July 15, 2009

Matt Shapiro was riding high in his baseball career during the spring and summer of 2008.

The Raynham resident was named the Patriot League pitcher of the year for his performance as a sophomore at Holy Cross, and then he helped the Little Falls Miners reach the New York Collegiate Baseball League playoffs.

All signs were pointing to perhaps an even better 2009 for Shapiro, who was an Enterprise All-Scholastic during his days at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High.

He had rapidly progressed after being a little-used left-handed pitcher as a freshman at Holy Cross in 2007, when he worked just 42/3 innings in four games.

After returning from the NYCBL, Shapiro had high hopes of continuing that upward trend, and he was encouraged by the way things were going in Holy Cross' practices last fall.

Then, a trip to the doctor last October because of a sore throat quickly sent Shapiro down a new path in his young life.

An examination revealed that Shapiro had a tumor in his chest, and a biopsy showed that he had Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Cancer suddenly became Shapiro's top concern, not academics or baseball, in his junior year at the Worcester college.

For the complete article by Jim Fenton of The Enterprise News click here