By the time he was 13, when someone got a hit off him I'd be amazed," said Mike Pignataro, who coached Matz from age 8 to 13 for the Three Village Yankees. "He always threw hard and he had a definite passion for baseball."

Matz eventually developed into a superb hitter and first baseman, but pitching was his talent. "The thing that makes Steven so good is his work ethic," said Heaton. "He's not a prima donna. He's just a tough, hard-nosed, blue-collar player who'll be in the big leagues some day. He's the best I've ever coached."

Like the scouts that dogged him since spring 2008, Heaton loves Matz's delivery. "He's the type of kid that will last because of his arm action," said Heaton, also a lefthanded pitcher.

Growth spurt helped oddsMatz was clocked on scouts' radar guns consistently in the low 90s this spring playing for Ward Melville High School, where his games regularly drew dozens of scouts. "I dreamed of being a big-leaguer since I watched my first game on TV when I was 3 or 4," Matz said. But he admitted that dream didn't figure to reach reality "until a little more than a year ago" when he got his growth spurt. "My body got bigger and my velocity improved," Matz said.

The chief beneficiary of his spurt was Ward Melville coach Lou Petrucci, who started with the program when Matz was a 5-7, 140-pound sophomore. "From the first time I saw him catch ground balls, I knew he was a special player," Petrucci said. "Just the way he carried himself. He came to practice early. He stayed late. He helped you put up the screen.

"You get one of these kids in a lifetime," Petrucci said. "This is my lifetime kid."