Young Matt is catching
a second chance

By Melissa Yerkov
Times Sports Editor

Matt Schlernitzaur is your average 10-year-old.
The fourth-grader attends Holmesburg Baptist Christian Academy, does his homework and loves to play with friends out front his Northeast Philadelphia home.
Matt also likes his tae kwon do classes. And playing baseball with his buddies.
But after a visit with his family doctor last fall, everything changed.
"He was walking around with a broken hip for about four months and we never knew it," explained Matt’s mother, Kathy, last week. "I took him to an orthopedic surgeon down at Dupont Hospital in Delaware and they diagnosed him right away."
Matt had Perthes Disease, a rare condition found in young children that occurs when there is a temporary loss of blood supply to the hip. As a result, the femur becomes immobilized. There are many theories as to what causes Perthes Disease, but none is a certainty.
On Oct. 22, Matt underwent surgery to repair his hip, a procedure followed by two months in a half-body cast. He was unable to attend school, unable to play with his friends, unable to go about his daily life.
"The state sent out a teacher so he didn’t fall behind at school," said Kathy. "The whole house was turned into a mini-hospital. But one of the hardest things for him — even though his hip was broken — was for him to refrain from running. He was really limited and couldn’t do much of anything. It was really hard for him."
The little guy with a lot of courage is still technically recovering from surgery. He is prohibited from running, jumping or kicking, but he is able to attend school and play with his friends again.
"Sometimes it feels weird, but it doesn’t hurt anymore," said Matt. "I didn’t like being in the cast. I’m happy to be out of it."
It didn’t take long for him to rejuvenate his energetic ways. The youngster found a perfect way to embrace his active lifestyle, despite his physical limitations.
"He’s been wanting to play baseball since he was about seven," said Kathy. "Even though he’s not allowed to do any running, jumping or kicking, he can still play baseball, though, because that is mainly involved with the upper body."
And with that, Matt’s hopes of hitting home runs became reality.
"I play first base and pitcher," said Matt, who recently joined his first baseball team, Crispin Gardens. "Batting is my favorite part of baseball . . . but I really like pitching too," he quickly added with a smile.
Soon after he started to play baseball, Matt decided to take a suggestion from his mom — he entered an online essay contest, Diamonds in the Rough.
"I was flipping through the news and I heard ‘baseball field,’ which immediately grabbed my attention," explained Kathy. "And at the end of the segment they mentioned this Diamonds in the Rough contest. The reporter said it was still open and there were five days left."
After some vigorous Internet searching, the determined duo found the Web site and quickly got to work.
"I remember he was outside playing and I came out yelling, ‘I found it! I found it!’" said Kathy with a laugh.
The contest, open to any youth softball or baseball player 7 to 14 years of age, required applicants to write a 300-word essay describing how baseball helped them overcome some of life’s challenges both on and off the field.
"I wrote how baseball changed my life," said Matt. "I like the way it turned out. I think it was good."
With mom’s help, 300 words later, the essay was complete and faxed in just hours before the deadline. At that point, although Matt had plenty of experience playing baseball with his friends and his dad Chalie, he’d never played with an organized team.
"He was only in the tryout phase when we submitted the essay," recalled Kathy. "They called up a couple days after we submitted it and said we had won! He hadn’t even been assigned to a team yet!"
Well, Matt was certainly off to a good start.
He was named one of the contest’s 20 finalists, winning $5,000 to be used to aid his team. Although nothing has been decided by the organization for sure, Matt hopes to use the money for new baseball bats and uniforms and "a giant scoreboard."
"I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet," said Kathy. "I mean, five-thousand dollars is a lot of money."
The lucky youngster is also in the running for a grand prize, including an additional $5,000 and a trip for four to New York City to watch one of the last games that’ll be played in Yankee Stadium.
But if you ask Matt, who lives in Pennypack with his parents and sister Shea, he seems more excited to watch his home team, the Fightin’ Phillies.
"I go to games sometimes," he said with a smile. "My favorite is Jimmy Rollins."
By fall, about one year after his surgery, Matt likely will have fully recovered.
"We were just at the doctor again last week," said Kathy. "And he said that by September, Matt will be back to one-hundred percent. You know, full speed ahead — running, jumping, kicking, everything.
"His life was pretty much turned upside down with the broken hip. Everything he’s been through, he just takes it in stride. He’s really an incredible kid." ••
Votes are now being counted to determine the grand-prize winner of the Diamonds in the Rough contest. Check out next week’s Northeast Times to see if Matt Schlernitzaur took home the total $10,000 prize. For more information or to read Matt Schlernitzaur’s essay, visit www.BriggsDiamondsintheRough.com
Sports editor Melissa Yerkov can be reached at 215-354-3035 or myerkov@phillynews.com