Matt Carson was looking forward to his final two years of collegiate baseball.

A 2008 Bethel Park High School graduate and former walk-on at Duquesne University, he had established himself as a consistent presence in the Dukes lineup.

As a freshman, he started 30 games, and during his recently completed sophomore season, Carson started every game for Duquesne in left field.

As his junior year approached, Carson was on the cusp of earning a baseball scholarship at the school.

Then in January, the news came.

Duquesne was eliminating four men's varsity sports, and one of them was baseball.

"It totally caught me off guard," Carson said. "They didn't really give us any notice and it was really a shocker."

The news was as unexpected as it was disappointing for the players. Carson was not alone, as all of his teammates were forced into a difficult decision.

Some players transferred to other schools, and some will stay at Duquesne where their baseball scholarships will continue to be honored although there will be no games played and no team.

Carson was not about to stop playing baseball in college.

"Yeah, I thought about [staying at Duquesne]," Carson said. "But I wanted to continue to play baseball, and that really wasn't an option at Duquesne."

He looked around at different schools in the state but staying close to home was most important for Carson.

"It was tough, but you have to just start thinking forward of what you were going to do" Carson said. "I just finally figured it out over the last couple of weeks."

Carson decided to enroll at the University of Pittsburgh, as have a few other former Duquesne players. One is sophomore catcher Rick Devereaux, a West Allegheny grad who received a scholarship. There was no such scholarship for Carson, who will try to make the Pitt team as a walk-on.

After two years of establishing himself at Duquesne, earning a starting spot in the outfield and a chance for a scholarship, it will be back to square one for Carson.

To prepare for the college baseball season, Carson thought about heading to Kansas to play baseball in the Jayhawk League during the summer. But his friend, Jimmy Meyer, got in contact with Tom McCarthy, manager of the St. Johns baseball team in the Greater Pittsburgh Federation League. Meyer plays on the St. Johns team, which has dominated the Federation League over the past decade.

McCarthy had watched Carson play when he was at Bethel Park, and he knew what Carson could bring to his team.

"I watched him play most of his junior and senior year," McCarthy said.

"He did a real good job for [Bethel Park baseball coach] Jimmy Rider. He is a good kid with good speed and he is able to get himself on base."

McCarthy is using Carson as a center fielder and as a leadoff or a No. 2 hitter.

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