“It was three up, three down,” his mother, Angie Rohde, recalled. “He had everything going.”

Pursued by nearly every Pacific-10 Conference school – Washington coach Ken Knutson said Rohde was one of the state’s best pitchers as a sophomore – Rohde’s future was bright.

Then, in the second inning, he threw a fastball that changed his life.

“It was a pop right as I threw the ball,” Rohde said. “I threw a couple more, but it still hurt.”

Rohde motioned for his coach to come to the mound. That was all Angie needed to know something was not right.

“He had never had an elbow or shoulder injury,” she said. “I went over by the dugout and he said it felt like cramp.”

It was worse.

Rohde had suffered a nearly complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm and needed reconstructive elbow surgery. Commonly known as Tommy John surgery, the procedure derives its name from the former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher who in 1974 was the first professional athlete to undergo it successfully.

Only Rohde didn’t know all that yet.

Rohde said he thought it was just a cramp or, at worst, a pulled forearm muscle. His arm didn’t heal, and after a couple weeks his Chaffey Baseball Club coach sent him to see Dr. Larry Pedegana, who served as a Seattle Mariners physician from 1977 to 2006. An MRI exam revealed the tear, and Rohde’s world went into a tailspin.

“Brandon’s first thought was, ‘Am I ever going to play baseball again?’ ” his mother said.

His worries ceased when Pedegana told him that nearly every patient who requires Tommy John surgery has a complete recovery.

Rohde had the surgery Aug. 9, 2006. A tendon was harvested from his left leg and wrapped around his elbow. His arm spent a week in a hard cast, then a brace. He couldn’t do much for five months. He rehabilitated by lifting light weights. When his doctors approved, he moved on to working with resistance bands and, finally, started long-tossing.

“My arm strength came back really fast,” Rohde said, “but I had to take it easy, not put too much stress on it.”

He turned out for the Gig Harbor team in 2007, but his role was severely limited.

“He didn’t play or pitch or swing a bat,” Tides coach Pete Jansen said. “All he did was pinch run.”

Finally, last summer he returned to the mound, pitching one inning in relief for Chaffey.

“Everything just seemed normal,” Rohde said. “I felt as strong as I ever did before the surgery.”

Tommy John surgery is hardly a career killer. Nearly one of seven major league pitchers has had it, The New York Times reported in 2007.

It has become so common for pitchers to return to full strength that none of the colleges that recruited Rohde before the injury pulled back. He signed a letter of intent in November to play at Washington even though its coaches hadn’t seen him pitch at his peak in more than a year.

The Huskies have not been let down.

Rohde, a first-team all-Narrows League pitcher his freshman and sophomore seasons, has returned to his dominating form. Before getting roughed up by Central Kitsap on Monday – Rohde (3-1) lasted only two innings – he had posted a 1.96 ERA and struck out 32 in 25 innings.

“He has had a great comeback from his Tommy John surgery,” Jansen said. “There’s no question he’s one of the best pitchers around.”

Rohde’s rehab program even gave him a boost early in the season, Jansen said.

“He was in better shape than any of the pitchers because he’s been on a throwing program for 14 months,” he said. “He’s steadily increased his number of pitches. When the season started, we figured he’d be ready to pitch four, five innings easy.”

Rohde has been careful not to overwork his arm. He believes that caused the injury. His ligament didn’t tear because of one throw, doctors said, but because he threw too many pitches over a period of time.

“Now when we look back, it’s like putting a puzzle together and seeing it happen,” his mother said. “The signs were there. Going back to his high school season (in 2006), he was losing some of his velocity.”

This experience convinced Rohde to do his senior project on how to prevent the need for Tommy John surgery – high school and college athletes make up the majority of those who require it. He even watched a Seattle physician perform the surgery on a patient.

Nearly two years removed from his surgery, Rohde recalled his initial fear when told he needed elbow surgery.

“I was pretty nervous because I didn’t know the success rate for the surgery,” he said. “But once I found out from my doctor that it was really good success, I was more comfortable having it.

“My arm feels good. It’s as good as it’s ever been.”

Doug Pacey: 253-597-8271

blogs.thenewstribune.com/preps

Fatigue resulting from overuse can cause the ulnar collateral ligament to tear – as Gig Harbor pitcher Brandon Rohde, above, learned in July 2006 – and necessitate reconstructive elbow surgery, often referred to as Tommy John surgery.

The torn ligament is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body – usually the hand, wrist, forearm or hamstring. In Rohde’s case, the tendon came from his left leg.

Three holes are drilled in the bone around the elbow. The borrowed tendon is wrapped in a figure-eight pattern through the holes.

Rehabilitation usually takes one to two years. (Charting a comeback, C6) Charting a comeback

Surgery for ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (Tommy John surgery) takes about an hour, and the ensuing rehabilitation about a year. The breakdown:

 • First five to seven days: Elbow immobilized at 90 degrees in a hard brace. Patients can move the hand and start light gripping exercises immediately.

 • Second week: Arm is in an adjustable brace that allows limited movement. Patients can begin everyday movements, such as using the arm to eat. Elbow extension is gradually increased, and the brace can be eliminated at four to six weeks.

 • Weeks three to eight: Emphasis on range-of-motion exercises for the elbow, plus isometric and light weights (dumbbells) for the shoulder. Heavier resistance to elbow work added at about eight weeks.

 • 10 weeks: Simulating a throwing-type motion with a medicine ball, making two-hand overhead lobs and chest passes.

 • 12 weeks: Can start to swing a golf club.

 • 16 weeks: Begin throwing program. Start on flat ground, with soft tosses from about 45 feet. About 25 tosses, rest, then 25 more. End workout. Throw every other day; distance and repetitions are repeated two or three workouts before being increased. Build to 150 to 180 feet.

 • Six months: Begin to throw off mound. Start at about 50 percent speed/effort – no curveballs or specialty pitches – and gradually increase the number of pitches and intensity.

 • Seven months: Start throwing breaking balls, first from short distances on flat ground and with little torque. Build up intensity and distance gradually.

 • Eight to 10 months: Introduction to game conditions: batting practice, then a simulated game, then game at a lower level.

 • Eleven to 12 months: Return to competition. It often takes a full season of action before the pitcher returns to presurgery effectiveness.

HealthSouth Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation Center (Birmingham, Ala.)