Growing up in Miami, Matt Cerione’s hometown Hurricanes were his “pride and joy.”

Thus, the temptation to play with the Sunshine State baseball powerhouse weighed heavily on the prized freshman outfielder.

In the end, Cerione, a graduate of Chattahoochee High School in Alpharetta, decided to join the Bulldogs.

“It was a big decision for me and a hard one,” Cerione said. “I came here and fell in love with the team and the school.”

A year ago at this time, Cerione was struggling to recover from a knee injury which cost him half of his senior season.

Flash ahead 12 months, and Cerione arguably has been the most pleasant surprise of the young baseball season, moving to the leadoff spot in the batting order and seeing considerable time in the outfield and at designated hitter.

“He had a slow fall, and we didn’t know where he would be until January, when he came back to the team as a different guy,” coach David Perno said. “Mentally, he’s figured out what it takes to play at this level.”

After batting .545 (tops in the SEC) in three games to start his Bulldog career, Cerione admits the transition has come at him fast, but it has not stopped him from enjoying the success.

“I’m just taking the best advantage of the opportunity given to me,” Cerione said. “At this point I’m letting the game come to me.”

Part of that includes adjusting to being the Diamond Dogs’ new leadoff hitter, a differing philosophy for a player who set the Chattahoochee school record with 17 home runs in a season.

Now for Cerione, it’s all about getting on base, something he did all five times up in a win over Mercer Wednesday.

“As long as I’m the leadoff hitter, my goal is to get on,” he said. “If I don’t get on base, I’m not doing my job.”