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Veteran makes move from battlefield to ball field

OCOEE, Fla. — Mathew Oset has been on the baseball diamond since he was 4 years old, but after graduating from Ocoee High School, he left behind his cleats and laced up his boots to serve in the U.S. Army.

Now, as a veteran who spent nearly a year in Afghanistan and a 24-year-old father of a 3-year-old girl, Oset is getting back on the baseball field.

On Saturday, he will play in the Florida League All-Star Game and then play for the Altamonte Scorpions in the College Summer League before heading off to pitch at the University of New Orleans in the fall.

“I wanted to further myself as a person and to build more character,” Oset said of his time in the Army. “I wouldn’t change anything for the world.”

Oset said serving in the Army taught him that, “Life is bigger than one individual.”

He shared that lesson with his teammates at Seminole State College and his current teammates in the summer league and plans to take he message with him to New Orleans.

“Coming together as a unit is more important than an individual aspect,” Oset said.

He said that message means even more when it is said on America’s birthday.