Scrappers' Davis returns to roots

NILES -- At times, Matt Davis will walk out of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers clubhouse and into his past.
"I might see somebody hanging over the fence that I grew up with," Davis said. "It makes me feel good because all those people who come to the games have helped me along my way."
Davis, 21, has come home. He has reunited with old friends, old coaches and people who have made a difference in his life.
Familiar surroundings
As a relief pitcher for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, Davis is in his first year of professional baseball. And he knows exactly where he is.
His parents, Larry and Rebecca, grew up in Lisbon, where they were high school sweethearts, and Davis nurtured his love for athletics in Poland.
By the time he was a freshman at Poland High, Davis was playing varsity baseball and varsity basketball.
"He's a great athlete with a great attitude," Poland basketball coach Ken Grisdale recalled. "He's the kind of a kid you'd want to adopt. He was very respectful, and he hated to lose."
Grisdale thought so much of Davis' athletic ability that the coach inserted him into the starting lineup, where he played for 30 minutes per game.
A small forward, Davis set Poland's single-game freshman scoring record with 155 points, but it was surpassed in the 2001-02 season by Chad Fender.
"You win with people like that," Grisdale said of Davis, who teamed with another standout freshman in Ben Bair. "[Defenses] had to commit two to three guys on him."
Change of venue
But no sooner did Davis burst onto Poland's athletic scene as a freshman, he left for Cincinnati, where his dad was employed by an air freight company.
"It was real tough," he said. "It was tough for me to leave because I got comfortable there."
Grisdale added, "I was crushed. We lost a lot when he left. It kind of set us back for a few years."
In Cincinnati, Davis attended Mason High, where he continued to be a standout baseball, basketball and football player.
"Baseball was pretty competitive down there, which helped," he said. "Of all the places to go, it was good for me to get the exposure and play against top-notch teams."
A first-team All-Ohio pitcher, Davis drew the attention of college scouts, and he decided on Ohio State.
Davis became the Buckeyes' closer, relishing their Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, and a super regional appearance, in his three years there.
"I felt like I accomplished a lot there," he said. "I just felt like it was time to leave."
The Indians were ready to give Davis a new home, drafting him in the seventh round and assigning him to -- of all places -- Mahoning Valley.
"Of all the teams and all the minor league organizations, it was just pure luck, I guess," Davis said of coming back to the Valley. "I'm glad it ended up that way."
In relief
Davis, at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, remains a relief pitcher. In 15 games for the Scrappers, he has a 2-3 record and 1.61 ERA.
"Everyone's good. Everyone's got a story of why they're here," Davis said of pro ball. "But the difference is, day in and day out, through 76 games, you really find out what kind of person you are, what kind of athlete you are."
While with the Scrappers, Davis is staying with host family Joe and Alice Colella in Poland. Joe Colella was Davis' freshman football coach with the Bulldogs.
Now they're reunited in a summer when it's sometimes difficult for Davis to differentiate between the present and the past.
XBrian Richesson is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write to him at richesson@vindy.com.