July 24, 2007

Stony Brook, N.Y. - To say that Stony Brook head baseball coach Matt Senk was a bit surprised when he took the field for the first time wouldn't be an overstatement. Coming from a high school program that churned out 3 to 4 Division I players a year at Kellenberg High School in Uniondale, Senk initially wondered if he had made the right decision.

"I remember my first practice and I was looking around and remember saying 'What have I done?'"

Seventeen years later and with over 400 wins, 12 winning seasons including thirty win seasons five times, and one of the highest winning percentages among active Division I baseball coaches at .609, a better question to ask is: What hasn't he done?

Lifting Stony Brook from relative obscurity to national prominence, Senk's roots can be traced back to the fields of Tri-Village. Born in East Northport, Senk went on to play four years at Cortland State where he was a two-time All-SUNYAC selection and the team's Most Valuable Player as a senior. Once he graduated, Senk was at a crossroad.

"The idea of coaching came to me just after my playing career. For a brief time I played hockey, but I played baseball all four years I was at Cortland and actually had some professional teams interested but they wanted to move me to second base. I never got drafted and it was the first time in my entire life I isn't going to be involved in athletics. It really was my life, so if I wasn't going to be playing, the next best thing was to coach," Senk says.

He would take full advantage. Riding the coaching carousel, Senk began coaching at John Glenn High School where he used to walk the halls as a teenager. Starting as an assistant varsity coach, Senk's coaching carousel would then take him to St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Center where he moved up from the junior varsity to varsity coach. Years later when St. Agnes was renamed Kellenberg High School, an opportunity presented itself at Stony Brook.

"A position opened up and I interviewed and initially didn't get the job. They offered it to someone else. No one would pull the trigger on a high school coach for a college position," Senk remarks.

It wouldn't be long before they changed their minds.

"I got a call in February and the guy they hired suddenly no longer was with the team. They asked me if I wanted the job and remember thinking to myself: 'This is the opportunity I need to get into college coaching,'" Senk recalls.

"Looking back I didn't know for sure that I would have had the success that I've had here, but I believed that we could. I believed we could win national championships," Senk says.

And while he hasn't yet accomplished a national championship, he has accomplished a litany of other achievements. Whether winning the America East championship in 2004, ECAC championships in Division II, or the ranking of eighth in the country last year, acclaim for the Stony Brook baseball program has skyrocketed. Yet Senk humbly bestows the credit to the men who've made it happen, his players.

"I'm very lucky. I've had terrific and very talented young men who've decided to come to school here. Players make you a pretty smart coach. The players just want to get better and they bought into the approach. We have a very simple philosophy, and we explain to the recruits and their families 'We're going to do everything we possibly can to help you reach your potential. First and foremost you're here to come to school and get your degree. Then, the next thing is every day we're going to come to work and help you reach your potential as a player. If you're potentially a Joe Nathan, than we'll help you get to that level. If you're potentially an all conference player, that's what we're going to do," Senk exclaims.

Regarding Nathan, there haven't been too many players like the 6-4, 220-pound pitcher who now plays for the Minnesota Twins. Donning the Stony Brook red and white jersey, Nathan's ascent to stardom needed a bit of encouragement as Senk points out. "Joe is an interesting story. When he came to Stony Brook, he was very young. He hadn't matured yet, was small, and yet had an absolute cannon of an arm. He actually was a shortstop and I remember asking him early on why he never was a pitcher. He didn't like pitching," Senk says.

Now a two-time All-Star and one of the elite closers in the game, one could say Nathan handled the switch pretty well. With his number 22 retired at Stony Brook in 2006, Senk chimes in on watching the success of his star pupil.

"There's definitely some personal satisfaction. What we did here was a part of his development, and to see all the success he's had is tremendous."

While the success of Nathan is well documented, others have also thrived in the Stony Brook system. One example is former Stony Brook player Matt Restivo, now playing Independent baseball in Evansville, Indiana. "Coming to Stony Brook was a good opportunity to get a lot of exposure. You're playing against top competition and getting looks from Major League baseball scouts."

"Coach Senk is a great guy who will do anything for you," Restivo exclaims. Senior outfielder Rob Leonard agrees, " Coach Senk is one of the most devoted people I've ever seen; always trying to help you get better as a person and a player."

He's a man who never sits down during the games, a man whose players have graduated at a remarkable ninety percent clip, a man whose success on the diamond is only trumped by the respect of his players. So what's Matt Senk secret? Just ask Restivo.

"Whenever you see him he's always drinking Coke, has a shipment delivered and it sits in the helmet rack, it's his little friend."