BELOIT, Wis.—When Vinny Rottino enrolled at the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy in the fall of 2002, his baseball dreams were looking like just that: dreams. After a standout career at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in which he hit .339, clubbed 23 home runs, racked up 120 RBI and hit a school-record 50 doubles, Rottino was without a team. Passed over in the first-year draft, he was staring down a long road to baseball glory.

“As far as playing with an affiliated club, I thought [it was over],” Rottino said. “I thought I might have a chance at playing with some independent-league clubs. So, I was just keeping in shape that whole time I was in Madison. I was planning on maybe trying out for some independent-league teams.”

So, with his baseball career briefly on hold, Rottino decided to try his hand at the world of pharmacy.

“I had good enough grades to get in and my sister is a pharmacist,” he said. “She told me a little bit about the profession and thought it might be a little bit appealing to me. I went there for a semester and found out it wasn’t. I’d rather play baseball.”

At the same time he was discovering pharmacy might not be his cup of tea, Rottino joined the Wisconsin baseball club team for a semester to stay in game shape.

“I went out and played for the club team just because I love baseball so much, and I just wanted to stay with the game,” Rottino said. “That was pretty much my motivation behind playing with the club team.”

It was then he caught his break, thanks to an old friend. Ex-New York Mets scout Jack Schiestle, who managed Rottino’s summer ball team, the Racine Kiwanis of the Land O’ Lakes League, made a few calls and set up workouts with the Brewers, Padres, Rockies and Giants. Eager to prove himself, Rottino quickly left school behind to pursue his dream.

“At that point, it was during second semester of pharmacy school, so I decided just to drop out and go down there,” Rottino said. “They were going to take place over the course of two weekends and I would have been missing too much school, so I dropped out. The first tryout was with the Brewers. I had a good showing and got signed.”

Milwaukee did not ink Rottino as a shortstop, the position he played at La Crosse, however. Rather, it was as a catcher that the Brewers signed him.

“I never caught ever before in my life,” Rottino said, “but I have pretty good arm strength and a pretty quick release. So they signed me as a catcher and taught me how to catch in an extended spring training last year. Now I’m pretty much a utility guy: I can catch, play third, play first, outfield, a little bit of middle infield as well.”

Where he lines up in the field is immaterial to Rottino. For a kid who grew up in Racine, Wis., the chance to play for his hometown team was something special.

“I grew up with Paul Molitor and Robin Yount posters in my room, pretending I was those guys as a little kid, so it’s definitely a dream come true,” he said. “I used to come to Beloit Snappers games.”

Now, Rottino finds himself playing for those very same Beloit Snappers. After signing with the Brewers, he spent the first three months of his professional career in extended spring training before heading to the Helena Brewers of the Pioneer League, Milwaukee’s top rookie-ball affiliate.

“I wasn’t in the starting lineup every day, but worked my way in and was near the league lead in hitting for most of the year,” said Rottino, who finished his first season in the minors with a .311 batting average.

From there, it was on to the Snappers, the Brewers’ Class-A affiliate in the Midwest League. Rottino joins a farm system currently ranked as the best in baseball by many experts, something he says is both exciting and challenging.

“It makes competition that much stiffer trying to get to the big leagues, but they’re an organization where they’re going to move guys up,” Rottino said. “They’re not going to be the Yankees where if they have a need at a certain position, go out and buy it. They’re going to go to their farm system, so that’s definitely cool to be a part of. There’s opportunity.”

That opportunity is one Rottino is very grateful for. After all, he could very well be finishing up his pharmaceutical degree right now.

“Every day I think about that. I wake up and realize I get to put on a minor league pro baseball uniform and play ball for money,” he said. “I think about me going to Rennebohm Pharmacy School and thank God — seriously thank God every day that I don’t have to do that.”