Matt Briggs--Toronto Scout of the Year

By: Roy Waters | Morganton News Herald
Published: October 06, 2009

One of our former Burke County athletes has been chosen Scout of the Year for the Toronto Blue Jays baseball organization.
Matt Briggs, a former Freedom High star, was given the award at a recent banquet attended by members of his family in the Canadian city.
He became a full-time scout in 2004 and since that time has scouted two of the Blue Jays first round draft picks.
As a baseball and basketball player during his school days in our community, Briggs had success at both sports. He was a member of Freedom's 1994 state championship basketball team and both his high school and American Legion baseball teams made it to the North Carolina Final Four.
His athletic career started where most do, with his dad in the back yard of their home.
After playing the local youth leagues in both sports, he moved to Oak Hill Junior High. In his three years there, the teams won championships in basketball and baseball.
Moving to high school in 1992, Briggs' success continued. He made both coach Terry Rogers' varsity basketball and Tom Russ' varsity baseball teams as a sophomore. The baseball team won the Western 4A Conference championship three times and was rated No. 1 in the state several times.
The '94 team made it to the Western Regional championship game in Morganton but lost to Richmond County. Briggs was all-conference as a pitcher and second-team all-conference as a third baseman.
His greatest thrill was helping lead Freedom to the state 4A basketball crown his junior year. He averaged 11 points and seven rebounds for the season. He was selected all-region for his fine play during the event at Lenoir-Rhyne College.
Briggs was a member of coach Ronny Swink's 1994 American Legion Area IV champions. They lost in the state semifinals to Kernersville.
Four years of ACC baseball at Wake Forest capped off the young man's athletic career. His team was conference champions in 1998 and 99. The '99 team posted a 47-19 record and Briggs was 6-0 as a pitcher. He was 9-3 on the mound for his career at Wake Forest.
After college, Briggs was an assistant coach at Duke, Tennessee-Wesleyan and N.C. State before taking his present scouting job with Toronto.
He praised his local coaches for much of his success, including Wendel Ervin, Rogers, Russ and Swink. He then remembered a number of his teammates and their contributions to the teams he played on.
Briggs' dad, Doug, moved the family to Burke County where his wife, Susan's family, Bill and Clara Avery lived, from his native Newport News, Va.
Doug Briggs was a fine basketball player at Warick High and set the school's one-game scoring record with 31 points.
After a year at Fredrick Military Academy, he finished his college playing days at Christopher Newport, averaging 15 points a game.
Roy Waters is a sports columnist for The News Herald. Waters was baseball and basketball coach at Salem High School from 1955-66, where his teams won 18 championships. In 2007, he was inducted into the Burke County Sports Hall of Fame.

Matt Briggs--Toronto Scout of the Year

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