Westporter Jack Mathews Awarded Baseball All-NESCAC Honors as Trinity College Freshman

Bantam Sports photo

Release from the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) 

Trinity College first-year Sean Meth (Sands Point, N.Y.) was named to the 2021 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Baseball All-Conference First Team, while Bantam senior co-captain Alex Rodriguez (South Windsor, Conn.), senior Alex Shafer (Baltimore, Md.) and first-year Jack Matthews (Westport, Conn.) were each named to the All-NESCAC Second Team. The Bantams, coached by Bryan Adamski (8th season), finished the 2021 season with an 11-6 overall record and finished second in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) East with a 4-3 division mark.

Meth played in every game with 16 starts at 1B as a rookie for the Bantams in 2021. Meth led the Bantams in doubles with seven (2nd in NESCAC), home runs with two, and RBIs (3rd in NESCAC) with 19 to go with 22 hits (7th in NESCAC) in 58 at-bats for a .379 batting average (8th in NESCAC), 12 runs, five walks, a .603 slugging percentage (8th in NESCAC), and a .446 on-base percentage (1.049 OPS). He is a graduate of Paul D. Schreiber High School and is the son of Donna and Richard Meth.

Rodriguez, an All-NESCAC Second Team selection in both 2017 and 2019 and the NESCAC Co-Rookie of the Year in 2017, started 16 games behind the plate and at DH in his fifth season as a starter on the Bantam squad. A captain since 2019, Rodriguez batted .314 this spring with 16 hits in 51 at-bats to go with 12 runs, three doubles, a home run, 11 RBIs, eight walks, five steals in five attempts, a .431 slugging percentage, and a .403 on-base percentage (.834 OPS). He registered just two errors and one passed ball while throwing out four of nine potential basestealers this spring. An alum of South Windsor High School, Rodriguez competed for the Bantams as a graduate student in public policy this season after receiving his bachelor's degree in sociology in 2020. He is the son of Junior Rodriguez and Theresa Walker.

Shafer, also an All-NESCAC Second Teamer in 2018, was 2-0 on the mound this spring with a 2.04 ERA (2nd in NESCAC) in four appearances and three starts. The right-hander struck out a team-high 19 batters and walked just four in 17.2 innings pitched and notched a shutout and a save. An alum of the Gilman School, Shafer competed for the Bantams as a graduate student in public policy this season after receiving his bachelor's degree in political science in 2020.

Mathews started every game in the infield, predominantly at shortstop, as a rookie for the Bantams in 2021. Mathews led the Bantams in hits with 24 (3rd in NESCAC) in 66 at-bats for a .364 batting average, runs with 13, and stolen bases with 11 (led NESCAC) in 12 attempts. He also had three doubles, a triple, three RBIs, three walks, a .439 slugging percentage, and a .391 on-base percentage (.830 OPS) while committing just a single error in 51 chances in the field. Mathews is a graduate of the Brunswick School and is the son of Cara Lyn and Sean Mathews.