By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The original plan was to attend the University of Rhode Island and join the Division 1 Rams baseball team as a pitcher.

That is the direction Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) was hoping to take after graduating from Norwood High School in 2019 where he had played baseball and football.

But an elbow injury in his final year of high school required Wladkowski to undergo Tommy John surgery, putting on hold the plan to be on the URI roster as a preferred walk-on.

Instead, Wladkowski spent the 2019-20 academic year at a prep school in Connecticut as the elbow healed with the hope of enrolling at URI in the fall of 2020.

However, the COVID pandemic prevented Wladkowski from playing prep school baseball in that spring, and then URI decided against adding him to their baseball program.

So in the spring of 2020, Wladkowski found himself looking for a new plan for college.

In stepped Bridgewater State University, where Wladkowski had received previous interest from baseball coach Greg Zackrison.

A connection was made, and Wladkowski enrolled at Bridgewater State for the fall semester in 2020 and joined the Bears' baseball program.

The dream of Division 1 didn't become reality, but Wladkowski is happy how things turned out for him.

Wladkowski, a four-year starter, has been an integral part of BSU's run of three straight trips to the NCAA Division 3 tournament.

The senior right fielder is a .326 career hitter with 176 hits and 142 RBI in 150 games.

Wladkowski was the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference player of the year as a sophomore in 2022 and has twice made the All-MASCAC first team (2022 and 2023).

The Bears open the double-elimination NCAA tourney regional on Friday at 10 a.m. against host Penn State Harrisburg in Middletown, Pa.

For Wladkowski, the end of his productive career is in sight and he has made a mark, helping BSU win the MASCAC regular-season and tourney titles three consecutive years.

Entering the NCAAs, Wladkowski is batting .311 with 46 hits in 40 games, is second on the Bears with 42 RBI and third with 11 doubles. The switch from possibly pitching at URI to being a top hitter at BSU turned out to be a winning move.

"Looking back at it now, I'm just really lucky that it happened because I wouldn't be where I am today here at Bridgewater," said Wladkowski. "I'm just so thankful that it ended up happening.

"Sometimes I'll think back. I'm thankful I didn't go (to URI). Obviously in high school, URI looked awesome to be able to go and play baseball there. But coming here was such a better choice.

"At URI, I just would have been a pitcher. I wouldn't have pitched a lot. A Division 1 school, it's tough to get playing time. Here, I became a full-time hitter."

Zackrison recruited Wladkowski when he was at Norwood, realizing how much he could help the rebuilding Bears.

"Hank Gibson, who is a friend of mine, was giving him hitting lessons," said Zackrison. "I tried to get him out of high school. I actually went to see him hit on New Year's Day. I showed up late to a family party to make sure I went to watch him hit.

"I knew URI was on him, but I think they were looking at him as a pitcher. I thought I had a shot, but everyone has the D-1 dream. I know he had Tommy John and I would check up on him to see how things were going. He went to the prep school and COVID happened, so he didn't get a chance to play baseball. We got lucky after that and he fell in our lap."

Wladkowski said he didn't see the BSU campus until he moved into his dormitory room to start the fall semester in 2020.

"After URI ended up saying we don't really need you anymore with the elbow, luckily coach Zackrison reached back out and said, 'There's still a spot if you want to come,'" said Wladkowski.

"I said, 'I'd love to come to Bridgewater.' Didn't even see the campus until the day I moved in. I fell in love with it. It worked out for the best."

COVID made things difficult for everyone in the 2020-21 academic year when classes were held remotely.

The baseball team had to play a reduced schedule and wore masks during games. Wladkowski started 21 of the 29 games, hitting .210.

One year later, Wladkowski emerged as the MASCAC player of the year when BSU went to the NCAAs for the first time in a decade. He started all 45 games, hitting .391 and leading the conference in RBI (46) and hits (66) and was second in runs and third in stolen bases.

Last season, Wladkowski played 44 of 46 games and hit .317 with six home runs and has four homers this spring.

"I think I've gotten a lot better as a hitter," said Wladkowski. "I've looked back at some high school tapes and my swing has changed so much over the last five or six years.

"Coach Zackrison, coach (Ken) Lalli, coach (Randy) Frazier, all those guys have helped me out so much. Even freshman year to now, my swing is completely different.

"Freshman year, I struggled and sophomore year, I was able to really turn it around and have a great year. The coaching and a lot of the older guys in that lineup have been around the game long enough so they could see what was going on with my swing and see where they could help me with it."

Wladkowski has been a reliable player throughout the Bears' run. He has started 129 of 131 games since the start of his sophomore season and has made only two errors in 70 chances this spring.

And the bat of Wladkowski has been consistent with 61 extra base hits in the middle of the lineup.

"You could see early on he's just got what hitters do," said Zackrison. "He hits the ball hard. He's big, he's strong, he's fast. He's just a baseball player. He's a great athlete in general that's great at baseball."

Wladkowski has put together a successful baseball career and earned a degree in business at the school he quickly "fell in love'' with back in 2020.

"It has been," he said, "amazing."