By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

Mike Rutkowski

Mike Rutkowski has been an important and key component to the Hopedale varsity baseball team since his sophomore campaign and as he is enters his final campaign with his fellow Blue Raiders Coach Kevin Bresciani is looking for big things from his senior hurler.

“As a sophomore he almost immediately became our best pitcher and now we consider him our go-to guy on the mound,” the Hopedale Coach said. “Through the years his long, lengthy body has attributed to his effective pitching which has allowed us to win some tough games. When he first came out. You could tell that he was going to be something special the way he threw the ball.”

The senior pitcher has been named to the Dual Valley Conference (DVC) All-Star team that past two seasons and was also awarded the Pitcher of the Year last spring, something he was not expecting.

“When I got the text from Coach Bresciani, it was defiantly a surprise,” the senior hurler said. “I was not expecting it, especially since Nipmuc had a really good pitcher.”

Mike Rutkowski

Although he plays soccer and basketball as well for Hopedale, Baseball is his number one sport and has been for a long time. As a young kid he knew that playing baseball is what he wanted to do, but never in his wildest dreams did he believe he’d accomplish was has thus far.

Growing up he was always playing baseball with his friends and found that he had a real love for the sport. He enjoyed going to the park in Hopedale and watching the high school play. Around eight years of age, he noticed that he had a good arm, so pitching became his top priority and when he turned 14 his coach from his AAU team, the Metro West Devils out of Ashland sent him an email that would change his life around.

“The email asked me to stop worrying about playing other positions (he would play first base and outfield when he wasn’t on the mound) and concentrate on just pitching,” recalled Rutkowski. “I loved pitching so it was not a real problem for me; I just knew that I now needed to work harder on my mechanics.”

Although he was eligible to play for the high school earlier than his freshman season Rutkowski opted to stay with his AAU team during the eighth grade as he felt that the team had a chemistry and he loved playing with that group of guys. 

When he finally did decide to try out for the high school team he felt very confident in his skills during the tryouts. 

“I went to the tryouts with all my friend and just went out and did my thing. I was relieved to make the junior varsity team,” he said. “I pitched a good amount of games that year and had success and was eventually [pulled up the varsity tea during their playoff run. Although I was primarily sitting on the bench, I did get to see what if was like to play for a winning team.”

While he watched the Hopedale players that he so wanted to be like from the dugout during their tournament run that spring Rutkowski could only think of using this experience as motivation to get better and be out there on the field the next time the Blue Raiders got into the state tournament. 

During his sophomore year and first full season with the varsity squad, Rutkowski pitched 65 inning s and had 50 strikeouts and found himself as the starting pitcher in the Central Mass Finals, where he would go on to throw a no-hitter.

“That was an unbelievably great feeling that day,” he said. “Going into the game I just wanted to go in and pitch with confidence and do well for the team. I remember feeling really good that day before the game.”

In addition to being the starting pitcher in the Central Mass Finals, Rutkowski also found himself penciled in as the Blue Raiders pitcher in their first-round game against West Boylston in the Division 5 State Tournament.

As much success as he’s had, he also had to endure one of the hardest games in his high school career. Last year Hopedale was awarded the number two seed in the Division 5 State Tournament but never got out of the first round. The Blue Raiders were upset by Westfield Technical Academy, the 34th seed, 4-0 in the opening round.

“That loss was tough and it stayed in the back of our minds all year and now we want to avenge that loss,” he said. “I’m hoping that I can stay consistent this year. In baseball you have good and bad days, and when you have a bad day you cant let it bother you; just stick to your routine, debrief and move on.”

Bresciani noted that although Rutkowski has continued to be a hard thrower over the last two years he has improved his velocity and is in control of all his pitches. The Hopedale senior attributes that to becoming to a sidearm pitcher instead of coming over the top.

“At AAU practice the coach came up to me and asked me to throw sidearm and when I did I found that I had the same velocity but have more movement on the ball,” he said. “At that point I became a strictly side armed thrower.” 

As he comes into his senior season Coach Bresciani is expecting Rutkowski to get the tougher games to give the Blue Raiders a great opportunity to battle and win. Hopedale has some high division teams on their upcoming schedule.

“We’ll map out the scheduled games and figure out where we can get the most out of him to help out the team,” Bresciani said.

When the season does finally come to an end Rutkowski may be saying goodbye to his Hopedale teammates, but he will be looking to start the next chapter of his baseball career. The senior is currently looking for the right match in terms of a collegiate career.

Rutkowski is currently looking at two colleges with good baseball programs in Bridgewater State or Salem State. According to the Coach it doesn’t really matter where he goes, he should be successful.

“I feel extremely confident that no matter where he goes he’ll be a huge addition to that team,” the Blue Raider coach said. “If he’s not given a spot, he’ll be able to walk and earn a spot without a doubt.”

Despite which college to attend next fall looming in his future, Rutkowski has only one thing on his mind right now. He wants to go out and pitch his best giving Hopedale the chance to get back into the State Tournament and avenge their lack-luster performance of a year earlier.