Former Bedford North Lawrence star pitcher Austin Long excelling as reliever in college

WINTER PARK, Fl. — Austin Long is a long way from Bedford, and even a bit farther down the road from Bloomington, where he was a pitcher for Indiana University in 2018 and '19.

The former Bedford North Lawrence ace right-hander thought he had it made after helping the Stars win their first sectional in 22 years back in 2017, and then receiving a scholarship offer from IU coach Chris Lemonis.

He briefly became a baseball foreigner, however, when his pitching elbow was injured, then Lemonis left for Mississipi State and Jeff Mercer took over as head coach of the Hoosiers.

Now, however, Long is fully recovered from two elbow surgeries and has found his baseball home way down in Winter Park, Fl., at Rollins College. He has earned a prime role as a reliever for the Tars (a term for a sailor used by the British navy, which trained just outside Rollins College on Lake Virginia during World War I), and he got to live out a dream by pitching in the NCAA Division II World Series, where Rollins finished third in the nation a couple of weeks ago.

Long bounces back

Long has enjoyed huge successes in the game. He was a slugging outfielder/pitcher for Bedford Boys Club 14U All-Stars that won District 12, Indiana State, and Central Region championships to battle their way to the Little League Junior League World Series back in 2013.

That group stayed together and broke a long sectional-title drought in 2017, while Long posted a 16-4 mark, earned two First Team All-HHC awards, and was ranked 6th-best pitcher in Indiana by Perfect Game. He wound up getting the wear the cream-n-crimson in Bloomington, but that's where things went south, figuratively at first and literally later on.

The first challenge arrived in 2018. Long had made a few appearances for the Hoosiers, but he suffered a fracture in his right elbow that wound up requiring surgery, so he was out the rest of that season.

He returned in time for the 2019 season, but Lemonis did not. He was well on his way to Starkville, Ms., and Mercer took the reins to the program, which had become a powerhouse in the Big Ten and claimed the regular-season crown in 2019.

Long made five early appearances for IU in 2019, but Covid roared in and canceled the remainder of the season.

Much to his surprise, during the offseason Long learned that he and several of his teammates had become expendable. Apparently, Mercer men were going to play for Mercer.

"They called me in and basically said they didn't see where I fit into their plans, that I wouldn't be getting the playing time I wanted or expected," Long explained. "It happened to quite a few of the guys, and it's kind of hard to figure because we'd just won the Big Ten championship with us guys.

"I don't think it was because of the elbow because it was fully healed by then. But it happens a lot when a coach who recruited you leaves and a new one comes in. He had his own recruits that I guess he wanted to play, so some of us were told to move on."

Feeling fine in Florida

The Sunshine State welcomed Long with open arms, but his arm didn't return the favor initially. He made six appearances in 2020 for Rollins, including one start. He was 1-0 in 8.2 innings and had scoreless appearances against Assumption, Valdosta State, Bentley and West Florida.

Then, however, his right elbow became irritated and the pain returned, but it wasn't the same injury. Long simply had a screw loose.

"They had put a screw in to fix the original fracture, and then I pitched back-to-back days down at Rollins, and it just worked the screw loose a little bit. So the screw head was rubbing on my triceps tendon and irritating it and causing it to swell.

"So I had to have the second surgery, and they fixed it really well. I haven't had any more problems and I feel great, probably the best I've ever felt maybe."

He confirmed that assessment in 2021 when he appeared in nine games, including two starts, while posting a 2-2 record with a 4.97 ERA. Long threw 25.1 innings, allowing 24 hits, 14 earned runs, 10 walks and 13 strikeouts. He fired  a complete-game against Saint Leo on March 31, allowing two runs and six hits over nine innings to earn SSC Pitcher of the Week honors.

Long the fireman

Long remained fully healthy in 2022 and he became a workhorse for the Tars, which is just how he wants it. The old expression for a reliever who gets his team out of trouble is fireman, and Long loved that role. He's a competitor who wants the ball in his hands, and he led all Division II pitchers in appearances with 34. He pitched with 76.2 innings, going 3-3 (three starts) with a 2.82 ERA, and a team-best 10 saves.

"Obviously, I've battled back from two surgeries, so I'm pretty happy and excited about how I'm throwing now," Long said. "I'm glad I was able to contribute a lot to our team after they gave me a chance.

"I just wanted here what I was supposed to have gotten at IU, and this year I got it. I'm pretty proud of leading D-II in appearances. I just wanted a chance to pitch."

The 23-year old still brings big heat, but he's adding to his arsenal.

"I'm still throwing 90 to 92 miles an hour with my two-seam fastball," Long said. "My slider is getting a lot sharper since I've come down here, and I'm working a lot on my changeup, and I think it has improved.

"I only use the two-seamer fastball. The four-seam is faster and would give me more velocity, but I think it's more important to throw a little slower and get more movement on the ball, and the two-seamer moves a lot more."

Tars tenacious in tournament

Rollins had an outstanding season throughout, but really clicked in the postseason. The Tars wound up 43-17 overall, but were only 18-12 in the rugged Sunshine State Athletic Conference to finish third.

Rollins started rolling in the conference and wound up second to then-No.1-ranked Tampa to qualify for the South Regional, where it edged No.25 Delta State, 7-5, then downed Lee University twice to win the regional.

That pushed the Tars on to the South Super Regional where no less than Tampa awaited. But this time Rollins was ready and upset the top-ranked team, 2-1 and 13-6, to advance to the Division II National Tournament.

Long threw two high-tension innings in the opener to earn the save, going two innings with a strikeout and no hits. He also had an appearance in the second game.

"That was pretty sweet beating Tampa twice," Long said. "They were ranked No.1 and their roster is just loaded with pro prospects, transfers from bigger schools, so they're pretty cocky and mouthy. They didn't expect us to beat them, that's for sure, but we really pounded them the second game."

Another World Series for Long

Long longed to pitch in another World Series after having a great experience in the LL Junior League World Series in Taylor, Mi., back in 2013. This Division II series, which was in Cary, N.C., June 4-10, was obviously a larger scale, but he still got a roomful of treats from his parents, Rebecca and Tom.

"I think back a lot about that Little League World Series and what a great time it was for us," he recalled. "My mom brought us so much food to our room we could hardly move around, but we had a blast.

"This World Series was really great, too, and yeah mom stocked us up on snacks in our room again."

The Tars feasted on the field as well, though it started with a 3-1 setback to No. 8 Southern Arkansas. Rollins regrouped quickly and edged Illinois-Springfield, 3-2, before gaining 7-5 revenge on Southern Arkansas.

The moved Rollins into the final four against No.4 Point Loma out of San Diego. The Tars torched the Sea Lions, 12-4, in the 'if' game, forcing one final showdown to see who would advance to the championship game. This time Point Loma prevailed, 2-0, but Rollins wound up ranked No.4 in the nation. North Greenville turned back Point Loma to claim the crown.

"It was an amazing season," Long said. "We weren't really expecting to do this well at the start, sure didn't expect to go all the way to the national tournament and finish third, but we stuck together and started playing great baseball. We kind of blew away all expectations.

"I mean, our conference is crazy tough with five teams that won 30 or more games this season, so just to come out of that and make the tournament is great. But we got on a roll and had a great ride."

What's next

Long has two years of playing eligibility remaining after losing the Covid year and the other injury season. He's uncertain if he'll play both of them, but he is going to return to Rollins in 2023 to pursue his master's degree in Business Management.

He certainly isn't ruling out taking a shot at professional baseball if a tryout comes his way.

"I have two years left, but I'm not sure right now if I'll play both," he said. "I have my bachelor's, but I want to get my master's, so I'm going back for one more year for sure. If I do the fast-track program for my master's I'll definitely play next year, but if I decide I don't want to take that many hours at once and spread it over two I'll probably play both years.

"As far as pros, there are scouts down around here all the time because there are a lot of great player in this area. I haven't had any contact with them yet, but you'd have to consider it if the opportunity came up.

"It's always been my dream to play professionally. I fell in love with this game at an early age and I've never lost that love for it, so I would still love to keep playing."

Contact Times-Mail Sports Writer Jeff Bartlett at jeffb@tmnews.com, or on Twitter @jeffbtmnews.

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This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Former Bedford pitching ace Long bringing heat at Rollins College