SUNBURY -- For a guy who threw a bunch of innings in 2008, Matt Wright couldn't wait to start throwing again in 2009.

After being advised by his Toronto Blue Jays instructors not to throw again until the new year rolled around, Wright heeded the advice. But when Jan. 2 rolled around, Wright figured it was time -- despite temperatures in the 30s -- to give his potent left arm some work.

"I just put some warm clothes on and went outside and tossed it a little bit," said Wright, the former West Snyder, Midd-West and Shippensburg University standout who was drafted in the 12th round by Toronto in last June's amateur draft. "It was for about 10 minutes at 60 feet. I was just tossing it.

"But when I really start pitching, I'll have to go inside for that. I don't want to be doing maximum effort in cold weather."

The southpaw might want to rest that arm as long as possible. He's coming off a remarkable year that saw him lead his college team to the Division II tournament, then in short order begin his professional career.

"It's been hectic, but it's been a lot of fun," said Wright, the son of Scott and Denise Wright of McClure.

Wright was at Shikellamy High School on Saturday to sign autographs at Sam Smith's annual baseball card show to benefit the Shikellamy High band. He's scheduled to report to the Blue Jays' spring training facility in Dunedin, Fla., in early March to begin his second pro season.

Wright was a two-time Daily Item Player of the Year in his high school days, then played three seasons at Shippensburg. After posting an 8-6 record in 2008, he's now tied for third on the Raiders' all-time win list with 22 victories. He's also third in school history in innings pitched (244) and career starts (35). And that's without the benefit of a senior season; three years instead of four.

"I'm finally able to relax a little after a couple of years where it was really baseball all the time. But I had a lot of fun during that last college season," Wright said.

His college career culminated in the Raiders reaching the 2008 Baseball Championship in Sauget, Ill., where Shippensburg went 1-2 and was eliminated with the second loss.

The lone Raiders victory saw Wright turn in a memorable performance. In a 9-2 victory over Franklin Pierce, Wright threw 166 pitches in a complete-game effort, striking out 15 while allowing two runs and just five hits.

"What made (last season) great was that in three years at Shippensburg, that was probably our least talented team individually," said Wright, a two-time North Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year. "But we came together as a team, and that's what made the season so special.

"There was a time when I thought I'd want to come back and play another season of college, but after last season it made it so much easier to say, I've had a good college career and this was a good season, and now I'm ready for the next level.'"

Days later, Wright was drafted by the Blue Jays and began his pro career at Auburn -- a short-season Class A team -- in the New York-Penn League. In his rookie season, all the numbers were impressive except his won-loss mark.

Despite an earned run average of just 3.58, Wright went 0-3 in 15 starts. In 50.1 innings of work, he allowed 20 earned runs on 53 hits and 22 walks, with 54 strikeouts.