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| Photo Credit: Dowling Athletics |
Dowling has a rich pitching tradition. Among those who have dominated for the Golden Lions is Marc Rutledge, a 2012 graduate.
On February 11, he signed a deal with the River City Rascals of the Frontier League.
I had a chance to speak with him. Usually I take the most poignant quotes and incorporate them into an article. In this case, every answer was extremely well-thought out and eloquent so I will post the transcript of the conversation.
When you look back on your career at Dowling, what was your fondest memory?
Wow, as I was reading the question my mind drifted back to my freshman year, when we dropped game 1 to Adelphi in the Regionals. We won the next 3 to get us into the Championship, against Adelphi again. This same situation looked all too familiar to us, as just 1 week prior, we had to beat Adelphi twice to take home the ECC championship title. I started that game one, and we lost 10+ runs to 1 if I remember correctly. Back to the Championship games against Adelphi, we had to win 2 games to advance to the CWS, we started Buddy Cipoletti game one, who gave up just 4 hits if I’m not mistaking, leading us to a 4-0 win. I was given the ball in game 2, and I still remember to this day, going out to the mound in the first inning and someone yelling “oh this guy again, we crushed him last week, let’s do it again”. Well we won 1-0, one of the most emotional games I’ve ever been a part of. The rushing to the mound after Gabby (our Ace) at the time got the final out, the dog pile and tears of joy, to the hugs with your brothers that you battled all year with, that’s my favorite memory of my Dowling baseball career, and I thank each and everyone of them for making that happen, I’ll never forget that.
What keeps you motivated to chase your dreams of playing the big leagues ?
This question is a roller coaster ride of emotions for me. I’d say the thing that keeps me motivated the most is the ‘What if’ factor. Within the past 6 years I tore my ACL twice, once in the fall of 09′ and again in the winter of 12′. I ask myself all the time “where would I be if I never tore my ACL the first time, what if I had done this instead of that”. The pain of regret really hurts when thinking about this subject, with that being said, I let that fuel my drive to get to where I want to be.
How do you prepare yourself for a season?
There are many things that I do in preparation for an upcoming season. I get myself in the best condition possible both mentally and physically. The mental aspect grows stronger as I get physically stronger, why? Because putting my body through workouts that test your inner well being, seeing what you’re made of, and passing those thresholds, that is when you grow, knowing you can surpass the so called limits you thought you set for yourself.
The weight room is my best friend, doing everything that is going to build up my legs and core. Working on becoming more explosive.
Then there is the time to start getting my arm loose, from a nice and easy toss to a long toss to really strengthen your arm.
All of these things play a strong factor in my preparation for a season, I always say,
“If we get beat because they’re better than that’s fine, but there is no way someone will beat us because they out worked us”
Do you anticipate a tough transition to pro ball ?
If I said no I’d be lying. These are all players who want to get themselves into Affiliated Ball, so the level of play should be pretty good out there. As a pitcher, I just have to make sure I’m on my game every pitch, of every night.
