Kyle Rubbinaccio was not so sure that baseball was it for him. His freshman season at Manalapan High School was tough, to say the least. Aleg injury from the basketball season had limited him to only a couple of appearances that spring, and that left him frustrated with baseball.
By the fall of his sophomore year, that had all changed.
He had a good summer playing American Legion ball with a Manalapan squad.
“We liked what we saw,” Manalapan High School varsity coach Brian Boyce said of Rubbinaccio.
Pitching for Baseball U in travel ball that fall, Rubbinaccio experienced success against several highly rated teams. That caused him to reappraise his baseball aspirations.
“I had a good fall,” he said. “It made me realize that I have to take (baseball) more seriously. The fall changed my mind. Baseball was my future.”
And what a future it turned out to be. Rubbinaccio went on to a 24-2 pitching record in his three-year varsity career for the Braves, including a 19-0 mark over the 2010 and 2011 seasons.
In 2011 he was 10-0 on the mound while leading Manalapan to the NJSIAA Group IV state championship.
However, it was more than his success on the baseball diamond that made Rubbinaccio, who is headed to the University of Notre Dame on an athletic scholarship, the News Transcript’s 2011 Senior Male Athlete of the Year. Add a 21.8 points per game scoring average on the basketball court and you have an outstanding all-around athlete.
But it takes more than talent to succeed and Rubbinaccio had the intangibles in spades.
“He’s a fierce competitor who really wants to win,” Boyce said. “He’s definitely a leader who led by example with his hard work. Kyle lives and dies for the team. He was a very vocal leader getting the team up.”
Manalapan basketball coach Rick Garretson saw the same qualities in Rubbinaccio.
“He has an incredible work ethic and drive. He lifted everyone else by his example. The kid gave you 110 percent every time,” said Garretson, who recalled a bus ride back to Manalapan after a game last winter in which Rubbinaccio had so exerted himself that his legs were cramping.
Still, it was what he did on the diamond that stands above all else. He and the Braves took everyone’s best shot from Game 1 of the 2011 season and went 29-3, winning three championships along the way. Rubbinaccio said he and his teammates liked having a target on their backs.
“We thrive on that,” he said.
No one would dispute that after watching the Braves march all the way to their first state championship. When asked to describe what stood out about the 2011 Manalapan baseball team, Rubbinaccio said, “Brotherhood. We always had a strong bond.”
Rubbinaccio, who graduated in June, actually lost his first start for the Braves when he was a sophomore. Normally, that would not signify anything, but in the case of the 6-3 righthander it stands out because he went on to win 24 of his next 25 decisions, including back-to-back undefeated seasons of 9-0 in 2010 and 10-0 in 2011.
With all of that winning by Rubbinaccio, championships followed for the Braves. Manalapan won or shared the Shore Conference A North Division title for three straight years, won the Monmouth County Tournament title in 2010 (behind Rubbinaccio) and went on to bigger things this spring, claiming the baseball program’s first state championships — the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional tournament title, followed by the overall Group IV state crown.
Rubbinaccio was the winning pitcher in both championship games. Through two undefeated seasons he never faltered and never let the occasion become too big.
“It was always in the back of my mind, but I tried to take it as just another game,” he said.
Boyce said Rubbinaccio was a great big game pitcher because “he’s mentally strong. He knows how to channel that focus.”
Rubbinaccio credited his former teammate Ryan Harvey, who was a senior when Rubbinaccio was a freshman, with turning him from a thrower into a pitcher.
“I always threw hard,” he said. “I didn’t have a curveball. Harvey taught it to me. It was a huge help. I developed a change-up my sophomore year.”
It was then, armed with three pitches (fastball, curve, change-up) that Rubbinaccio took off. It did not happen overnight. It required a lot of work and repetition.
“Mechanics are the most important part of pitching,” Rubbinaccio said. “I worked on getting control of all my pitches. I especially worked on the change-up.”
Rubbinaccio also experimented with a fourth pitch, a slider.
Manalapan catcher Chris Baird goes back to Little League days with Rubbinaccio and recalled that even then, he knew the righthander was special.
“You could tell then he was good,” Baird said. “He was in control. You could see how focused he was.”
What Baird admires most about Rubbinaccio is his combativeness on the mound.
“He can just keep going,” he said. “He doesn’t like to be taken out of a game.”
When Garretson received a phone call from Rubbinaccio during the summer of 2010 and Rubbinaccio informed him that he had committed to Notre Dame for baseball, Garretson braced himself for what he thought would be next — that Rubbinaccio would not be able to play basketball for the Braves in the winter of 2010-11.
Instead, Rubbinaccio told Garretson one of the reasons why he decided to go to Notre Dame was that the university’s officials would permit him to play basketball for Manalapan as a senior.
It turned out to be good for Rubbinaccio and the team. Rubbinaccio had an outstanding season on the hardwood, leading the Braves to a 15-9 season and a return to the state tournament.
Rubbinaccio was the third leading scorer in the Shore Conference with his 21.8 ppg. average and he also led the Braves in rebounding (7.8 rpg.).
“I like playing basketball, I’m going to miss it,” he said. “I wanted to go out with a bang.”
Basketball was also beneficial for his pitching.
“It (basketball) helps with your endurance, which is important for a pitcher,” he said.
There has been no letup from Rubbinaccio since the Braves won the Group IV state championship baseball game in June. He goes to a gym every day and follows a workout the Notre Dame coaches provided to him.
Earlier this month he got a head start on his college career by pitching for a travel team, Super 17. The team recently played in a tournament in Marietta, Ga., where it faced some of the best players in the country. Super 17 went 4-1 and Rubbinaccio had the opportunity to compete against top hitters who are also college-bound.
“It was a great experience going up against the best players,” he said.
What he learned while facing lineups in which everyone is a good hitter is that, “You’ve got to have the same mindset and go after them.”
Rubbinaccio knows it will be a whole new world this fall. It will be like starting over, back to the days when he was a freshman at Manalapan. The Notre Dame coaches have told him he will have an equal opportunity to come in and to compete for a role as a starter. That’s all he is asking for.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to be a starter,” he said.