Jarod Rine
Hope Fund Sponsor
ARCHway believes in recovery from the disease of addiction.
Jarod’s loss is felt every single day to those who love him. Our goal as a family to is to help ensure other families don’t get the dreaded phone call that it is too late. We want to provide a hand up for others facing the same dark haunting of addiction.
Jarod Rine was born and raised on the Ohio River in Moundsville, WV. The son of two educators
and younger brother to his beloved sibling Josh, Jarod was happiest when he was outdoors. He loved hunting, fishing and really found his calling in sports. In high school, he ran track, played basketball and football, but baseball was his true love. He received a baseball scholarship and proudly donned his gold and blue as a WVU Moutaineer. O
utfielder Jarod Rine blossomed as a junior for WVU, hitting .403/.459/.624. He finished third in the Big East Conference in batting average, made the All-Conference team and split Player of the Year honors with Marc Tugwell. He was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the ninth round of the 2003 amateur draft. He was signed by scout Marc Tramuta and made his pro debut that summer with the Aberdeen IronBirds, where he had 20 stolen bases in 27 tries and hit .252/.313/.357. His error-free play in the outfield netted him the only 1.000 fielding percentage by a New York-Penn League regular.
The next season, he played with the Delmarva Shorebirds, stealing 31 bases in 38 tries and batting .257/.345/.372. In 2005, he played for the Frederick Keys and had 21 steals (third in the Orioles system) but hit just .209/.289/.279; he was again thrown out exactly seven times. After beginning 2006 with Frederick, he returned to Delmarva in midseason. Despite stealing 21 bases in 30 tries between the two stops, he struggled at the plate, hitting only .195/.308/.284 for the year.
As his dreams of playing professionally began to fade, there were many tough feelings to cope with as he began to find a new life for himself. Addiction took hold and Jarod struggled with heroin use after years of opiate use for numerous baseball injuries. Jarod had had many vibrant years, becoming a husband and father and following a new line of work in the coal mines. But those vibrant years were still tainted by relapses, painful hospital stays, brushes with death, and arrests. His family never lost hope and continued to rally around him for support as he seemed to find a new happy place of sobriety while living and working in Alabama. After coming home for Christmas in West Virginia in 2019, he had a final fatal relapse upon returning to Alabama and unknowingly ingesting fentanyl. His family was called on January 17, 2020, letting them know that their fun, loving, spirited boy was gone, leaving behind two loving and devastated parents, a brother, a daughter and many heartbroken family and friends. His loss is felt every single day to those who love him. Our goal as a family to is to help ensure that other families don’t get the dreaded phone call that it is too late. We want to provide a hand up for others facing the same dark haunting of addiction.