All Steve Schmoll did was follow his dream.
With a never-quit attitude, the former University of Maryland pitcher reached his goal last spring when he made his Major League debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I can?t see it, no,” Schmoll, 26, said when asked if he ever considered quitting. “I can?t picture my life without baseball.”
There was, however, a point where it looked like he would never come close to his goal. After his senior season at Magruder High School in Rockville, which passed without any college offers, the catcher tried to walk on at Maryland.
“I think they had three or four catchers,” said Schmoll, who threw just eight innings in high school. “I figured I had a better shot at making the team as a pitcher.”
With a fastball that topped out around 80 miles per hour, and a lack of command, Schmoll was cut by the Terps as a freshman.
Following advice from the Maryland coaching staff, Schmoll worked on his velocity and control.
“He built a mound in his backyard with a net, and took a bag of balls, and threw and threw and threw and threw,” said Clair Rierson, a Frederick-based amateur scout for the Dodgers.
“After you got to know him, you really pulled for him,” said Rierson, who eventually signed Schmoll.
By the next spring, Schmoll?s work resulted in a fastball in the mid- to upper-80s. He made the Maryland roster, and two years later, things really came together.
“Towards the tail end of his junior year, I saw him on the side before one of our practices, toying around with throwing the ball underneath,” Terps head coach Terry Rupp said.
Rupp asked the junior if he could throw from that arm slot regularly, and Schmoll spent the summer prior to his senior year developing his sidearm delivery. It worked.
As a senior, he set school records for strikeouts in a season (124) and a career (272). He was named to the All-ACC team, and was the Maryland Male Athlete of the Year for 2003.
“Until then, I wasn?t planning on pursuing a career,” Schmoll said. “Not because I didn?t want to, but because there was no interest.”
The Dodgers showed interest, and Schmoll exercised his right as a fifth-year senior to sign with the Major League club before the draft.
He made his debut last spring, and in 48 games went 2-2 with three saves in 46.7 innings.
After last season, the side-arming right-hander was traded to the New York Mets. He hopes to crack the bullpen in the Big Apple, but for now he is with the Triple-A Norfolk (Va.) Tides in the International League.
Through nine games, the 6-feet-3, 220-pound reliever is 0-0 with a 5.14 ERA in 14 innings, through Monday.
“Steve told me before he left here that his goal was to get to the big leagues. Period,” Rupp said. “If anybody knows Steve, he?s a very dedicated individual.”
