by LARRY VAUGHT
“The relationship with coach Mingione was important. Coach Mingione was great. We had such a wonderful visit with him,” said Becky Ponatoski, the player’s mother. “He is just a positive, upbeat person.
“Matt also really liked his faith and how God is in the center of his program and his life. Matt wants to be part of that. Then the whole baseball staff was so energetic and Matt really thrives in that type of environment.”
He’s a four-star quarterback who threw for 10,145 yards and 118 touchdowns with only 14 interceptions at Moeller but has also been ranked as a top 20 high school baseball prospect in the 2026 class by Baseball America.
“Matt was very clear with everybody he spoke with that he was going to do both sports in college and if that wasn’t something that the school would allow, then he wasn’t going to be interested in that school,” Becky Ponatoski said. “There were other schools that said playing both sports was a deal breaker and we said that was fine and we know it is an incredibly hard thing to do. So we understood.
“But if there is anybody who I would put my money on, it would be Matt because he is just super focused, hard working and extremely competitive. If anybody is gonna give it a shot at doing both, it is gonna be him.”
