Matt Cervantes was hired in August of 2014 to take over the Danville Area Community College softball program that only had nine players and was not very competitive. Matt began to lay the foundation of his program during the 2014-2015 season with these nine young women, a group that only won one game. His second year squad won twelve games and the program was on the move. In just the third season (2016-2017) at the helm, Cervantes and the Lady Jaguars finished the regular season with an overall record of 34-19, District P Champions (defeated Cottey College MO), and a 13th place finish at the NJCAA National Championship in Alabama. The 2020 team was off to the best start in school history, going 9-0 to open the campaign before the season was shut down due to the pandemic. Two years later (2022) the Lady Jaguars finished the regular season with a program best 45 wins, District B Champions (defeated St. Louis CC MO), and a 7th place finish at the NJCAA National Championship in Alabama. Centerfielder Ahslynn McPeak earned second team All-American honors in 2022. The following year (2023) was much the same. Cervantes guided the Jaguars to 43 wins, another District B Championship (defeated St. Louis CC MO) in three games, another trip to nationals in South Carolina, and a 9th place finish in the national polls. Centerfielder Danielle Shuey earned third team All-American honors.
Cervantes was named the 2017 Mid-West Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, the 2017 District P Coach of the Year, as well as the District B Coach of the Year in both 2022 and 2023. He has coached thirty-five all-conference players, nineteen Region 24 selections, five NJCAA All-Americans, and twenty-six NJCAA Academic Award winners.
Prior to joining the Danville Area Community College athletic department, Cervantes was head baseball coach at Blue Ridge High School in 2012 and 2013. He took over a Blue Ridge program that had won six games in the two years prior and ultimately won thirty-five games in the two years he was in charge, earning Coach of the Year honors in the conference. He worked on the travel softball circuit for seven years and has been a private instructor for baseball and softball athletes of all ages.
The Sandwich, Illinois native competed in both wrestling and baseball in high school, earning All-State and All-Conference honors. He attenede the University of Illinois, earned his Bachelors degree in Communications, and was a member of the baseball team. Cervantes was a member of the 2010 Big Ten Championship squad as a walk-on catcher. He also competed in the Mountain West Collegiate Summer League in 2010 and 2011. His career was cut short due to injury and he then joined the Fighting Illini women's softball team as a volunteer assistant.
Matt and his wife Kelley (assistant softball coach) reside in Homer, Illinois and have a daughter Parker and a son Gable.
Here is a list of schools that Coach Cervantes and his staff have helped move on to four-year institutions:
Blackburn College (Carlinville, Illinois)
Central Michigan University (Mount Pleasant, Michigan)
Danville Area CC Rad Tech (Danville, Illinois)
Eastern Illinois University (Charleston, Illinois)
Fontbonne College (St. Louis, Missouri)
Goshen College (Goshen, Indiana)
Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, Arizona)
Greenville College (Greenville, Illinois)
Illinois State University (Normal, Illinois)
Indiana State University (Terre Haute, Indiana)
Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana)
Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne (Fort Wayne, Indiana)
Indiana University - Southeast (New Albany, Indiana)
Jacksonville University (Jacksonville, Florida)
Kentucky State University (Frankfort, Kentucky)
Lakeview College of Nursing (Danville, Illinois)
Ohio University (Athens, Ohio)
Purdue University Northwest (Hammond, Indiana)
Quincy University (Quincy, Illinois)
Saint Mary of the Woods College (Terre Haute, Indiana)
Southeast Missouri State University (Cape Girardeau, Missouri)
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (Carbondale, Illinois)
Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (Edwardsville, Illinois)
University of Central Florida (Orlando, Florida)
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, Illinois)
University of Tennessee (Knoxville, Tennessee)
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (Green Bay, Wisconsin)
Vincennes University (Vincennes, Indiana)
Western Illinois University (Macomb, Illinois)
Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, Kentucky)
Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, Michigan)
