He is not the third man in the pitching rotation like he was at Apple Valley High School, nor the 150-pounder who could throw only one pitch.
Bryan Ruff is now arguably one of the best players on the Winona State University baseball team — a team contending for another Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title.
For more than three years, Ruff has had more responsibility and pressure put on him, since his pitching has improved at a rapid pace, vaulting him to the top of most coaches’ lists as one of the best pitchers in the NSIC.
Funny thing is, in high school, Ruff’s name wasn’t even mentioned when opposing teams went against Apple Valley. Those teams had other problems to deal with, like Tom Buske, who’s now a starting pitcher for the University of Minnesota.
With time, Ruff has gotten the recognition he deserved. Prior to this season, he was named the NSIC preseason pitcher of the year.
Any added pressure for Ruff?
“At first there was some,” Ruff said. “I talked to Ben Barrone, who was an All-American last year and DII player of the year, and he taught me how to deal with certain things when being put up there as one of the best.”
Being pegged as a preseason favorite is an honor to Ruff, but it won’t mean anything unless he produces.
“It’s exactly what it is — preseason,” Ruff said. “It’s nice to be recognized, but I need to go out there and take care of business on the mound for that to amount to anything.”
In his sophomore year, Ruff started to gain confidence as a pitcher, developing more pitches to go with an already solid fastball, and taking over in the pitching rotation as the No. 1 man.
He quickly added a knee-buckling curveball, which has been set up with a fastball reaching the mid-90s at times, giving professional scouts a thing or two to look at.
It was the coaches who gave him the confidence during his sophomore year, telling him it was his time to step up and take over as one of the leaders for WSU.
“They told me I’m going to take a more active role that year,” Ruff said. “I was told I had to pitch in some of the big games that year and be more than ready when called.”
Some players at that age can take it the wrong way and buckle under the pressure handed to them, but Ruff said it was pressure every player needs to become a great player in a conference with great players.
“You have to have some of that positive pressure when you play in this conference,” Ruff said. “It gives you some urgency to keep practicing and playing at a high level. My coaches told me I needed this in order to become a successful player; otherwise, I would just be a guy in the middle of the pack.”
In one of the biggest games of the season, and most exciting and dramatic to go along with it, Ruff was the main man on the mound for the Warriors, taking on Wayne State (Neb.), in a two-game series.
The series was a possible preview of an NSIC championship-game showdown, with both teams being pegged as the best teams this season.
Ruff didn’t pitch poorly, but he was taken out after three innings of work after allowing two earned runs on four hits while striking out one and walking four.
Problem was, Ruff’s pitch count was high and his control was shaky, as he threw 79 pitches in his outing.
The Warriors gave up two-run leads twice in Game 1, blowing 3-1 and 5-3 leads, but clawed back in the bottom of the sixth inning, leading to one crazy seventh and final inning of play.
Jim Kovacs relieved Andrew DeSousa after he gave up a three-run homer to Marc Manganaro to give WSC a 6-5 lead.
WSU tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, with Jared Anderson scoring on a fielder’s choice.
In the top of the seventh, Kovacs struck out the first two WSC batters looking but walked the next three.
Manganaro came up again, this time with the bases loaded, already with four RBIs.
Kovacs was able to get two early strikes on him and force several foul balls, with Manganaro rattling off some heavy cuts.
On a 1-2 count, Kovacs threw his worst pitch of the day, skipping the ball several feet in front of Manganaro before it bounced up and hit him in the leg, leading to a WSC run.
In the bottom half, WSU was able to get the bases loaded once again after a Brett Maxwell single to center. John Magee was going to bunt Maxwell into scoring position, but he put the ball right into the hands of WSC pitcher Nick Schumacher.
Schumacher attempted to throw Maxwell out at second, but the ball sailed over the second baseman’s head and into center field. Maxwell advanced to third on the play. Andrew Kes stepped in to pinch hit and was walked, giving Sam Henriksen a chance to drive in the winning run for WSU. He struck out looking for the first out of the inning and was extremely angered at himself while walking back to the dugout.
rive to short for the second out of the inning and Schumacher was able to get Mike Wendland looking at a strike three call, ending an exciting first game.
Game 2 was not a good one for WSU, as the Warriors lost 10-4.
The lone highlight for WSU was Wendland blasting a three-run home run in the fifth inning, but WSC had the game already wrapped up.
WSU coach Kyle Poock said Game 1 was not played well by either team. WSU and WSC combined for five errors and nine walks — six by WSU pitchers.
“Both teams played like they didn’t want to win the game,” Poock said.
The Warriors struck out 10 times in the two-game set, testing the patience of Poock.
“It’s something we addressed after the game,” Poock said. “If guys are going to sit up there with the bat on their shoulder, we will just pinch hit them with guys who will swing the bat.”
WSU traveled to Bemidji State and settled for a split against the Beavers, winning the opener 9-2 and falling 5-3 in the series finale.
Kes came up huge for the Warriors in Game 1, driving in five runs — three of them coming off a home run in the third.
The Warriors (12-9, 7-5), who are in fifth place in the NSIC, play Mary (N.D.) this weekend in a four-game series.
This will be the first meeting between WSU and Mary.
Mary joined the NSIC last year, but the scheduled games between them were canceled due to bad weather.
“We will go over there, play some baseball and hopefully come out with some wins,” Poock said.

Reach Justin at jmagill06@winona.edu