State of the Rex '23: Myriad of setbacks puts team in tailspin

Jul. 28—On a wall in Lake Placid, N.Y., the Olympic Center — one of two where U.S. athletes train for the Games — there's a sign posted that Rex general manager Bruce Rosselli said is applicable to his Terre Haute-based wooden-bat baseball team.

"It's a privilege to train here, not your right," the sign reads.

Rosselli's bobsled career spanned 17 years, the closest he got to the fabled Games was an alternate but he competed in the World Championships.

The collegiate players electing to compete in the wooden bat summer league following springs with their colleges or high schools often are vying for a roster spot among a triple-digit pool of players that gets trimmed below 40.

"I tell the guys, 'This is the most difficult to go through the last few weeks knowing that you are probably not going to win a championship,'" Rosselli said.

"You use that as a positive. 'How do I get through this time in the hot heat, grinding away to be a good hitter or a grinding away to be a good pitcher, so that when you hit that again, that adversity.' You can say, 'All right, I've been here before I know how to handle it. I can do it again.' If you quit, you are never going to get through that."

This summer, the Rex have been marred by a pitching crew that was unable to sustain a tempo and flow for a consistent rotation.

After splitting its doubleheader in Springfield, Ill., on Thursday, their 7.49 season ERA was in the cellar of the 17-team Prospect League through 49 games.

Finding a confident stable of pitchers isn't clear cut with college hurlers sometimes opting or college coaches having them on limitations every game. This leads to guys shutting it down, sometimes before midseason.

This puts the onus on management to fill out squads with not just quality, but quantity.

Interim manager Culley DeGroote, who took over for Harry Markotay recently, said squads need to go 25 pitchers deep to get through summer action.

Rosselli said this manager switch was the first one he's made midseason since becoming part owner in 2013. His first season as GM was 2014.

The Rex (18-31 heading into Friday night's home game against Jackson) will wrap up the season Aug. 5. DeGroote, who said he won't be the manager next year, was tasked with getting this group across the finish line. He said the club has played 56 games in 69 days.

"The clubhouse was frustrated," he said. "It was a very delicate situation. A lot of these guys love Harry and playing for him. For me, stepping in, it had nothing to do with Harry. It was just about keeping this thing moving [forward]."

Assistant coach Jacob Harden said there's been a shift from the Rex in recent weeks.

"I've said this to multiple people the past week and a half, that I've been blessed to be around this team since (2020)," said Harden, who played for the Rex in 2017.

"This is finally Rex baseball. This is the same feeling, finally, for the first time in being here as a coach in three years, that I have the same feeling that I had when I suited up as a player, which was a great environment, gritty fight, you got people that are here for each other. The whole atmosphere, it's such a heartwarming thing because it has been missing for a lot of years.

"I feel like we finally rekindled that fire. I just hate that it's too late in the season."

Harden, who has been through four summers with the Rex and three on the diamond, the pandemic canceled his first, said the vibe changed when the players stopped passing the buck by pointing fingers and rather sought solutions.

"I don't know the direction of where this team will go next year, I'm not sure," Harden said. "But whoever is in charge, whoever is a part, the biggest thing is you [have] got to start recruiting as soon as the season gets over. I think a big thing for me, and one of my biggest regrets as an assistant coach is feeling that I've done enough.

"There [are] some times I'm reaching out and busting my tail to try to get guys, and then it's like, you know, 'This isn't my job. That's a bad attitude to have to and I've really opened my eyes."

Rosselli said the focus is on mentoring talent and not necessarily wins. He said guys are in individual spots to step up on each play, whether it be getting the across the plate, fielding contact and getting knocks with the bat.

The team averaged 485 fans in the first 24 games at Bob Warn Field, which is 15th in the league, which he said he feels like is an improvement.

Harden said it's incumbent for the next manager and staff when putting together the 2024 team to press Division I coaches for definitive response early on for commitments.

"Recruiting is a lot like competing, you can't just give in," he said. "[You've] got to stay at, stay adamant."

"I know he loves being a part of the Rex," DeGroote said of Harden. "He's just an upbeat, positive guy. He's been the bridge to keep everything together. He knew the players. I leaned on that as we proceeded here. He's been the glue to keep it all together."

DeGroote's silver lining for the franchise is the emerging talent that just graduated from high school on this youthful Prospect League squad.

A young Rex contingent has been learning on to go.

In recent nights, Brett Sherrard from Bloomfield patrolled second base, West Vigo graduate Carter Murphy has been a fixture in the infield all summer, second baseman Brady Yeryar from Shakamak and pitchers Nathan Frady from Bloomfield, Kaleb Marrs out of West Vigo, Clayton Weisheit from Forest Park have logged innings.

"Really just trying to keep things positive, it's been a long summer for these guys," DeGroote said.

—Nightcap rebound — In Zacheus Carr's initial time on the mound this summer Thursday night at the Springfield (Ill.) Lucky Horseshoes, the Rose-Hulman pitcher went 5.1 innings with five hits, four earned runs, two walks, nine strikeouts and allowed one homer. Clay Hendry registered his first save of the year in seven appearances in the 6-4 win to cap the night. Gabe Wright and Nazhir Bergen went yard with solo shots. Bergen has a pair of long balls in six games this summer and Wright has four in 19 games.

In the early makeup game of the doubleheader Thursday, the Rex trailed 8-4 in the top of the fifth. Then Slater Schield drove in a run with a triple and after a two-run homer by Payton Howard. trimmed the deficit to one. But the Rex couldn't pull any closer.