Natale signs letter of intent with University of Maryland
When Joe Natale arrived at Hoboken High School two years ago as a transfer from St. Peter’s Prep, he came with little or no fanfare. Natale was a kid who had attended a few schools and was looking for a school where he could be accepted and could show his fine athletic ability.
It didn’t take long for baseball coach Buddy Matthews to become impressed.
"He impressed me with his intelligence," Matthews said. "He knew how to play the game. He was a very intelligent player right away."
Natale made his mark at Hoboken, earning Hudson Reporter All-Area honors as a junior last year, batting .413. He didn’t rest on those laurels and traveled the globe in the past year, looking to play with and against the best competition that he could find. He even went to Australia and New Zealand for a tournament last Christmas.
"Over last summer, I got a chance to play with and against the best players in the country, to see where I fit in," Natale said. "After evaluating other players’ ability, I found that I was not far off, if not equal, with those players."
As it turned out, Natale’s sojourn across the country turned out to be a blessing, because it enabled him the opportunity to get scouted by the major colleges.
After receiving offers from such fine schools as Long Beach State, the University of Mississippi, Florida Atlantic and Central Florida, Natale finally decided upon the University of Maryland.
Last week, Natale signed a national letter of intent to attend Maryland on a full baseball scholarship. He became the fifth Hoboken product to sign with an NCAA Division I school, joining Marc Taglieri (Virginia), Jason Cassesa (Villanova), Carmine Turso (FDU) and Josh Piniero (St. Peter’s).
"I’m real excited about this decision," said Natale, who chose the Terrapins after visiting the school two weeks ago. "When I went down there, they took me around and showed me the facilities and I was very comfortable there. It was a real relaxed atmosphere, plus, it’s the ACC."
The Atlantic Coast Conference is regarded as one of the best athletic collegiate conferences in the nation.
The 5-11, 185-pound Natale will play the outfield at Maryland. Some of the baseball scouts had him projected as a second baseman, but the coaching staff at Maryland told Natale that he will play the outfield.
The coaching staff was so impressed with Natale that they also came to see him play three times this year.
"I was surprised that they came so much to see me," Natale said. "When they came, I did so well. I had a triple and a homer and drove the ball the other way on one shot and pulled the other. So they really got to see everything I could do."
The left-handed hitting Natale is batting .450 with four homers and 21 RBI for the Red Wings this season. He also has scored 24 runs and has yet to be thrown out trying to steal a base. His speed is also another asset that caught Maryland’s attention.
"He’s such an intelligent base runner that he’s the first one I’ve given carte blanche to," Matthews said. "Joe can run whenever he wants. I could see when the season started that he got a lot better over the past year, playing as much as he did. I felt he learned a lot, so I gave him the okay. He plays so hard all the time, playing as hard as anyone I’ve ever coached."
Natale is also one of the best student/athletes in the school and is ranked among the top five students in the graduating class at Hoboken. He plans on majoring in either economics or business at Maryland.
"I’m thrilled and excited," Natale said. "I’ve worked so hard to get where I am and now I’m seeing the results. I’m glad that I have the college to fall back on, if anything else happens."
The anything Natale is alluding to is the upcoming major league baseball free agent draft, which will be held on June 5. There is a chance that Natale could get selected in the draft, although pro teams may shy away for now, knowing he has a college scholarship in hand. The Phillies had a scout to watch Natale at a recent game.
"I’m looking forward to the draft," Natale said. "I don’t think having the college scholarship will hurt my chances, but I’m not worried about what happens either."
For now, he’s a Terrapin. We’ll see what happens in a few weeks.