Matt was the 9th member of the NSL. He replaced Keith. Matt played two seasons in the league and had an all-time record of 13-19. Despite this losing record, Matt had great success in the league. He turned heads in his first season in the league. In his second season, he had a bad regular season, but then followed it up with a Cinderella run to 2nd place.
The expectations for Matt were unknown entering 2023. He had a high ceiling and a low floor. It was known he would be competitive when he took Andrew to 11 innings in Week 1. Matt enjoyed a 5-5 regular season to finish 5th. He finished 3rd in Day Division with a tied-second-best 3-3 divisional record. In the first round of the playoffs, King K Rool slapped a walk-off home run for Matt. He then fell in a tight matchup against Andrew in the semifinals.
Schedule
L 0-2 vs. Andrew (11 innings)
W 3-1 vs. Joe
W 1-0 vs. Will
L 0-4 vs. Jacob
W 3-0 vs. Wilson
L 0-1 vs. Joe
W 1-0 vs. Carston (7 innings)
W 2-0 vs. Jacob
L 0-1 vs. Will
L 1-2 vs. Garrett
W 1-0 vs. 4. Garrett (Quarterfinals) (7 innings)
L 2-3 vs. 1. Andrew (Semifinals)
Roster:
King K Rool, Brown Kritter, Red Kritter, Kritter, Red Yoshi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Blue Shy Guy, Wario
Poll Rankings:
Pre-Draft: 6th
Pre-Season: 6th
Post-Week 1: 2nd
Post-Week 2: 4th
Pre-Playoffs: 5th
Final Place: 3rd
Year 2 for Matt had high expectations. Once again, he took Andrew to extra innings in week 1. This should've been a sign for a good season. However, Matt started out cold. He didn't notch his first win until Week 3 (he only played 4 games in the first two weeks). Matt battled with division foes Jacob and Will, along with Tween for the fight to not get the last seed. In the end, Matt would take the last spot and play Andrew round 1. A walk-off home run knocked Andrew out of the playoffs for the first time ever, and Matt had pulled off the biggest upset in league history. He then took down Wilson in the semifinals to appear in his first championship game where he eventually lost to Joe 2-1. The ability we all knew he had showed up during the biggest games of the year.
Schedule
L 0-1 vs. Joe
L 1-2 vs. Andrew (6 innings)
L 0-1 vs. Will
L 1-3 vs. Garrett
L 1-7 vs. Andrew
W 1-0 vs. Jacob
L 1-2 vs. Wilson
W 1-0 vs. Wilson
L 0-2 vs. Will (6 innings)
L 0-2 vs. Joe
W 2-0 vs. Jacob
W 1-0 vs. Will
L 0-2 vs. Joe
W 1-0 vs. Tween (10 innings)
L 0-3 vs. Jacob
L 0-1 vs. Garrett
L 0-2 vs. Tween
W 1-0 vs. 1. Andrew (Quarterfinals)
W 2-1 vs. 4. Wilson (Semifinals) (8 innings)
L 1-2 vs. 2. Joe (Championship)
Roster
King Boo, Kritter, Wiggler, Boo Blooper, Brown Kritter, Red Yoshi, Yellow Yoshi, Diddy Kong
Poll Rankings:
Pre-Season: 3rd
Post-Week 1: 5th
Post-Week 2: 8th
Post-Week 3: 8th
Pre-Playoffs: 8th
Final Place: 2nd