Tournament of Champions: Day 1
February 9, 2019
HOUSTON, TX - San Jacinto Junior College opened its annual Tournament of Champions on Friday with blustery early spring weather not common to south Texas. The high temperature was listed at forty-five degrees, but our first hand experience can assure you that the windchill was much lower. With newly installed flag poles on each side of the Gator’s scoreboard, neither the stars and stripes, or the lone star flag of Texas rested. To put it simply, everyone in attendance endured the elements - especially the players.
Enter San Jacinto JC right-hander Jackson Rutledge, standing 6-foot-8, 250-pounds, from Rockwood Summit, Missouri. With numerous area scouts and a handful of crosscheckers in the house, the Kentucky commit toed the rubber with no sleeves, and no undershirt. Working from a high-¾ slot with a short, compact arm circle, the right-hander’s first bolt of the game was 97 mph.