Mason Burlingame tore his UCL just before his pivotal junior season at Archbishop Wood, an injury that often derails a pitcher’s college aspirations before they ever begin.
Instead of letting it define him, the left-hander bet on himself.
When others questioned whether he could return to form, Burlingame attacked his rehabilitation with the same intensity he once brought to the mound. The process was as much mental as physical, but he refused to let the setback dictate his future.
That perseverance has earned Burlingame a spot in the Big Ten as he prepares for his first season on Maryland’s pitching staff.
“I had coaches say I wasn’t the same ever since the injury,” Burlingame recalled. “It fired me up to put the work in and show what I can really do.”
Looking back, the rising sophomore views the injury as a turning point rather than a misfortune.
“I look at it as a good thing that happened in my life because it made me want to work even harder and get better at what I love, which is playing baseball,” he said.
Recruiting interest remained scarce during his senior season at Archbishop Wood. Aside from conversations with West Chester University, opportunities were limited.
Rather than settle, Burlingame doubled down on himself once again, choosing the junior college route at Cecil College in Maryland.
“Having Tommy John stinks regardless of when you suffer it,” said Fightin’ Quakers head coach Pete Hoffman, who coached Burlingame this summer in the PSCBL. “It adds a lot of doubt to an athlete’s mind. He had to make a tough decision as a senior to go the JUCO route, but he has bounced back from it exceptionally well.”
Burlingame appeared in 13 games for Cecil last season, making seven starts and posting a 4.94 ERA across 27 1/3 innings. He led the Seahawks with 47 strikeouts, good for a dominant 15.48 strikeouts per nine innings.
But it wasn’t his stat line that grabbed recruiters’ attention. It was a video he posted on social media.
After sitting at 84-85 mph entering the fall of his freshman year, Burlingame overhauled his mechanics and dedicated himself to the weight room. The gains came quickly.
“At some point, it just clicked,” he said. “I started throwing high 80s, and then in the spring I hit 92. I posted that video and it blew up. I had 10 phone calls a day from coaches and received a lot of interest.”
Just two years after struggling to generate recruiting interest, Burlingame suddenly became one of the more sought-after arms in the transfer portal.
Penn State, Rutgers and Washington were among the Big Ten programs to pursue him, along with numerous mid-major Division I schools.
A visit to Maryland made the decision easy.
“I chose Maryland because of the culture that Coach Swope and Coach Jackson have built within the program,” Burlingame said. “The development and atmosphere really stood out to me and made Maryland feel like the right place for me, both as a player and a person.”
To Hoffman, Burlingame’s rise comes as no surprise.
“It’s safe to say he’s put himself in a position to be one of the best left-handed pitchers from this area,” Hoffman said.
He believes Burlingame’s makeup is what separates him.
“Mason has a very high baseball IQ. He understands how to pitch to his strengths. He’s a good teammate and talks through game plans. He’s going to be successful for a lot of reasons.”
For Burlingame, the journey has only reinforced the belief he never lost.
“I fully believed I would get to this point in my life,” he said. “It was just a matter of how much time and work I put in and how badly I wanted it.”
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