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Authenticity, leadership and fun: inside the mind of Brice Matthews

On3 imageby:Grant Hansen•07/17/22•

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Brice Matthews (left) with St. Cloud Rox teammates Ryan Jackson (middle) and Albert Choi (right). Photo Credit: St. Cloud Rox

Brice Matthews has his swagger back.

2022 has been a trying year for the Nebraska shortstop, but it’s starting to change for the better.

Matthews spent the majority of 2021 as the second baseman opposite Husker shortstop Spencer Schwellenbach. When his sophomore campaign rolled around, it was time for Matthews to fill the shoes of the Atlanta Braves draftee. Following a two-way star like Schwellenbach brings some serious pressure. For Matthews, the majority of it was self-imposed.

“I always want to do good and coming into a new role and being the leader of the new defense was what I was worried about more than anything,” he said.

“When you’re not having the success that you want and the team needs because we were struggling pretty much the whole season, it’s hard to keep your confidence in yourself and your motivation.”

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The struggle was clear for Matthews at the outset. The Humble, Texas, native was 1-for-11 with seven strikeouts in the season-opening series with Sam Houston. Those first three games turned into a 34-game trend in which Matthews was batting below .230 with 45 strikeouts.

Errors were a major issue, too. Between February 18 and April 22, Matthews had 13 errors and three multi-error games, including a weekend series with five errors. That’s about as dark as it can get for a shortstop, but Matthews got through it.

“You’ve just got to lean on your people to your left and to your right,” he said. “They’re going through the same stuff you’re going through and you’ve got to stick it out together.”

Matthews didn’t solely rely on his teammates. The 20-year-old spoke with folks back home during his times of need. Specifically, his father Stephen.

“Me and my dad, we talk every day just about what’s going on, making adjustments and trying to fix things,” Matthews said. “My coach from home was just like, ‘Keep going, you’ve got it. You’re that player. You can do it, there’s no doubt in my mind.’ He kept that on me and when their hopes were up it helped me a lot.”

Eventually, Matthews decided to take matters into his own hands. First, there was a mechanical change. After a discussion with his coaches, Matthews went to a “no-stride” batting stance which in his words means, “I’m in a pretty wide base and I’m not taking a step forward to swing the bat.”

That led to a better approach at the plate and a reduction in strikeouts.

The second change was mental.

“There was a point where it was like, ‘I’m just gonna go play and I’m just gonna have as much fun as I can and not let anybody take my fun away’,” Matthews said.

Soon he saw results. From April 22 until the end of the season, Matthews hit .378 with 12 RBIs and five homers. He struck out 11 times but drew 10 walks out of his season total 25. The shortstop had two errors in his last 11 games and boasted multiple highlight plays.

That trend has lasted into the summer. Matthews is batting .295 with 12 doubles, five homers and 21 RBIs in the Northwoods League with the St. Cloud Rox. His strikeout to walk ratio is near 1:1 with 40 strikeouts and 36 walks

Add those numbers to the end of his season with Nebraska, and Matthews has hit .313 with 13 doubles, 10 home runs and 32 RBIs since April 22.

It’s an impressive run bolstered by a shift in mentality.

“You can’t just keep beating up on yourself,” Matthews said. “As hard as it is when you aren’t playing well, still try to have fun and enjoy it.”

The game of his life

Matthews played the wildest game of his life July 1.

The soon-to-be junior crushed two home runs and scored the walk-off run in the 12th with a pair of juke moves that would have sent a granite statue flying out of its shoes.

His heroics in the 4-3 win over the Eau Claire Express are indicative of his turnaround.

“I’ve hit one home run in games a decent amount of times,” Matthews said. “But never two and never doing the tag like what happened. That’s never happened ever in my life.”

Yet it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Matthews. Future teammate Will Rizzo entered the game as a reliever following the Matthews home runs, and drew a groundout and a strikeout from the shortstop.

“I was really mad after the strikeouts because I got deep into a count, 3-2 both times, and both of the strikeouts were after a pitch that I shouldn’t have swung at,” he said.

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Matthews freely admits he gets hard on himself, but the rest of the Rox were there to pick him up ahead of the 12th frame.

“Before I walked out there, two of my teammates were like they’d rather have nobody running the bases but me and said I’m gonna score the run to win this game,” Matthews said. “So that’s all that mattered and that’s all I was thinking about.”

With one out, Matthews stood on third base. The Express outfield played shallow expecting the speedster to tag up. Matthews heard the contact and watched the ball lift out to right field. At first, he thought it was a base hit. Instead, the ball was caught 120 feet deep in right and Matthews hurried to the bag, attempting to tag and beat the throw.

“I turned and put my head down and ran,” he said. “I looked up 10 or 15 feet away from the catcher and he had the ball.”

Matthews could have took the easy way out and let the tag come. Instead, the former high school quarterback’s football instincts kicked in. He dipped to his left, dived to his right and slammed his right hand on home plate.

He had won it for the Rox.

Matthews leading the way

Some days, Matthews feels like he is still 16 years old.

Matthews harnesses his youthful exuberance for leadership. He didn’t get the captain title last season, but the shortstop strived to lead like one anyway. In 2022, captaincy is squarely in his sights.

“Who doesn’t want to be the leader of their team?” Matthews said. “Whoever else is there, we try to keep each other up and have fun.”

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Being in an upperclassman’s shoes isn’t the least bit weird to Matthews. His leadership style is a standard he tries to hold himself too.

“(Leadership is) making sure people aren’t too hard on themselves even though I get hard on myself,” Matthews said. “Keeping them accountable for what they do and just keeping everybody loose and having fun. That’s what I bring to the table.”

For the third year in a row, Matthews will have a different partner in the middle infield. It could be another freshman such as Dylan Carey or transfers Blake Mozley and Bryce Hughes. Matthews knows there will be a learning curve, but he’s confident in his ability to lead and adapt.

Undoubtedly this has been a roller-coaster year for Matthews. But through the hard times, he has become uniquely equipped to set an example for Nebraska next season.

“Just be yourself pretty much,” Matthews said. “That’s the main thing because if you aren’t your authentic self, then you can’t help anybody.”

“Everybody goes through slumps and times where they aren’t playing the best,” Matthews added. “When I got it back, I was like a kid in the candy store.”

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