May 16, 2011

When a student-athlete makes the difficult decision to transfer to another program, they must mentally prepare for having to sit out a season. University of Rhode Island starting pitcher Stephen Peterson prepared to sit out a year after leaving Marist, but then found himself out longer than he ever expected.

"I knew when I transferred, I would have to stay out that year," the now-redshirt senior Peterson reflected on the 2009 season, the year NCAA guidelines forced him to watch on the sidelines due to his transfer. "I was prepared for that. I had some things to work on myself, and I was going to take that time to do so. I wasn't just going to sit there, I was going to use that time to get better and get ready to contribute in 2010."

After making great strides in his pitching during the year he sat out, the Danvers, Massachusetts native took his refined skills to summer ball with the Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL.)

"I was having a great summer. I was pitching well, really hitting a good stride," the left-hander said of his summer with the Gulls. Peterson pitched the Gulls through the semifinal round of the NECBL championship (which they won), but found out soon after that he would need Tommy John surgery. After an entire collegiate season out of the game already, the lengthy rehabilitation and unknowns that the surgery presented could have derailed Peterson's college pitching plans. Peterson, however, saw it as just one more obstacle to persevere through.

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