Hall of Fame
All-American outfielder Sam DiMatteo concluded his brilliant collegiate baseball career by helping lead the Vulcans to the program’s third Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship in 2010.
He becomes the 27th baseball player to be inducted into the Cal U Hall of Fame and the third under current Vulcans head coach Mike Conte.
“I did not see this coming at all. When I got the call I was really happy and couldn’t wait to tell my family,” DiMatteo said. “They’ve been so supportive, vested so much time in my baseball career and any of my success includes them.”
Today, he leads his own college baseball team and also runs a non-profit company which helps athletes of all ages.
DiMatteo is the head baseball coach of the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California, and is the founder of The SD Project.
The SD Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which was created to support athletes of all ages who struggle financially or battle against mental or physical disability all over the world.
The project’s vision came about during his six-year professional career when DiMatteo also served as a coach and mentor for hundreds of youth, many of them in a low-income area with at-risk youth. Last spring, he received the Humanitarian Award at Cal U’s 52nd-annual Alumni Awards ceremony.
“I’m just kind of at the forefront of this huge team effort and it’s a whole group of people donating, giving their time that makes it happen,”DiMatteo said. “Hopefully it will continue to grow and give young people an opportunity through sports.”
After starring in football and baseball at Center High School, DiMatteo was a four-year starter and three-time, first-team all-conference selection for the Vulcans from 2007 through 2010.
His 115 career stolen bases remain a PSAC and school record while his previous single-season school-best 40 (2009) and 43 (2010) stolen bases still rank fourth and sixth in the conference, respectively.
DiMatteo is still listed in 12 different single-season and nine different career school records. Several other career marks include 223 hits (second), 31 home runs (second), 161 RBI (third), 50 doubles (t-second), 175 runs (t-first) and a .375 batting average (t-ninth).
After batting .315 and .347 in his first two seasons, DiMatteo batted .405 and .400 during his junior and senior seasons. He became just one of three players in team history to hit at least .400 in consecutive years.
As a junior in 2009, DiMateo received All-America laurels from three different organizations, highlighted by a second-team selection from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). DiMatteo earned a second All-America honor from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) the following year and his 27 doubles in 2010 were third-best among in NCAA Division II.
He credits Conte for helping him excel.
“I was sort of an unorthodox kind of player, but Coach Conte let me be myself and play my type of game instead of trying to change the way I played,” DiMatteo recalled. “It was a good matchup at the right time for me and enabled me to be successful.”
Conte spoke highly of DiMatteo who he said showed tremendous heart in every game.
“This will sound cliché but Sam DiMatteo is everything a coach could want from one of his or her players regardless of the sport, said Conte. “He was one of the best all-round players in my 23 years here and more importantly is just a great person who cares more about what he can do for others than himself.”
DiMatteo’s senior season concluded with a memorable post-season.
At the PSAC Tournament, Cal U rolled to four-straight wins and the conference championship. DiMatteo was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after hitting at a .588 clip (10-for-17) over the four games with three extra-base hits, four RBI, six runs and three stolen bases.
In the 10-9 championship game win over No. 14 Kutztown, DiMatteo went 3-for-4 with a solo homer, two RBI, three runs and one steal.
Seeded sixth at the NCAA Atlantic Regional, the Vulcans went 2-2 and finished third in the field. The team’s 34 wins were the second-highest in program history at the time.
“There’s a lot of us from that team that still talk regularly and we always talk about winning that title. It’s so cool for something like that lasts so long,” DiMatteo said. “We were close and wanted to battle for each other.
“We were a big group of best friends and had a special year that we’ll remember forever.”
DiMatteo earned his bachelor’s degree in business and marketing in 2010.
He played six years professionally in several leagues and finished his playing career with a .317 average, 22 homers, 116 RBI and 42 stolen bases.
Last August he was named the College of the Desert’s head baseball coach after serving two years as an assistant coach.
DiMatteo still reaches out to his college coach.
“In my first several months as a head coach I ran into so many scenarios and situations where I called and asked Mike for advice. I have kept in contact with him regularly since I left Cal U,” he said. “He’s a mentor and a lot of things I learned from him and playing at Cal U I use now.”
Sam, who is single and resides in Rancho Mirage, California, will always look back favorably on his time at Cal U.
“My biggest award from Cal U are the friends and connections I made,” he said. “The baseball happens so fast it’s kind of a tornado of craziness, but the relationships are forever and all the people at Cal U were helpful and positive.”
updated 04/24/22
