Texas Tech University Athletics
Ready For His Chance
August 28, 2011 | Baseball
August 27, 2011
by Britton Drown
Texas Tech Athletics Communications
This is why Rusty Shellhorn came to Texas Tech. For this season. For this opportunity.
He paid his price--a full year removed from the college game due to NCAA transfer rules. A tradeoff for somebody as quiet, but equally as competitive as Shellhorn, was not easy.
Last year, the 5-foot-10 left-handed pitcher transformed from a player to a spectator, and as the season came to a close, he painfully watched his team finish just short of making their first NCAA Regional since the 2004 season. Shellhorn has been to the post-season twice before, and knew he could have done something, anything, to help push the Red Raiders into the post-season.
But he also understood he must patiently wait his turn.
Now though, as the team officially reported on Thursday, his wait has ended.
"I'm kind of jumping out of my skin," Shellhorn said Thursday after two hours of team meetings. "It is going to be nice to finally get out there and pitch again."
And the native of Spokane, WA can certainly pitch. The highly-recruited prospect was drafted in the 38th round of the 2008 MLB First-Year Players Draft after a sensational senior season at Central Valley High School where he went 7-3 with 139 strikeouts in 66 innings pitched and posted an ERA of just 0.78.
He also has spent the past two summers pitching in the prestigious Northwoods League where he was named a Post-Season All Star while finishing in the top-five in strikeouts, wins and ERA.
"He's very competitive," Texas Tech head coach Dan Spencersaid. "He has a good arm."
Now, that impressive arm has finally found its way into the Red Raider pitching rotation.
For Shellhorn, it's a clean slate. He spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Washington State, where his perceived dream of playing for a school just 90 minutes from his hometown didn't culminate the way he envisioned.
"I think it was timing," Spencer said. "I think it was the timing of things there with the people that they had in their program. They had a pool of left-handed arms."
But Shellhorn understands that's how life, and baseball, works.
After two seasons at Washington State, in which he made four starts and helped the Cougars advance to two NCAA Regionals, Shellhorn informed the coaching staff that he would be moving over 1,500 miles south to Lubbock, Texas.
"I just decided that it was about time to leave and I didn't want to go anywhere else but here," Shellhorn said. "Just the fact that they were willing to commit to me without even really seeing me meant a lot to me. It's the only school that really did that for me, so I think it's the right place for me."
With a season to adjust to his new team and his new surroundings, Shellhorn showed his teammates and coaches his impressive level of maturity. He absorbed the game from a new perspective, one that is not always easy for a player to understand, or adjust to.
"I just sat and watched," Shellhorn said. "I think you can learn a lot just by watching this sport. I have definitely learned a lot as a pitcher just by watching."
Much of that time was spent with teammate and fellow left-handed pitcher Daniel Coulombe, who also was forced to miss most of last season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery.
"He was able to clear his mind," Coulombe said. "It showed in how well he did this summer."
With a clear mind, his past behind him and just one semester separating him from his new beginning as a college baseball player, the lefty from Spokane is ready to formally begin his career as a Red Raider.
And so are his coaches.
"With Rusty's stuff, and his maturity and the fact that he has pitched in the Pac-10 and he has pitched in the very good collegiate league, makes him a guy that is a candidate with a real opportunity to pitch on the weekend." Spencer said. "So he is a huge addition."
And that's exactly what Shellhorn plans to become.
"I feel like this is my year," Shellhorn said. "I want to take everything to a whole new level. I want to help this program take everything to a whole new level. We haven't been there in a while, but this is the year to do it. We have the right guys and I want to help them and help this team get there."
