Back-up plan
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Baseball and Dylan Rotz were synonymous.
The 2017 Mars graduate was a successful pitcher and hitter in the WPIAL, played travel ball and Legion baseball. He went on to pitch for Alderson Broaddus, a Division II college in West Virginia, on a full scholarship and played in the MLB summer watch league in Virginia after his freshman season.
It was there that his life changed.
“I blew out my shoulder and that was it,” Rotz said. “I had to have major surgery and couldn’t pitch anymore.”
So he picked back up on his second favorite past-time — video gaming competition, better known as Esports.
“I used to get on his case about wasting his time playing those video games ... I guess I was wrong,” said Joann Rotz, Dylan’s mother.
Rotz participated in Esports on his own in the Rocket League, a highly competitive circuit that required travel. He proved to have a flair for the game and his name got out there.
And Josh Steiger, a young collegiate Esports coach, found it.
“He saw the success I was having and emailed me,” Rotz said. “Next thing I knew, I was competing in college and loving it.”
Steiger recruited Rotz to play in the Esport Collegiate League at Potomac State in West Virginia. Steiger wound up being named Coach of the Year and moved on to West Virginia University, which started an Esports team this year. He brought Rotz with him.
“You need vision, dedication and commitment to succeed in Esports and Dylan has all of those things,” Steiger said. “He’s got a flair for this. You have to be able to work as part of a team and he excels in that area. This is a sport where you check your ego at the door, for sure.
“We’re talking about spending 40-plus hours a week in front of a computer screen. He’s one of my best. He’s a true leader.”
WVU has seven players on its roster. Only four compete in a match and Rotz is always part of that lineup.
The Mountaineers were 12-3 this season and have qualified for the World Championships, slated for Dallas, Texas, June 2-4.
“This is like any other sport in that the more you practice, the better you get,” Rotz said. “The games are pretty intense. You’re playing under a strict time limit.
“Our team practices for an hour, twice a day, four or five days a week. I put in a lot of time practicing, another 35 to 40 hours per week.”
That sounds like a lot of video gaming time for a computer science major.
“Honestly, this (Esports) has helped me with my studies,” Rotz said. “I do much better at everything when I keep myself on a strict schedule. Practice, study ... I can balance the two.”
Esports has helped Rotz in another area as well — feeding his need for competition.
“One hundred percent, it’s helped me in that sense,” he said. “When I realized my college baseball career was over, I was pretty down. I’m a competitive person and I had that itch to compete.
“Esports filled that gap for me. There’s no doubt, I needed this.”
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