Catholic Memorial High School graduate Rory Fox has just begun his junior year at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. After suffering an elbow injury as a freshman, Fox was third on the Fighting Irish baseball team in innings pitched as a sophomore. (Submitted photo)

Perhaps one of the worst moments of Rory Fox’s young life happened on a pitcher’s mound in Atlanta in March 2023.

For a couple weeks, the University of Notre Dame student and Catholic Memorial High School graduate had been feeling some pain in his forearm. Being a freshman, though, he didn’t want to tell his coaches, because of fear of losing his spot or what the repercussions could be.

Such is the culture of sports, where athletes feel some pressure — often self-imposed — to play through pain and not show any weakness.

However, that day, the pain on his face made it glaringly obvious to his coaches that something was wrong. Medical tests showed he had a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament and would miss the rest of his freshman baseball season for the Fighting Irish in Indiana.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

“It made me so much more resilient and determined, and it strengthened my faith and my relationship with my parents,” Fox said. “It made me establish new relationships at school because I wasn’t just at baseball. Looking back, it was a blessing — it sucked in the moment, but I think I was able to make the best of it and come out on the better side of it.”

With so much free time while recovering from surgery, Fox said he was able to dive more deeply into his faith and really own it.

“Going off to college, there’s a lot more independence with what you’re doing,” said Fox, who grew up in Waukesha. “I think, for most people who grow up with Catholicism, going to college (is a case of) what path are you going to choose. You’re taking more ownership of what you do and who you spend your time with.”

The baseball team at Notre Dame has weekly Bible study meetings and every dorm on campus has its own chapel, meaning there are 30 to 40 opportunities within walking distance to attend Mass on Sundays.

“Getting surgery, my future was up in the air,” said Fox, who is a member of the Notre Dame Christian Athletes club. “I had a lot of things on my mind, and at that point, the logical thing for me to do was to turn toward my faith. At times like that, I would pray, turn to God. We have a lot of spots on campus (to pray). I’ve been blessed to go to such a beautiful university that has so many opportunities to connect with your faith, and sit down and pray and celebrate with people around you. Those kind of environments and communities helped me get through that time in my life. Moving past that, going into my sophomore year, it was something that I tried to maintain a focus on throughout the year, and what I will continue to do this year.”

This past spring, he made a triumphant return to the mound, finishing third on the Irish pitching staff with 50 innings pitched.

“To make that kind of jump, I was happy with it.”

His repertoire includes a four-seam fastball that can get up to 96 miles per hour and sits in the low 90s, along with a cutter, changeup and 12-6 curveball. This fall, Fox is looking to work on sequencing and tunneling his pitches (making them all look the same as they leave his hand) and take a step toward the top of the Irish’s starting rotation.

And stay healthy.

“I do anticipate taking a bigger role, having built a bunch of experience last year and continuing to build on it this year,” Fox said. “I’m excited about it, to see where it could take me.”

To see where his talents could take him, perhaps it’s instructive to look at his family history.

His older brother, Luke, was the quarterback of Catholic Memorial’s 2018 state championship football team, pitched at Duke University and is now in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm system in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Rory Fox was the quarterback for Memorial’s 2021 state championship and has followed his brother’s path to high-level Division I collegiate baseball.

Further, Rory has followed another family tradition as the fourth generation in his family to attend Notre Dame, following his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

“I had to carry on the legacy.”