A healing Healing leads RU to Big East title BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI Staff Writer As Steve Healing of Brick left the mound in the ninth inning at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn on Saturday, he was greeted with a rousing standing ovation. "I was all smiles; guys were hugging me. It took a tremendous weight off my shoulders. I was happy as could be, absolutely psyched," said the senior right-hander as his gritty eight innings of work put Rutgers on the threshold of its third Big East baseball championship ever, first since 2000. Healing, the ace of the staff, took a 7-1 lead over the University of Connecticut into the last inning when he gave up two runs and the mop-up relievers allowed three more before the Scarlet Knights held on to a 7-6 victory. Now they participate in the NCAA Tournament this weekend at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where they will take on the defending national champions from Oregon State. Rutgers and OSU are joined in their regional by host and top-seeded Virginia and fourth-seeded Lafayette. The tournament is double-elimination, with the winners advancing to the following weekend's Super regionals. Playing in the NCAA tournament is a dream for any college baseball player and one that seemed so far away five years ago when Healing needed two Tommy John surgeries to repair the damaged tendons in his right elbow. But here he was in his first full season back, his last one of eligibility, pitching every game like it's his last. "I feel every time I'm on the mound, it could be my last, and I have to pitch my best," said Healing. And he took that attitude to the mound on Saturday, starting for the second time in five games and looking every bit like the second team All-Big East selection that came his way late last week. "To tell you the truth, I've always been hurt, and I never thought about it until I got to the Big East Tournament and about an hour-and-a-half before [the award presentation] happened," he said. Healing, over eight-plus innings, allowed seven hits and three earned runs, striking out three and walking two while raising his record to 10-3. It also puts the 41-19 Scarlet Knights one victory away from tying the school record for victories in a season. Five days earlier, he pitched his third complete game this season, a mercy-rule-shortened 13-2 victory over Notre Dame in which he also allowed seven hits over eight innings, striking out five and walking two. But when coach Fred Hill came to the mound to take the ball on Saturday, Healing agreed it was time. "My arm felt fine, but my body tired out," said Healing. "By the ninth inning, I wanted him to take me out. I was pretty much exhausted." Healing said he actually approached the coaching staff about pitching on Saturday after Rutgers lost its second game of the tournament and had to battle back through the losers' bracket. "They had to use two other pitchers that they didn't expect to because there were a lot of teams that had to play in the losers' bracket, and I was the only one left to pitch. I said, 'Give me the ball on Saturday. I'm ready to go.' " So on Sunday, instead of going to Brick Beach 1 to work as a lifeguard like he did for six other summers in the past, he spent this past Sunday resting like so many other people on Memorial Day weekend. "After something like this, I can only rest my arm; that's all I do," said Healing. "I don't ice it. That only tightens it. I think that's why I needed Tommy John surgery in the first place." Instead, Healing still was obliging print and television interviews as an instant celebrity on Sunday and thinking about how he'll pitch for at least one more day in the NCAA Tournament. He had gone with the team back in 2004 but only to watch as he had his second Tommy John surgery performed by noted specialist Dr. David Altcheck at the Hospital for Special Surgeries in New York City. The first surgery came in 2002. "They say it's a whole different awesome experience being out there, something you savor and never forget," said Healing. "I worked very hard to come back and even had some pain after the surgeries, but this is worth every bit of it." He said he never thought about throwing it all away. He skipped the 2005 season and pitching primarily in relief for much of 2006 before emerging with some convincing numbers this season: In 103.2 innings pitched, he struck out 58 and walked 20 while allowing 112 hits. His ERA is 3.50. "I sat out my first year before I had the surgery. It was a gradual deterioration; I never felt a pop," said Healing of the elbow. "Then I came back as the No. 3 starter and blew out the elbow again. "So when I came back in 2006, I came out of the bullpen and had a really good outing against Notre Dame late in the year and they put me in the starting rotation. I threw eight innings against St. John's and the next day, my elbow was hurting and felt bad again and I could not throw hard. I sat for the rest of the year, and in the summer worked as a lifeguard and played a little softball at Drum Point Complex (in Brick) before I came back in the fall." That's when Healing started feeling good and feeling like it was all coming back to him with the work he got in under the well-organized supervision of pitching coach Rick Freeman. "I lifted real heavy last winter, and when January came, I had hard-core workouts," said Healing. He said he would pass that advice on to anyone coming back from Tommy John surgery - "Just lift as much as possible to get strength that can take the strain off the shoulder," he said. Although he felt he pitched well in his first game against Old Dominion, he felt stretching and some pulling around his right elbow, especially when he'd throw a curveball. But he felt good enough to keep going and hope for the best. "But I kept feeling every game would be my last game," he said. "I knew my command was very, very good on both sides of the plate, which is important, and I was spotting my changeup and curve. But my favorite thing to throw was fastballs. As long as I stayed calm and confident, I would be able to continue to pitch well." In fact, Healing said his fastball stayed in the upper 80 mph range and would top off at 90 on occasion, just like before the first surgery. And he knew if he would make a mistake, he could be picked up by his team, with the No. 7-ranked defense in the nation behind him and a formidable hitting lineup led by Todd Frazier, the Most Valuable Player of the Big East Tournament (although Healing fans could make a case for him). "We have a hell of a lineup 1 through 9, and I'm happy to be on this team," said Healing as the team on Saturday cranked out two more home runs, giving it a school record 60 this season. "I knew from the first three or four weekends, this would be a very good team," said Healing. "We were playing close with teams that, in the past, would beat us pretty bad, so I knew when it came to the Big East, we'd run the table." The Scarlet Knights proved their mettle, finishing in first place before surging to the tournament title and a chance for more glory.