When asked why he chose Penn State, Mason Horwat gave a pretty simple answer, “It’s one of the best universities, they have a lot of draft picks and they produce pitchers well.”
Horwat believes that Penn State is the perfect place to help him reach his dream of being in the MLB. While not known as a traditional power in baseball, the team has caught fire recently with 2022 draft pick Matt Wood becoming the highest drafted player in program history when he was taken in the fourth round by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Horwat believes that can be him one day.
It’s why he chose Penn State over George Mason, the only other school he said he considered. Not so much from an on-field success perspective, but a developmental one.
“I don’t look at winning too much,” said Horwat. “Obviously I care about winning and I hope that I can help them do that, but I looked at it as they really know how to develop players. Obviously the recent success helps, walking into a program that gets better and better every year, it definitely helps.”
The development aspect of his baseball career is what he is highly focused on in his life. So much so that even weightlifting, once done out of necessity to improve, has become a favorite hobby of his.
“I know I had to do it, but I just really started to love it,” said Horwat. “Now I do it for two reasons, because I really enjoy it and it’s fun for me and helps me release stress and all that, and it also helps my performance on the field.”
He developed a change-up with his high school coaches and hopes to continue to develop that in his career at Penn State. He already has a fastball to his arsenal, which he considers his best pitch, and also throws a slider and a curveball.
He comes to Penn State from Avonworth High School in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. He’s a WPIAL kid and his dad is a Pitt alumnus. The weirdness of facing Pitt in the white Penn State uniforms at his childhood ballpark of PNC Park one day in a non-conference regular season isn’t lost on Horwat.
Nor is it on his parents, who he credits as his biggest influence into the person he is today. “They’ve put in a lot of time and money and a lot of their effort,” said Horwat. “So much time has gone into traveling all over the summer. Coming to all my games and supporting me.”
And now they head to support him at Penn State, a Big Ten school. Horwat is excited to tackle to biggest stage he has ever played on.
“This is what I’ve been working for the whole time I’ve been playing baseball,” said Horwat. “To get to a power-five school like Penn State and I just want to make an impact when I get there.”
But before making an impact he has to develop. Whether that’s a new pitch, weightlifting or whatever else he feels he needs on his way to the MLB. His dream and he thinks Penn State will get him there.
