Dan Margolies started his high school career as a relief pitcher at Cheshire High in Conn. Primed to make his first start on the mound as a sophomore during the spring of 2022, the unthinkable occurred. Margolies suffered a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) in his throwing arm.
"I was a key component out of the bullpen that year, and then in my first official start, 10 pitches in, my pitching elbow gave out on me,'' said Margolies. "The doctor diagnosed it as a full tear, and I would need full reconstruction of the UCL, also known as Tommy John surgery.''
Margolies had dreams of being an elite presence on the mound and garnering the attention of college baseball programs. Instead, he had to delay that timetable by 18 months while vowing to come back better and stronger through surgery and rehab.
"Following the injury, I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to pitch the same again, and I wasn’t sure if I would ever throw hard or throw the same curveball I had,'' Margolies said. "My surgeon told me that I just had to work really hard with my physical therapy and abide by a throwing program. I was told that whenever I could throw again, I would be better than I was before.
