Center Township native hits home run in Colombia
DiMatteo, friend surprise youth with baseball gear
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sam DiMatteo couldn’t believe no one wanted to go home.
“We literally had to kick them off the field at the end of each day,” he said. “Baseball was all they wanted to do. It was all they had to do.”
That was just one of several pleasant surprises awaiting DiMatteo and friend Richie Serritella before their arrival in Medellín, Colombia last week — a surprise that reminded DiMatteo of how he grew up, when “your pure love of playing baseball was everything.”
DiMatteo grew up in Center Township and was a standout catcher and outfielder on the Center High School baseball team (now part of Central Valley). He hit .480 in his junior season, leading Center to a Class 2A Section 1 championship.
He then continued to flourish at California University of Pennsylvania. The right-handed hitter established California career records in hits (223), runs (175) and stolen bases (115 in 128 attempts). He batted .375 over his four years with the Vulcans.
DiMatteo played five seasons of professional baseball in four different independent leagues -— last playing with the Sonoma Stompers of the Pacific Association -— before retiring after last season to fully focus on his coaching career and organization, the SD Project.
DiMatteo and Serritella traveled to Colombia as a part of that organization, which is focused on ensuring those who are physically, mentally, or financially handicapped can play baseball.
Funded by donations, DiMatteo has provided lessons and much-needed equipment to under-privileged kids in Western Pennsylvania for more than two years, in hopes of ensuring “every kid who wants to play baseball can,” he said.
But after hearing Serritella’s descriptions of youth baseball in Colombia, the two former teammates decided to take the project beyond U.S. borders for the first time.
“They have stuff, but they don’t have stuff,” said Serritella, who sparked the idea of a trip to Colombia after seeing youth teams’ inadequate equipment firsthand while playing summer pro baseball in the country. “I told Sam we had to go down there. We had to do something about it.”
So the two gathered whatever equipment they could for almost two months, accepting both new and used bats, gloves, pants and other assorted gear.
When it was time to pack for the trip, they had collected “four big hockey bagsworth of equipment” that weighed “80 to 100 pounds each,” according to DiMatteo.
“You should have seen us lugging all the stuff through the airport,” he joked.
The pair arrived at the field and Serritella immediately showed DiMatteo how much of an impact the equipment would make.
“There was a table with some gloves on it and a few old bats underneath,” DiMatteo said. “They take what’s there, but none of it’s new, and it’s all communal. A lot of it is the wrong size.”
As much-needed as the equipment was, the fact that kids “who get nothing” were gifted their own mitt or own baseball pants was equally important, DiMatteo said.
“You watch the reactions of these kids, and it hits you hard,” he said. “I’ll never forget the looks on their faces.”
The gifting of equipment was just the start of DiMatteo and Serritella’s meaningful impact in Colombia.
The two led almost fourhour practices each day of their week-long trip, coaching and building friendships despite a significant language barrier.
“The kids love Sam and Richie,” said Patrick Powers, who made the trip possible by paying for DiMatteo and Serritella’s airfare and hotel. “They’re young, cool guys who have an infectious desire to teach. And I think they’d tell you they got as much out of this as they put in.”
Powers, a Chicago native, moved to Colombia more than 20 years ago for business. Upon discovering there was no youth baseball organization for his sons, he started one and called it the Envigado Cubs.
“We started with nine kids, but now we have over 50,” he said. “That’s what makes this equipment so needed. You have no idea how much it means to a kid down here to justown a mitt.”
DiMatteo and Serritella hope they can bring that feeling to hundreds of more kids in Colombia and across world in the future.
“I would love to make a yearly thing out of it if we can,” DiMatteo said. “There are so many more kids in need down there. I feel like we have to go back.”
Serritella shared those sentiments, but added the pair’s even loftier long-term goals.
“We can maybe do this full time, get the backing of some corporations and go around the world,” Serritella said. “Baseball’s a global language. There are kids around this world that need our help.”