'Family over everything': With custom cleats and card, Rizy brings his family to the mound

WORCESTER — Each time Mavrick Rizy takes the mound this spring, the Worcester Academy senior carries his loved ones with him.

Etched on his left cleat is the word ‘MOM’ with a few other symbols that represent his family members. In his back right pant pocket, the right-handed pitcher keeps a piece of paper with a list of people’s names whose opinions matter most to him.

After undergoing five separate surgeries on his left knee from eighth grade to sophomore year, and being told he may never play sports again, Rizy learned a valuable lesson.

“Family over everything,” said Rizy, an LSU baseball commit. “They’re always going to be there for you. My mom, (my) dad and (my brother) Kyle, I don’t know where I’d be without them.”

And Rizy doesn’t have to search very far to remind himself of that fact this spring.

Refuse to sink

Ever since Mavrick Rizy could walk, the 19-year-old from Fiskdale has chased around his older brother.

The two siblings (separated by two years in age) grew up playing football, basketball and baseball — even a little bit of lacrosse — and spent two seasons together on the same Little League team.

“Mavrick was always trying to be as good as Kyle,” said their mother, Kelly. “We had to balance the competition with them not killing each other. But Kyle is Mavrick’s favorite person.”

As a kid, Rizy experienced growing pains in his left knee. Or so he thought.

But in middle school, the tall teenager was diagnosed with osteochondritis dissecans of the knee — a relatively rare bone or cartilage condition that can cause dysfunction and pain. After his first surgery was unsuccessful, Rizy was told he may never play baseball again.

“I was crushed to hear that,” he said. “On the way home, my mom was like ‘Mav you can do anything, and you’ve proved that to us your whole life.’”

Shortly after that conversation, Kelly placed a poster in her youngest son’s room. The gray sign read: “REFUSE TO SINK” in black lettering with a symbol of an anchor.

Rizy took that mantra to heart. Four surgeries later, Rizy's knee was finally pain-free. No worse for the wear.

Just a big scar to show for it.

“It was tough,” Rizy said. “I’m grateful for it, to be honest, because it taught me so many more lessons than just baseball and the injury itself, and I realized who was truly there for me.”

“It was hard,” his mother said. “To see your kid hurting, not just physically but mentally. At the end of the day, he realized we will be there for him no matter what happens.”

Back to baseball

Rizy returned to the rubber fully healthy in 2022 as a sophomore on the Worcester Academy baseball team.

That season, he shared the mound with his older brother — and even got to pitch in relief of Kyle.

“It was like passing the torch down to me,” Rizy said. “It was super cool.”

Last year, Rizy went 6-1 with a 0.81 ERA for the Hilltoppers before the top-ranked pitching prospect in New England officially committed to LSU on Sept. 18.

“He’s electric,” Worcester Academy catcher Cam Papetti said. “When his stuff’s on, he’s lights out, and he’s a rock to our team, and I love catching him. ... He’s untouchable.”

Now, a senior captain this spring, Rizy is 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA across four starts for Worcester Academy. The 6-foot-9, 245-pounder has allowed just 10 hits, four earned runs and seven walks in 23 innings to go along with 35 strikeouts.

“There’s not many better kids to coach,” Worcester Academy coach Mike Abraham said. “It’s awesome as a coach when you can coach your best player the hardest. He comes from a great household, so you can coach him hard, he wants to be coached hard and most importantly, he’s a great teammate.”

Family over everything

Before the start of his senior season, Rizy traveled to Arizona to train with his cousin, Alex Cobb, a pitcher with the San Francisco Giants.

At one point during his trip, Rizy noticed Cobb’s customized cleats. Soon, Rizy created his own.

On his left white New Balance shoe, Rizy stenciled ‘MOM’ in big pink lettering with symbols of a rock (for his mom, who is his “rock”), No. 45 (his brother’s baseball number), a tulip (his mom’s favorite flower) and a dog (the Rizys have owned two golden retrievers, Bruschi and Boston, through the years) all printed in black paint near the tongue and toe.

Rizy couldn’t wait to show his mom his new custom cleats.

“He sent me a video, and of course I started crying,” Kelly said. “He wanted something special for his senior season, and I think he wanted to look down and remind himself of what’s important, and that’s what he did.”

On Saturday, the entire Rizy family saw the Worcester Academy senior pitch in a game against Dexter Southfield.

With a handful of baseball scouts on hand to watch Rizy’s start, the 19-year-old attempted to block out the noise that surrounds his every pitch.

Rizy’s shoes and index card (that features his brother, mother, father and girlfriend’s names scribbled in a list) help him do so.

“I just feel untouchable when I have this stuff on me,” Rizy said.

From being told he may never play baseball again, to becoming one of the best high school pitchers in New England, Mavrick Rizy likes to remind himself of his journey and what’s most important.

Family over everything.

“He knows that we have his back,” his brother said, “and hopefully he can continue doing what he’s doing right now.”

“I’m really proud of him,” said his father, Chris. “Proud of both (of my kids). I’m a lucky dad.”

“It’s just meant the world to me,” his mother said. “I don’t think I could be more proud of who he’s become. What more could a mother want? It’s everything.”

—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'Family over everything': With custom cleats and card, Rizy brings his family to the mound