Ex-Knight Southpaw Matt Way Signs with Arizona Diamondbacks.
October 22, 2012Washington State Alum Played Independent Ball in 2012
The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed former Knights' WCL all-star pitcher Matt Way, (pictured), a lefty from Washington State. He was instrumental in us winning the West Division, and reaching the WCL Championship Series, in 2007, our first season in Corvallis.
A native of Sitka, Alaska, Matt was 5-1, 2.59 in 10 games, with 60 strikeouts and one complete-game shutout in 59 innings pitched in 2007. He was a first-team West Division all-star and was named the top pro prospect at the All-Star Game. He also was a first-team WCL postseason all-star, and was ranked as the 11th-best pro prospect in the WCL by Baseball America.
Matt returned to WSU for the 2009 season and was selected by Philadelphia in the fifth round of the 2009 draft. He pitched for Williamsport (Pa.) in the New York-Penn League and with Lakewood in the South Atlantic League that year, and with Lakewood and with Clearwater of the Florida State League in 2010.
However, he spent the entire 2011 season on the disabled list and was released during spring training in 2012. Overall he was 13-9 with a 3.22 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 167.2 innings in two seasons with three Class A clubs.
After being released, he signed with the Laredo (Texas) Lemurs of the independent American Association in 2012 and had a great season (10-7, 3.98, 112 strikeouts in 128.2 innings). He also played for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League at the end of the summer and was 1-0, 0.00 in 13.1 innings over two games, with 19 strikeouts and a complete-game shutout.
That earned him another shot at affiliated ball. He joins ex-Knights Carter Bell (2009), Michael Blake (2010) and D.J. Johnson (2008-09) in the Diamondbacks organization.
