Ringgold’s Matthew Crownover (24) pitches against Riverwood during a recent game at Heritage High School.
Staff Photo by Dan Henry/Chattanooga Times Free PressRINGGOLD, Ga. – Despite what his fellow church members might have thought, Matthew Crownover did not get a visit from the Holy Ghost on Sunday night.
What the rising Ringgold High School senior baseball star did experience during the final stages of Sunday evening services was fairly powerful in its own right. A voice mail from Perfect Game USA’s Jerry Ford sent the usually-reserved Crownover unto a spontaneous celebration – just following the evening’s final prayer.
Ford’s message was culmination of a dream for Crownover, confirming that the left-handed pitcher had been chosen to play in the prestigious Perfect Game All-American Classic in San Diego on Aug. 14. The game, formerly known as the AFLAC All-American Game, pits the top 18 rising prep seniors from the West against the top 18 in the East.
Crownover was selected from a field that included 270 players that attended the Perfect Game Showcase in Fort Myers, Fla., last week. The Clemson University commitment, however, left Florida believing he had not made the team.
“They usually pull you aside following your last game and tell you if you’ve made it, but that didn’t happen after my last game, so I was kind of disappointed,” Crownover said. “But then during church I received a call, and when I checked the voice mail it was Jerry Ford and he said he thought we played again Sunday and was planning to tell me then.