LYNCHBURG, Va. -- The Hornets were three outs away from clinching their 17th win of the regular season against Greensboro. For the final frame, the Lynchburg coaching staff called on Matt Cassidy.
It was March 25, 403 days since he'd been in that position.
Less than a year earlier, he couldn't cut his food. He couldn't sleep on his side. He couldn't brush his teeth without pain.
But when No. 32 in red took the mound, nothing about his performance indicated any sort of trials and tribulations as he retired the first two batters before freezing the final hitter on a called third strike.
And just like that, Cassidy was back.
Calling it a comeback doesn't quite cover it. What Cassidy overcame goes far beyond the mound. His story is not just about conquering physical obstacles, but significant emotional challenges as well. While Cassidy was learning how to throw again after suffering a torn labrum, his father, Mike, was in the middle of a fight with leukemia.
From his first day on campus, Cassidy made an immediate impact for the Lynchburg program as a stellar reliever for the best team in Division III.
As Lynchburg made their postseason push in 2023, The 6'3" pitcher struck out four in the NCAA regional against Lebanon Valley and then tossed 2.2 innings in the NCAA championship against Johns Hopkins.
As his collegiate career continued, Cassidy continued to shine and show signs of dominance to come in one of the premier conferences in Division III baseball.
In his junior season, he was ready to make a leap in what was anticipated to be his final season, after earning his associates degree in high school. In the opening series, Cassidy stepped in to throw against North Carolina Wesleyan.
In the days following his first outing of the season, something felt off. It wasn't pain–at least not at first. Just soreness. The kind pitchers learn to ignore.
He threw a bullpen that week. The velocity was there, maybe even better than before. So the next day, during a front toss, he let a slider go. Something didn't feel right. Cassidy paused, shook his arm out, and picked up another ball. He threw the same pitch again. This time, his shoulder shifted—then popped.
"I felt something in my shoulder," Cassidy said. "I was like, 'That doesn't feel normal. I'm just going to try to throw it again.' So I threw another one, and I felt my shoulder essentially come out of place and pop."
The coaching staff and Cassidy chose to see if rest could remedy the injury. For the next four to six weeks, Cassidy chose to bullpen catch for the team to continue to help his squad while sidelined, but after little to no progress,an appointment with a doctor was booked.
Soon after, an MRI revealed a torn labrum. After having a velocity range between 84 and 88mph prior to his injury, doctors told him he would never throw a ball over 82mph again.
"I was like, 'I'm going to prove you wrong,'" Cassidy said.
Cassidy took the diagnoses as a challenge and chose to go through with the surgery that would call for nine to 14 months of rehab.
His April 16 surgery was just the beginning of the adversity he would face.
Two days later, during a family FaceTime call, scheduled by his mom Wendy, his dad revealed his diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia.
But the Cassidy family, while shocked and scared by Mike's diagnoses, maintained optimism and hope. This wasn't the first time an imitate family member had fought cancer. Roughly nine years ago, Matt's brother, Jacob, battled, and beat frontal lobe brain cancer..
While Matt Cassidy underwent intense physical therapy, his father endured rounds of chemotherapy.
As Cassidy slowly worked his way back from surgery, progress came in small, deliberate steps. What began with two-pound pink dumbbells and limited range of motion eventually turned into light throwing, then short toss, each day bringing him closer to a return that once felt uncertain.
At the same time, his father's battle intensified.
In mid-September, doctors estimated his father had just weeks to live. After a workout he got in his car and made the drive to Charlottesville.
For an hour, it was just the two of them. They talked, reflected, and spoke honestly. At one point the father apologized, telling his son he felt like he had been a bad person. Cassidy didn't let that thought linger. There was nothing, he told him, that could make him believe that.
Cassidy eventually made the drive back to Lynchburg, returning to a routine that now felt far less important than it once had.
Mike Cassidy persevered for several months beyond his given timeline, a fight that inspired Matt and everyone around him.
"My biggest motivation during this whole process was seeing him fight," Cassidy said. "Seeing him fight when he was literally on his last leg, and seeing him fight to stay alive for six more weeks after they told him he had two, I was like, there's nothing that can stop me."
Weeks later, as Matt Cassidy began to regain enough strength to pick up a baseball again, his father's fight came to an end.
In the days that followed, Cassidy was surrounded by a wellspring of love and support. Teammates rallied behind the standout pitcher and his family
Their baseball roots ran deep, three brothers who grew up playing in Lynchburg, their father heavily involved and often stepping in as coach.
Once Matt Cassidy transitioned from playing at Heritage High School to Lynchburg, his parents became fixtures within the program, supporting the team in a myriad of ways that extended far beyond their son. They attended the visitation, stood beside him at the funeral and made it clear that the family would not grieve alone.
Within the program, the support became something more permanent.
Coaches and team leaders honored Mike throughout the season. A patch reading "4MC" – short for Mike Cassidy – was stitched onto the team's batting practice tops, while a matching decal was placed on every helmet.
For Cassidy, it served as a constant reminder of the person who helped shape not only his career, but his love for the game itself.
And when Cassidy took the mound on March 25, it wasn't just a return to the game he loved.
"I had to keep myself from grinning out there," Cassidy said. "Emotionally, I was just like, 'I know my dad's got me. Let's just go attack.'"
With every pitch, every strike, and every out recorded, he carried with him the lessons, the strength, and the fight that defined his father's final months.
Because at that moment, standing 60 feet, six inches away from the plate, Cassidy wasn't just back.
He wasn't alone.
Matt and his teammates now prepare to take on their fourth consecutive super regional series - with sights on where his freshman year ended, a college world series title.
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--LYN--
