Jason Motte

Motte was born in Port Huron, Michigan. He graduated from Valley Central High School, Montgomery, New York in 2000 and played catcher on the varsity baseball team. Valley Central is also the alma mater of former MLB pitcher Matt Morris. He then attended Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. At Iona, Motte could throw to second base from behind the plate as fast as 1.76 seconds, and was clocked at throwing 85 mph from this position. While Motte never pitched for Iona, the school\'s pitching coach reported that, with shinguards on, Motte once released a 94 mph pitch from the mound at practice.\n', '

Cardinals selected Motte in the 19th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft as a catcher. In 2003 with the Peoria Chiefs, in 48 games at catcher he committed four errors with five passed balls. Early in his minor league career, he struggled as a hitter. He batted .222 in 2003, .175…