After losing most of their baseball season to the pandemic in 2020, Brooks Rosser and his Truett-McConnell University teammates were back on the diamond for 2021.
Rosser is a Gilmer High alum and just completed his third season on the mound for the Bears and proved to be one of the top pitchers in the Appalachian Athletic Conference.
Rosser, a second team all-conference selection in 2021, discussed taking the field over the past two seasons during a pandemic as the COVID-19 cloud continued to cast a shadow of doubt in 2021.
“At first (back in February), it felt a little different because everyone was still on edge in case someone got a positive test,” Rosser said. “You’re getting screened before every game so you don’t know. If you have a fever, you get concerned and then you’re worried about your teammates catching a fever. When March rolled around, we were all like, ‘We’re not going to shut down again are we?’
“Toward the end of the year, it felt like it was just baseball again. We weren’t as concerned. We were still getting screened, but we were used to it at that point.”
In 2020, the pandemic cut the season short as TMU only played 23 games. Rosser and his teammates used the extra time off to focus on training, which they started roughly six weeks earlier than normal. However, the loss of game experience did have some drawbacks.
“To have that extra time to use for training, I saw a little bit of benefit in my velocity,” Rosser said.
“The only thing that hurt from last year was getting less experience. The length of a season gives you that experience. I felt it this year during this season that I didn’t play a full season last year. Toward the end of the season, my body was kind of just starting to give out.”
The Bears had a 29-23 overall record, and their campaign ended May 7 with a 9-1 loss to Tennessee Wesleyan University in the AAC tournament. TMU was 14-15 versus conference opponents.
“We had our struggles this year. We had a lot of things off the field that really put a burden on the team,” Rosser said. “We had some things off the field like losing family members and one of our teammates was in a horrible car accident, so we had a lot of off-the-field issues. Nothing like players getting suspended but a lot of pain and suffering.”
The Bears used their off-the-field misfortunes to grow closer, which led to some inspired play. With their seasonal goals of reaching the conference tournament, championship game and a NAIA regional still in tact, they went on a run.
“We kind of just rallied around each other,” Rosser said. “We had a group of resilient guys that came into the Bryan College series, which is about at the middle of our conference schedule. We had an awful conference record (3-9), were in the bottom shelf of the conference and were just playing bad baseball.
“We went 10-1 in an 11-game stretch and were able to turn our season around. We rode that momentum into the conference tournament and had found our groove at that point.”
TMU posted a 3-2 record in the AAC tournament with both losses coming against No. 1 ranked Tennessee Wesleyan.
Rosser was credited with two wins at the tournament, and he made a pair of relief appearances on the final day of the event. In game one against Columbia International University, Rosser struck out five in 2 2/3 innings. He fanned the side in the 10th inning to preserve TMU’s 11-10 win.
Against Tennessee Wesleyan later that day, Rosser took the mound for 4 2/3 innings and struck out 13 and surrendered two earned runs. Versus CIU and TWU, Rosser struck out a combined 18 batters out of 22 possible outs.
Those strikeouts were a trend of Rosser’s season. He led the AAC with 12.52 strikeouts per game. His 105 strikeouts on the season ranked second in the AAC and his nine wins ranked fifth. He lost five games and recorded 4.91 earned-run average.
“I was able to get a lot of strikeouts this year by mixing offspeed and a pretty good fastball. I was able to be more efficient, but I still walked more than I wanted,”Rosser said. “I got roughed up against GGC (Georgia Gwinnett College) early in the year and used it as motivation. I didn’t pitch bad and I was throwing strikes, but I just got shelled.
“They’re a good team but I know I’m better than what that stat line read. I have that state line memorized: nine runs, 12 hits, two walks and one strikeout. I knew I was a lot better than that and channeled that frustration for my starts the rest of the season.”
Rosser said he hit 94 on the radar gun with his four-seam fastball and was normally in the 90-92 miles per hour range. Along with a slider, curveball and change-up, he proved to be a tough matchup for opposing hitters.
“For all of my conference starts this year, my average fastball was in the 90s,” Rosser said. “That was a big deal for me this year to get that average velocity up.”
The Bears will lose their shortstop and center fielder to graduation. Both proved to be valuable offensive and defensive assets, but TMU returns its entire pitching staff in 2022.
Rosser received an extra year of eligibility because of last year’s shortened season and plans to continue college ball for two more seasons to see where it takes him.
“I’m going to continue to chase that childhood dream. I’d love to get drafted, but I don’t know if that is going to be a possibility or not,” Rosser said.
“I have two more years to see what I can do and what kind of noise I can make and if I’m blessed enough to ever see that opportunity.”