Matlon relishes experience playing at Kauffman Stadium

by Michael Smith

Grain Valley graduate Caden Matlon was not in an ideal situation in 2021.

At the time, he was on the Johnson County Community College baseball team after graduating in 2020. He had two more experienced catchers in front of him in the pecking order for playing time.

So, he did not get to see the field in 2021, which prompted him to search for a new team. He found that in 2022 as he joined the Dodge City Community College team.

That year he had a breakout season with Conquistadors as a  freshman and had a solid campaign as a sophomore. Because of his success, he achieved his goal of making it on a Division I college team as he will play for Abilene Christian next spring as a transfer.

That wasn’t his only accomplishment this year, either. He was selected to play in the Ban Johnson Collegiate All-Star game for the first time in his career. The college junior played at Kauffman Stadium, the home ballpark for the Kansas City Royals, for the first time as a member of the National League All-Star squad Tuesday.

While his team fell 2-1, Matlon had a solid performance as he went 1-for-2 at the plate with a single and he nearly picked off a runner at first base on a throw in the sixth inning.

The experience of playing at a Major League stadium was surreal for the former Eagles and presented some challenges defensively.

“Honestly, it didn’t affect me too bad when I was hitting,” Matlon said. “The main issue was the big white screen when I was catching. Anything high, I could not catch.”

There was a reason Matlon was selected to participate in the event. He had a great season with the Creche Innovation Stars Ban Johnson squad. He’s hitting .283 with one homerun and 13 RBIs. He was also solid defensively for the Stars as he had a 35.7% caught stealing rate as a catcher and a he allowed just three passed balls in 16 games.

He helped his team make the championship series of the Ban Johnson League Tournament as he has a minimum two games left to play before he heads to Abilene Christian.

“I am not really happy with my batting average with Ban Johnson,” Matlon said. “It’s about me seeing pitches before I got to school.  Defensively, I have felt solid.”

The junior has proven that he is a player worthy of playing on an NCAA Division I team. With Dodge City, he had a .366 batting average with 10 homeruns and 40 runs-batted and a gaudy 1.292 on-base plus slugging percentage as a freshman.

He also had a solid 2023 campaign as a sophomore as he hit .295 with seven homeruns and 29 RBIs and a .918 OPS.

Now he turns his attention to playing for the Wildcats in the spring of 2024.
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“I am super stoked,” Matlon said. “Playing Division I baseball has been my goal forever and I get to play with a couple of buddies of mine who I played with at Dodge City. As long as I take care of business, I should start.”

Grain Valley graduate Caden Matlon got to play at Kauffman Stadium for the first time in Tuesday's Ban Johnson Collegiate League All-Star game Tuesday. He played on the National League team and went 1-for-2 at the dish. Photo credit: Michael Smith