Jonathan Mata, a Wilmington, Calif. native, joins the Salem University baseball team as a Graduate Assistant focusing with the team’s pitchers.
Mata’s college career started at University of New Mexico, a division 1 school. During his time, the team won the Mountain West Conference tournament and earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Regionals at Arizona State University (Phoenix, AZ Regional 2011).
His sophomore year he played at Los Angeles Harbor College and earned a 4.0 GPA.
His junior and senior year (2012 to 2014) he transferred and played at Prairie View A&M University. His senior year, he was awarded Pitcher of the Year as he led the team to the conference tournament championship.
In 2015, Mata signed with Pericos de Puebla, a Triple-A level baseball team located in Puebla, Puebla, Mexico. This team belongs to the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (LMB), the highest level of baseball in Mexico. He spent three seasons with Puebla where he was able to develop as a professional athlete.
In 2016, he spent the season in their minor league system with the Algodoneros de San Luis, where he boasted a 6-2 record, including two playoff wins, with a 3.00 ERA in 57 innings with 53 strike outs. The team lost in game seven of the championship series of the Liga Norte de Mexico (LNM).
In the winter of 2016, he had a league best 7-3 record with a 3.75 ERA in 60 innings pitched. The WHIP was also a league best at 1.23.
