Crown Point senior shortstop Caden Matusak often refers to his back injury as a “huge wake-up call.”
After playing on the junior varsity team as a freshman, Matusak missed his sophomore season with a contusion on a vertebra in his lower back.
“I didn’t play a single game in high school that year, so that was tough,” Matusak said as official practice around the state started Monday. “But sitting there watching, it showed me not to take playing for granted. That’s when I really started working hard.
“I played all right that summer in travel ball. But that offseason, sophomore to junior year, I really worked hard and tried to get way better with my game.”
Matusak also got into the weight room.
“Before that, I wasn’t lifting,” he said. “Before junior fall and winter, I never lifted or put in any extra work. But that showed me I had to stretch properly, I had to lift to prevent that from happening again and just to get better.
“I knew I could do better. It was a huge wake-up call.”
The 6-foot-3 Matusak, who added about 15 pounds, made huge strides in the process. During a breakout junior season, he hit .370 with 16 RBIs, 30 runs scored and 16 stolen bases as the starting second baseman and leadoff hitter for the Bulldogs (27-5, 13-1), who shared the Duneland Athletic Conference title with Lake Central and won their first Class 4A sectional title since 2022.
“I earned that starting spot at second, which was a big goal of mine,” Matusak said. “That just showed I came a far way. I earned that spot and had a great season.”
Matusak, a potential pick in the MLB draft, also committed to Michigan last season.
“He was really good,” Crown Point coach Steve Strayer said. “We had him at leadoff, and we were a little skeptical. But he did a great job of leading off for us. I’m not sure that’s where he’s going to be for us this year, but he did a really good job with it last year.”
As Matusak shifts back to shortstop, expectations are high for both him and the Bulldogs, who are ranked No. 1 in 4A in the preseason state coaches poll. The roster includes senior catcher Sean Dunlap, a Tennessee recruit; senior pitcher Logan Johnston, an Indiana recruit; and junior pitcher/first baseman Riley Ackerman, a Northwestern recruit.
The Bulldogs, whose last regional title came in 2011 and who haven’t won a semistate title, aim to become the third straight DAC team to win a state championship after Lake Central in 2024 and Valparaiso last season. But Matusak knows it’s a long road.
“How we handle it is going to determine our season,” Matusak said of the No. 1 ranking. “We can’t let that go to our heads. We still have to get our work in and go day by day. We have to put that to the side. We haven’t earned that yet. Preseason polls don’t really mean much. We have to go out there and earn that No. 1.
“Our short-term goal obviously is to go day to day and win by win. But long term, we have the goal of making it farther than we did last year, which was regionals, and we’re one of the teams that has a good shot of winning it all, win state.”
Strayer said Matusak has earned what he has achieved to this point.
“He’s worked his tail off to get where he’s at,” Strayer said. “He’s going to Michigan, and if he didn’t have a work ethic and the ability, then they wouldn’t be interested. You can tell he’s hungry. He wants to have a great senior season.”
Matusak said he received interest from most of the Big Ten, as well as several SEC universities.
“I kind of came out of nowhere, but I didn’t actually come out of nowhere,” he said. “I put the work in. As far as the numbers and the showcase side, to the average person, it looked like I came out of nowhere. The results were there, for sure.
“It was a huge jump, and it all comes from that injury. It stems from that. It was a huge wake-up call. My motivation that whole offseason was that back injury. I wanted to be better, and I didn’t want to be hurt again. It was a ton of lifting. You have less chance of getting hurt when you’re stronger and more mobile. You’re not going to get hurt as much. I wanted to stay on the field. I love to play baseball.”
Dunlap, who projects as an early round draft pick, possibly even a first-rounder, hasn’t been surprised by Matusak’s emergence.
“He’s grown a lot over this last year, year and a half,” Dunlap said. “He’s put on a bunch of weight, gotten stronger. He’s been really consistent in the gym. He’s an overall consistent guy and a guy you want to build a team around.
“He does everything well. He’s mature. The build is there. He can run, he can throw, he can hit, he can hit for power now. He’s a grinder.”
Dunlap said he and Matusak make each other better.
“Me and him compete with each other, which is good,” Dunap said. “Iron sharpens iron. Just competing with him a lot has just propelled me as well as him. We’re just getting better and better.”
Dunlap has a rare perspective on Matusak.
“I’ve known Caden forever,” Dunlap said. “He was born April 10, and I was born April 11, and our parents were with each other in the hospital. So I’ve known Caden forever. I’ve been Caden’s friend for as long as I can remember, and when we were younger and we played with each other, I wasn’t on the all-star teams and he was, so he was someone I looked up to.
“He was a role model. He’s a role model to the younger kids. He carries himself well. He’s very confident. It leads him to being a good baseball player. He’s just a good guy all-around.”
