Matt McDonald hired as Black Hawk pitching coach

Matt McDonald has always been involved with baseball.

He was a star player at Princeton High School and Parkland College before being drafted by the Oakland Athletics and playing Minor League Baseball for five seasons.

McDonald coached his son, Cam, in travel baseball and became an assistant coach at Hall High School in 2015.

Now, McDonald is moving to the next level as he was hired as the pitching coach at Black Hawk College.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but it just never worked out timing-wise with the kids,” McDonald said. “It seems right now. It’s something I definitely wanted to pursue.”

The opportunity came about due to McDonald’s connection with Black Hawk coach Josh Keim.

“The head coach (Keim) coached Cam the last two summers in Rockford and I have also known Josh for a while from doing the travel circuit in the summer,” McDonald said. “Everything happed really fast. The old pitching coach got an offer to be a full-time paid assistant at the school where he pitched. Cam told me Josh wanted to know if I’d be interested and things progressed from there.”

McDonald said he’s looking forward to the dedication of players at the college level.

“Just the kids’ commitment and their passions lining up,” McDonald said about what enticed him about college baseball. “I have some knowledge to help them reach whatever their peak is. Obviously, the competitiveness at the next level gets driven a little bit higher.”

McDonald is already hitting the recruiting trail for the Braves, reaching out to travel organizations and attending a showcase Friday.

McDonald said he’s looking forward to the recruiting aspect of the position.

“I think once you get to evaluate them — and you’re not always going to be right — you can get guys who fit what you’re looking for and what the game plan is,” McDonald said.

McDonald will see some familiar faces on the roster as Hall graduate Chance Resetich will be a sophomore for Black Hawk, while 2021 Hall graduates Payton Plym and Jack Savitch — both pitchers — join the roster in the fall.

“I’m real excited to get started,” McDonald said. “There are some Hall kids there. It’s going to be pretty awesome to get to coach those guys again. There are probably four more kids I either coached or coached against when Cam was playing summer travel ball. It will be a nice transition for me having some familiar faces there and a little bit of trust already established rather than walking in blind with nobody knowing who I am. Hopefully, it makes it a little easier.”

McDonald leaves Hall after a hugely successful run that included the 2018 state championship and two other sectional final appearances.

“I’ll be forever grateful to (Hall coach) Tom (Keegan) and (athletic director) Eric (Bryant) for giving me a chance and (assistant) Kevin Sangston, too,” McDonald said. “They were very welcoming when I came in. I learned a lot from Tom. I loved my time at Hall. It was extremely fun. I didn’t know how it was going to be when Cam and that class left, but my passion and fire to coach was definitely still there. When this (job at Black Hawk) came up, there’s a burning desire to keep pushing and pursuing this. We’ll see where it goes.”