Seattle, Wash. — (WLOS) When the television executives peruse the numbers from Friday nights Minnesota at Seattle MLB game, they might raise an eyebrow at a seemingly random hot spot in a small nook of North Carolina. That will be the town of Sylva and Jackson County tuning in from across the country. While they may be almost 2,700 miles apart the interest of Sylva will be firmly fixated on T-Mobile Park.

“People have been waiting for a long time for this one,” laughed former Smoky Mountain High head baseball coach Jeremy Ellenburg.

For the first time in their careers, Smoky Mountain alums Cal Raleigh of the Mariners and Zebby Matthews of the Twins will square off against one another.

“A coach’s favorite players are the ones that practice with a purpose, they play with a purpose, they have a goal in mind, and they compete to accomplish that goal not just individually but as a team and those two guys are great examples of that,” praised Ellenburg.

Raleigh graduated in 2015, the year before Ellenburg took over the program; however, before his coaching days Ellenburg played at Western Carolina for head coach Todd Raleigh. Their bat boy was Todd’s son, Cal.

Ellenburg played from 2003 to 2006 for the Catamounts, which means he was around a young Cal when he was seven to ten years old. At an age where most kids are more interested in the postgame treats or daydreaming in the outfield, Raleigh’s talent was already manifesting. Ellenburg recalled the coach’s son participating in competitive drills at practice, and not-so-rarely winning them.

However it was the baseball IQ that really jumped out.

“He knew situations. He studied the game,” Ellenburg said. “I remember many times players would be coming off the field and Cal would just come over and ask them about, ‘Why didn’t you do this? This is what you should have done.’ The thing was, he was right. He knew he was and we knew he was.”

Raleigh would go on to become one of the top high school baseball prospects in the country, earning All-American honors at Florida State, and eventually getting selected by the Mariners in the third round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

Matthews, on the other hand, had to take the long road to attention and prominence. Ellenburg didn’t make the right-handed pitcher his number one on the staff until he was a junior. The season before, though, the Mustangs former coach saw what kind of drive his sophomore shortstop had.

Smoky Mountain advanced to the fourth round of the 2016 state playoffs where they were matched up against eventual state champion East Rutherford. Matthews was called upon to start the game, and went into the seventh with the game tied. The Cavaliers hit a walk-off homer to spoil the evening. After the game Ellenburg had gathered his team when he noticed one of his players was missing.

“I’m talking to everybody and I realize Zebby’s not in the huddle. We look back out in the outfield and here comes Zebby back over the fence,” he smiled. “He gets over to me and asked where he went, and he had that baseball in his hand. He went through the woods and found that home run ball. The next season I ask him about that ball and it had been in his bat bag all summer. He had thrown bullpens with it because it was a reminder that he wasn’t going to let that happen again.”

Matthews would start his college career at Walters State before transferring back home to Western Carolina. After three stellar years in Cullowhee, the Twins nabbed him in the eighth round of the 2022 draft.

Once in the Minor Leagues, Matthews began turning heads quickly and made his Major League debut on August 13, 2024.

“Cal came from a place that knows what it takes to get there and everything” Ellenburg explained, referencing Raleigh’s father who was the head coach at Tennessee after leaving WCU. “The best way you can describe Zebby is that he’s not going to quit. His goal was to play Major League Baseball, it’s always been that since he was little.”

Since Matthews made the move to pitcher after Raleigh had already graduated from high school, this will be the first time the two see each other in a competitive setting. First pitch is slated for 10:10pm Eastern, and when Raleigh steps into the batters box Ellenburg has already figured out how to serve both rooting interests.

“I’m going to be wearing a Zebby shirt and a Mariners hat,” he grinned.