Wood Makes Himself at Home on the Mound : Canyon: Senior workhorse wants to help the Comanches return to the Southern Section 4-A finals.

Matt Wood decided one day that he wanted to be a pitcher, so he begged and pleaded with his mom to take him to a local pitching school in Anaheim.

She finally relented, and a few weeks later, the 10-year-old Wood, scared and nervous, took the mound for the first time in a real game.

He pitched a no-hitter.

“I was hooked,” Wood said. “I wanted to pitch every inning of every game after that.”

Coaches have pretty much obliged him throughout his career. Wood, now a senior at Canyon High School, has been a workhorse.

Last season, he was 8-4 and the top winner on a Comanche team that lost to Capistrano Valley, 8-3, in the Southern Section 4-A final. This season, he’s one of the reasons Canyon is favored to win the Century League.

“The goal of everyone who’s back this year is to get back to the championship game,” Wood said. “Get there and get the job done this time.”

With Wood on the mound, the Comanches have a good chance of doing it.

There’s nothing fancy in his style: Get the ball and throw it--hard. He struck out 87 batters in 80 innings last season.

“I’ve never seen a radar gun on him, I don’t need to,” Coach Hi Lavalle said. “I can tell how fast he throws by the number of guys who swing and miss. When Matt has control of his fastball, he’s hard to hit.”

Lavalle was pleasantly surprised to find Wood on his roster a year ago.

Wood started his career at Savanna and was 3-3 as a sophomore, but transferred to Canyon during the summer.

The move was difficult on Wood. He had no trouble fitting in at school, but he struggled early in the baseball season. After winning his first three starts, he lost four in a row.

“I was trying to prove myself to my teammates,” Wood said. “I knew they hadn’t been a good team and I wanted to show I could contribute. I finally just relaxed and put my faith in God.”

Wood won his last five games and finished the season with a 1.83 earned-run average. He also did his share at the plate, hitting .322.

But on the mound is where he wants to be.

“I just love pitching,” Wood said. “I love being in the thick of the action. I want the ball in big games.”

He got plenty of chances.

Wood beat Gahr, 5-1, in the second round of the playoffs. He threw 88 pitches and struck out nine.

“That was as good as Matt gets,” Lavalle said.

As bad as he can get came in his next start in the semifinals against Paramount.

Wood began hyperventilating while warming up in the bullpen. He then went out and walked the first two batters and gave up an infield single.

At that point, Wood was peeking into the dugout, awaiting the hook.

“I just realized that this was the semifinals and got really nervous,” Wood said. “Coach Lavalle should have probably pulled me.”

Lavalle didn’t.

Wood got out of the inning, giving up only one run. He again labored through the second inning, but got out of that without giving up a run.

He gave up only two hits over the final five innings and retired the last nine batters in a 5-2 victory.

“That shows how tough he is,” Lavalle said.

Wood goes into this season with much more confidence. And he expects to improve on his record of last season.

“I’m ready to pitch this year,” Wood said.

But then he has been since he was 10.