Meet Matt Gerard

Name, Age: Matt Gerard, 18

Class Year: Milford High School 2011

Team: Milford Legion Post 59

Sport, Position: Baseball, right field

Why is Matt Gerard the Patch Player of the Week?

Right fielder Matt Gerard put together quite a season for the Milford Legion Post 59 baseball team. Gerard led the team in hits with 37 over a 22-game regular season, the most during a Milford Legion season since 2004. Gerard did it all this season for Milford, compiling 22 RBIs, scoring 23 runs and stealing 17 bases. Though Gerard acknowledges his success, he knows he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish such a solid season without the help from the coaching staff. “At the beginning I wasn’t swinging too hot, but I was working with the coaches and they had me loading up my swing a lot more and getting ready to hit the pitch,” he said. “They’re really good coaches and they know what they’re doing and I enjoy working with them.”

Gerard also played on the baseball team all four years, helping them to back-to-back League Championships in 2010 and 2011 as a member of the varsity program. Unfortunately for the Hawks, they were unable to get any further than that, losing every playoff game they participated in. “We had a really good varsity season, had the number one seed and had won the league championship for the second straight year,” Gerard said, “but in the playoffs my three years of varsity we didn’t win a single game, that’s just what happens.”

Besides playing baseball, Gerard had his hands in a little bit of everything when it came to sports, playing on the ice hockey team his freshman and sophomore years, the football team his freshman year and the indoor track team his senior year.

With a loss this week to Leominster in the playoffs, the Milford Legion team is done for this season, but Gerard hopes to continue his playing days at Framingham State University in the fall, where he hopes to study teaching.

How did the season go for you individually and as a whole?

Personally, I thought I had a decent season. I hit the ball a lot better than I thought I would have this year. As a whole, we would have liked to win a little more, make a couple more plays in the field — we weren’t that consistent fielding the ball — but it was fun. We have great coaches and it was a great team to play with. We spend a lot of time together and we get along well. It was good.

What college or professional athlete inspires you and why?

If we’re talking professional athletes, I’m probably going to have to say Adrian Gonzalez just because he’s the man and he’s got the best swing in baseball, but in general I’d have to say my grandfather — he’s probably my main inspiration. He’s always there for me, he’s at all my games and he’ll come over and talk about baseball after. He loves watching me play and he’s always got something good to say even if we have a tough loss. He knows exactly what to say to get me to pick my head up, he’s just always there.

What is your most memorable experience as an athlete so far?

Winning back-to-back league championships was pretty memorable.

What are your plans for the future athletically and academically?

I’m going to Framingham State University for elementary education. I’m hoping to be a teacher. My aunt and mom are teachers and they both love it and I’m not really going to complain about working 7 to 3 Monday through Friday and getting off weekends and vacations, so they’re happy with what they do, so it’s seems like something I’d like to do.

I’ve talked to the baseball coaches and hopefully I’ll be playing baseball next year.