Steven Wood/For the News & Messenger
Forest Park graduate Ryan Woolley currently pitches for the University of Alabama at Birmingham
By Dave Fawcett
Published: December 22, 2009
Updated: December 22, 2009
On a cool, cloudless June afternoon, Ryan Woolley left his parents' house in Montclair and took a jog without any set destination in mind. His only intention that summer day in 2008 was to clear his head and get in some exercise by going as far as his legs would carry him.
But two miles into his run, Woolley stopped what he was doing after noticing a marquee along Cardinal Drive that read Potomac Crest Baptist Church.
There was nothing else on the sign that grabbed his attention, no Bible verse or other inspirational message. The only nudge he felt was to walk down the driveway toward the building, seek out the pastor and place a prayer request for someone he knew.
That was the original plan anyway until something else came forward instead.
On a wooden bench outside a church he had never visited, sitting next to a man he had never met, Woolley released himself into the fullness of God's mercy and experienced a freedom unlike any he'd ever felt.
Here, he was not the pitching standout from Forest Park High School with the 90-plus miles-per-hour fastball who had gone on to play at the University of Georgia and harbored a serious ambition to play major-league baseball.
Nor was he the 20-year-old young man facing criminal charges when a teammate of his in the Cape Cod League was seriously injured after being pinned under a truck Woolley was driving.
Less than a week removed from the incident in the Cape with no one else around except himself and pastor Doug Duty, Woolley was just a broken-hearted kid confessing his pain and guilt and in the end receiving through Duty the message of God's forgiveness.
It didn't matter whether Woolley completely understood the full context of what he heard that day or knew entirely what he was supposed to do with it.
The pieces to all that would make more sense afterward.
All Woolley knew right then was that in the course of an hour and 15-minute conversation he had undergone a transformation through a simple, yet powerful expression of unconditional love. And even though Woolley was well aware he still had to face the consequences of his actions at the Cape, a burden had been lifted. He could now move forward.
HEART OF THE GAME
Woolley had always believed in God and had been involved with Christian-related groups through baseball with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and down at Georgia, where he attended chapel with the baseball team.
But for most of his life, Woolley had never been a regular churchgoer. He and his family attended a church service on occasion, but with the number of moves the family made because of his father's job, going to church even at all eventually became an afterthought.
Sports, though, were a fixture and a passion for Woolley from the start. In fact, it was clear early on he had a natural inclination toward athletics, especially baseball when the first three words Woolley spoke as a baby were mama, dada and ball.
Even at 14-months old, when he attended his first major-league baseball game, Woolley was so mesmerized by the action at Yankee Stadium he never fussed once during the entire outing.
There would be athletic diversions along the way as Woolley dabbled in swimming and hockey and basketball, but he always came back to baseball.
Woolley's mother Dawn said the sport appealed to her son's orderly, analytical approach to things. But it didn't hurt he had a knack for throwing a baseball at high velocities either.
He first started showing his pitching aptitude as an eighth grader when he helped his DTQ Little League team win its district and advance to states.
Going into his freshman year of high school, Woolley honed his skills even more after his parents wanted to find a coach to work with their son and came into contact with former major-league pitcher Mike Wallace.
Wallace, a Madison High School graduate who played in 117 games for four different teams from 1973 to 1977, took Woolley aside and became an important mentor. Woolley took everything in that Wallace told him, even when they weren't together.
In the backyard of his house, Woolley videotaped his pitching form and then studied it over and over while watching it on the television.
While his parents tried to get a better handle on their son's talent without overly pushing him, Woolley continued to push himself.
Woolley believed enough in his abilities that after he wasn't invited to participate with a showcase team following his sophomore year of high school, Woolley called up the coach and requested a tryout. As a courtesy, the coach granted the request and asked the family to come up to Maryland.
Although his chances of making the team were slim to none, Woolley made such an impression that the coach did something he said he usually never did following a tryout for a player: he put Woolley on the team.
From there, things kept picking up until the summer between his junior and senior year at Forest Park when the interest exploded, especially from Division I college programs.
Attending the East Coast Professional Showcase Tournament in Wilmington, N.C., in July of 2005, Woolley was scheduled to pitch just two innings in a game.
But after getting the three straight batters he faced out in each inning, college coaches and professional baseball scouts on hand asked that Woolley stay in and pitch some more. With a fastball touching 94 miles per hour, he went five innings and allowed only one person on base, which came in that final inning.
All of a sudden, college powerhouses like South Carolina, LSU and Georgia, among others, came calling before Woolley signed with the Bulldogs that November. With that decision, Woolley was establishing himself even more as a big-time prospect.
He pitched some his freshman year at Georgia, going 1-1 with a 3.14 ERA in 28.2 innings, but he was limited to three appearances his sophomore year because of an injury to his arm.
When it came time to determine who was travelling with the Georgia team bound for the College World Series in Omaha that season, Woolley was left off the 25-man roster and instead went to Massachusetts to play for the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod League, the nation's top collegiate summer baseball league.
It was there that Woolley's world turned upside down.
On the night of June 15, 2008, Woolley, according to police reports, was watching the College World Series and drinking alcohol at the home of a family that was hosting a player from the Cape Cod League.
Woolley told police he planned on sleeping overnight at the house so he wanted to move his black 2000 Ford Ranger out of the driveway and onto the street.
Woolley then told police he backed out of the driveway and began heading west down the street. At that point, according to the police report, Woolley's Whitecaps teammate B.J. Dail, "ran out in front of [Woolley's] vehicle and jumped on the hood of [Woolley's] vehicle."
In the police report, Woolley said he hit the brakes, which caused Dail to fall off the truck. Police found Dail pinned under the driver's side front tire, where, according to officer Matthew Marshall's report, Dail had "sustained a large opening to the back of his head, which was bleeding heavily, a large laceration to his left leg, and his right foot [was found] to be pushed back by the drivers side front tire."
Marshall also stated that Dail had "road rash burns on both of his legs and back" and that Dail was "combative and confused" as Marshall administered first aid. In addition, Marshall said in his report he detected alcohol on Dail's breath.
Dail was first taken to Cape Cod Hospital, where he was listed in serious condition before being flown to Boston, the police report said.
Marshall said that Woolley was given and failed field sobriety tests. Marshall also stated that an 18-pack of beer was found in Woolley's truck.
Woolley was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor resulting in serious bodily injury, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and being a minor in possession of alcohol.
He was taken to the Brewster Police Station to be booked following his arrest. While there, Woolley kept saying over and over, according to officer Patrick Varley's report: "I'm done with college … I'm done with the Cape Cod League … Do you know my baseball career is over."
A STEP OF FAITH
When asked the moment he started surrendering his life to God, Woolley doesn't point to that meeting outside Potomac Crest Baptist Church with Duty.
Instead, he points to being in a jail cell, where facing serious charges and with his teammate in bad shape, Woolley said he did the only thing he could think of doing: he prayed.
"I was basically on my knees," Woolley said. "I had been doing it my way for so long and look where it had gotten me."
Woolley declines to publically talk in detail about the night of June 15, but the impact of it clearly consumed him. When Woolley returned home, he was visibly shaken by what had happened.
His parents, who also declined to publically talk in detail about the incident, considering it a private matter, worried about their son's state of mind as they tried to make sense of what had happened. Their son had never hurt anyone in his life. He was a good kid, the type who others went to for help.
Woolley assumed his days with the Georgia baseball team were numbered and on July 2, he said he received official notification from the school's athletic department that he had been released from the baseball team. That stung him as did the possibility that he might not play baseball again.
He also faced the possibility of a minimum of 2 ½ years in jail if convicted of the charge of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of an intoxicating liquor resulting in serious bodily injury.
But what concerned him the most he said was Dail's condition and the injuries Dail had suffered. The guilt he carried from what had happened weighed on him heavily as he kept to himself, unwilling or perhaps unable to share his deep regret and pain with anyone.
One thing Woolley did do was go to various churches in Prince William County and put Dail's name on prayer lists.
It was that mindset that initially led Woolley to stop at Potomac Crest. It was another church that could pray for Dail.
Duty, who has been the pastor at Potomac Crest for 10 years, remembered seeing Woolley at the top of the driveway. It was a Thursday, Duty recalled, which was usually a quiet day at the church.
At the time, Duty was standing inside the church's main doors, talking to three women.
Potomac Crest sometimes attracts homeless people looking for help and so from a distance, Duty thought this was the case, what with Woolley's frazzled-looking appearance following his jog.
"My first thought was, this guy needs money," said Duty, who went outside to meet Woolley.
As Woolley got closer, Duty realized it was someone coming off a hard run. They introduced each other and Woolley told Duty he needed someone to talk to. The two sat down on a bench outside the church and Woolley began sharing the details of the accident and its aftermath.
Through it all, Duty listened and saw the genuine remorse Woolley felt over what had happened.
"It had nothing to do with baseball. He realized the mistake he had made," Duty said. "He had hurt his friend."
After they finished talking, Duty went back into the church and told the women about this extraordinary encounter. And then he went into his office and Googled the name Ryan Woolley to find out if what he had been told was accurate. To his astonishment and relief, it was.
"Someone had told me the complete truth," Duty said.
Before Woolley left the church that day, Duty extended him an invitation.
"I took his hand and gave him a hug and said 'I want you to come back here because I want to see you again,' " Duty said. "He said, " 'You will.' "
When Woolley arrived Sunday for the second of Potomac Crest Baptist's two services, starting at 11 a.m., Duty was thrilled. Duty then got Woolley connected with his son Aron, a former football player at Woodbridge who had played at Campbell University. The two clicked and Woolley became a mainstay on Sundays at Potomac Crest Baptist that summer.
"It could have become a huge stumbling block in his career and in his life, but he let God come into his life and he was able to overcome those obstacles," Duty said. "Rather than let it mar his life, it became a springboard."
And Duty saw the change.
"The person that walked away that day was not the same person who walked up here," Duty said. "That whole mess he was carrying was dropped off at the Cross. I didn't see the pain."
His parents saw a change as well. Although Woolley did not go into great detail with his parents about his time with Duty, he told them he had met someone he could talk to. And for that, they were grateful.
"We were relieved that he had a place to go," said Woolley's father Greg.
MOVING ON
After Duty came into Woolley's life, two other men would cross his path and become important influences as well.
The first was Brian Shoop.
An accomplished college baseball coach for over 25 years, Shoop was an assistant at Mississippi State in the 1980s, where he coached future major-league stars like Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro. He then won 692 games during a 17-year career at Birmingham-Southern before taking over at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2007.
But for all his success, Shoop has his priorities in order, starting with his relationship with Jesus Christ.
"I am unapologetically a follower and disciple of Christ," Shoop said. "But it's not something I wear on my sleeve. It's my lifestyle that I use to honor Him."
When Woolley expressed an interest in UAB, Shoop was aware of the Cape Cod incident. But Shoop wanted to know more about Woolley so he started asking around.
Shoop talked to one of his former assistants, Doug Sisson, who had been at Georgia when Woolley was there. Sisson had nothing but good things to say about Woolley.
Shoop also came to Virginia and met with Woolley and his family.
"Doug had said [Ryan] was an exceptional young man and when I met Ryan and his family, I concluded the same thing," Shoop said.
Woolley became familiar with UAB through Jeff Stewart, a scout for the San Diego Padres. Stewart's son Luke had been Woolley's roommate and teammate at Georgia and was now enrolled at UAB.
The Blazers were not a college baseball power like Georgia. In fact since its inception in 1979, the school had only qualified for one NCAA Tournament, which was in 1991.
But that didn't matter to Woolley.
"The biggest thing for me was that in the first five minutes of my first conversation with [Shoop], he told me he was a Christian," said Woolley, who transferred to UAB beginning in the fall of 2008. "As my mom put it, he really cares about his players. And that's hard to find in coaches sometimes."
It was through UAB that Woolley came into contact with the next person who would have a major impact on his life, Chris Beck, the director of baseball operations for a Christian-based organization in Ohio called Athletes in Action.
Each year, Beck looks for players to fill out the rosters among the organization's four teams.
And one place Beck targets for players is UAB, a program he's had a good working relationship with over the years.
Beck knew who Woolley was and thought he would be a good fit for the team getting ready to compete in the Alaska League. Beck contacted the UAB baseball program and got a strong recommendation from Shoop.
Beck also spoke with Woolley and Woolley's dad about AIA as well.
Woolley knew nothing about AIA other than that a UAB player had spent a summer with them in Alaska and had thrived up there. But he was convinced it was the best place for him.
AIA, which receives on average 300 applications for 125 slots each season, provides an opportunity for players, whether they are new or mature believers, to grow in their faith through Bible studies and evangelistic efforts.
Typically, team members take turns sharing their faith to members of an opposing team by telling them who they are, how they came to Christ and presenting the Gospel.
Among themselves, AIA players also talk about real-life issues, from preparing for marriage to dating to just avoiding bad decisions.
"There are people who see us as Sunday-school kids or goodie two shoes, but we are all coming from the same place," Beck said. "These guys are struggling with how to be grown men. So for Ryan, regardless of what he got into, he saw he wasn't the only one who had made a mistake. That relieved the tension."
Woolley said when he arrived in California in early June to work out with AIA, he shared his testimony with his teammates. Not because anyone asked or because he felt obligated to, but because he wanted to let them know about the incident at the Cape Cod League and what God was doing in his life as a result.
"There was no way, I was leaving that out," said Woolley, who in February had pleaded guilty to negligent operation of a motor vehicle and possessing liquor under the age of 21.
He also pleaded guilty to the charge of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Through a plea agreement, that charge was reduced from the original one of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol resulting in serious bodily injury.
Then in April, he received a six-month suspended sentence and was put on probation until Feb. 11, 2011. He was also, among things, required to perform 100 hours of community service.
"He's not going to repeat the same mistakes," Beck said. "He's going to use his gifts for God's glory and to be a better person."
THE CALL
While adjusting to life with AIA, Woolley faced the next big moment in his life when the Atlanta Braves drafted him in the sixth round in June.
Considering he was ineligible to pitch last spring in any games after transferring from one Division I program to another, Woolley was shocked by the high selection.
But the Braves had been following Woolley since Forest Park when an Atlanta representative was in the stands the day Woolley went head to head with Jeremy Jeffress of Halifax County in the 2006 Northwest Region quarterfinals.
Jeffress, who was drafted that year in the first round by Milwaukee, won the game, but Woolley showed his potential, striking out nine and allowing just four hits and one run in the 1-0 loss. Woolley finished his senior season with a 6-3 record, a 2.49 ERA and 82 strikeouts.
With his strong college commitment in place, no one drafted Woolley that year, but the Braves kept close tabs on him at Georgia and then at UAB. During a bullpen session in late March, a scout from the Braves came to watch Woolley throw.
The Braves then brought Woolley in a week and a half before the three-day draft scheduled for June 9-11 to work out with other prospects. There were no promises made, but Atlanta told Woolley the day before he was to be selected to stay tuned because he could be in store for a surprise.
Woolley had just stepped out of the shower when he noticed his cell phone was lit up. It was June 10 and he was in California at the time, getting ready to begin playing in the 47-game Alaska League season that was running from June 7 to August 2.
He estimates in a 10-minute span, between 15 to 20 messages had been left on his phone from the time he got in the shower until the time he got out. As he reviewed them, each one kept saying congratulations in one form or another. Woolley didn't know what the congratulations were for until he got to the final message, which was from Brian Bridges, the scouting supervisor for the Atlanta Braves, telling Woolley he had been drafted in the sixth round.
With the good news, the first thing Woolley did was call his parents. His father already knew, having gotten text messages from parents of Woolley's former teammates at Georgia, but Dawn did not know until Greg texted her at her work place.
Dawn, who is a kindergarten teacher at Cougar Elementary in Manassas Park, was so excited she shared the news with some women she worked with. Not being big baseball fans, her co-workers didn't understand Dawn's enthusiasm over something like that. But given what her son had gone through up to that point, she couldn't herself.
"It was very emotional," Dawn Woolley said. "Where he had been the year before and the year he had had."
From the start, the Braves made a hard push to sign Woolley.
Although neither Woolley nor his dad Greg would state the specific figures, Greg did say that Atlanta made two quick offers, both above the prescribed amount set by the commissioner's office for Major League Baseball. Worst case scenario, Woolley was looking at a low six-figure bonus. The player selected the year before in Woolley's spot had received a $150,000 signing bonus.
New to the art of negotiations with a professional sports franchise and without an advisor at the time, Greg talked to others to get advice, including two players from the area who had experience with this, former major leaguer Mike Colangelo and current major leaguer Jeff Baker. The counsel was always the same: take it slow and see how it plays out.
Certainly, there was no rush since drafted players had until midnight Aug. 17 to sign.
But the news of being selected, let alone going so highly, still excited and frightened Woolley at the same time. If it had been up to him, he would have signed immediately.
To be drafted, let alone that high by a legendary franchise like the Braves? What a great opportunity, he thought to himself. But he was also 3,000 miles from home and unsure what to do.
Beck, a former pitcher and draft pick, was a calming influence on Woolley.
"We chatted a little about the process," Beck said. "I told him, once you leave the college ranks for the pros, it's a business."
Still when Woolley started pitching for Athletes in Action, he hit a rough patch.
Mechanically, Woolley struggled with his form and with locating his pitches. He was pressing, trying to blow his pitches past every batter and it didn't work. He needed to vary up his pitch selection, while not giving into the pressure of having to live up to being a sixth-round pick.
"Without a doubt, he was pitching with a lot of weight on his shoulders," Beck said of Woolley, who finished the season going 4-5 with a 7.12 ERA, 29 strikeouts and 15 walks in 36.2 innings and was ranked among the league's top 10 prospects by Baseball America (No. 5) and PGCrossChecker.com (No. 8). "You can't live life like that. He's an intense kid."
As the signing deadline drew closer, it became apparent the Braves and Woolley would not come to terms. And in the end, Woolley became the only pick among the Braves first 14 selections not to sign. He was also one of only three out of the 30 players drafted in the sixth round to not sign.
Although both sides were disappointed a deal could not get done, the Woolleys said the negotiations with the Braves were never nasty.
From Woolley's standpoint, the issue was never focused strictly on the money.
Woolley weighed signing with the Braves against going back to UAB and having the chance to pitch in the spring and perhaps improve his draft stock even more.
The righthander still had two years of eligibility left and if things worked out, he could find himself back in this position in 2010.
"I was so grateful that God had even put me in that situation with some of the things I had been through," Woolley said.
THE NEXT STEP
The text messages always asked the same question: "Have you gone yet? I really want you to go."
Woolley did not send those to his father to pressure him to go to church. He sent them as a loving testament to what God had done in his life and what he wanted his parents to experience as well.
So this past summer, Greg and Dawn started attending Potomac Crest Baptist and have become such regulars that Duty knows where they will sit each Sunday.
"We're more at peace," Greg Woolley said. "It's been transforming for us and where it is leading us in the healing process."
Comments like that make Woolley smile and reminds him how thankful he is to have been around positive influences like Doug Duty, Brian Shoop and Chris Beck, who all set the right example for him by reminding him of the responsibility he carries to give back to others what he himself has been given.
"That's the best thing out of all of this is the people who I have surrounded myself with," Woolley said. "I'm extremely grateful for that."
He's also thankful for the peace and comfort he receives from reading the Bible.
Inside his truck, Woolley has a verse from Scripture that resonates with him more than any other. It's from Philippians 4:13, which says: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."
There are subjects that remain too difficult for Woolley to talk about.
He said he has not spoken to Dail since the accident and isn't sure Dail, who after recovering from his injuries played last season at Division II Mount Olive and was drafted in the 17th round by the Chicago Cubs, would want to talk to him now. So for the moment, that's where Woolley leaves it.
Woolley prefers to look forward anyway, but he knows he's been on an journey, one that led him down a sidewalk two summers ago for what started out as a physical exercise and ended up becoming an important step in healing his heart.
"For me, it's hard to say it was a blessing. Another person was involved and got hurt," Woolley said. "But it's been great to me to bring me closer to Christ. It's a situation I would not want to happen this way, but I try to look at it in a positive light and that's to develop that relationship with God."
Sports editor David Fawcett can be reached at 703-878-8052
This story can be found at: http://www2.insidenova.com/isn/sports/local/article/a_new_directtion/49134/
It was originally published on the InsideNoVA.com Web page, the News & Messenger serving Prince William, Manassas, and Manassas Park in Northern Virginia.