I love baseball (as you can tell), and have played for a long time, but it hasn't always been easy. Like most young ball players, I played little league to learn my basic baseball skills and fundamentals, and of course, for fun. I traveled through all the divisions, t-ball through juniors. I'll be honest and say I don't really remember much of t-ball and caps (machine pitch), and it's probably a good thing. When I was able to play player pitch, I was the age of 10 and that's where my baseball journey officially began. My dad was the coach of my Minor A (10-12 year old division). I was by far the slowest runner on the team, and I had a habit of striking out awkwardly. When I wasn't striking out, I was walking (I walked ALOT!). But I was only 10 so it wasn't that bad.
My 11 year old year I made my first all-star team after I began catching, pitching, and after I improved my hitting skills.
The next year I was promoted to majors which was an 11-12 year old division. I made my second all star team that year thanks to my dad who has been a great help to me over the years. I found myself playing first base and catching. This is where the story begins. The hardest thrower on my team, and in the entire league, preferred me as a catcher because I was the only one who was able to catch his 75 mph fastball from 46 feet! During a city tournament game, I took a 75 mph fastball directly off the instep of my right foot. It hurt, but I was able to finish the game and the upcoming all star season. For the rest of that year I didn't notice any pain in that area and I soon forgot about being hit, but when my 12 year old season came along, that was a different story.
When I started the next season, I noticed a bump form in the area that I had been hit the previous spring. I iced it hoping it would go away, but it didn't. So we decided to go have x-rays done, but nothing came up. I made another all star team that year and I also hit my first home run. It was my best year yet, but I still had a painful bump on my foot. That summer after all stars, I had the bump examined by orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Dennis Wenger. My foot was broken. Not only broken, but shattered. The growth plate on the instep on my right foot had been broken into three pieces, and because I waited so long to have it seen, they all fused back together in an awkward way which caused the bump. The doctor had never seen anything like it. I felt like an animal at the zoo during my appointments because the doctor had specialists from out of state and out of the country looking at my foot. September 8, 2008 I had reconstructive surgery on my right foot. Dr. Wenger had to re-break my foot and he used three screws to put my foot back together the right way. After 12 weeks in a cast and 6 weeks in a brace, I was back to baseball in the spring of 2009.
My 13 year old year was my first year of real baseball. The 300 foot fences, 90 foot bases, 60 foot 6 inch mound was all new to me, but I quickly adapted. I had the best year of my life to that point. My foot seemed like it had completely healed. Or had it? When I went in for my 6 month check up, the doctor noticed that a small piece of bone had chipped off from the break site. September 10, 2009 I had a much more painful surgery where the doctor removed the screws, performed a bone graft of my right ankle and plugged the screw holes with the dowels he had made from the bone. He removed the chip from my foot because it could not be reattached. After another 12 weeks in a cast, I was back on my feet and preparing for my last year of little league.
My last year was a good one, I hit considerably well, increased my velocity by 7 mph and I also improved my speed on the base path. As I said before, my dad helped me a lot during all my years of VCLL, as he was a coach or a manager in all of my teams, and he has taught me almost everything I know about baseball.
Finally, high school baseball! And something I didn't expect, my dad was asked to be an assistant coach! He greatly improved our defense as he was our main defensive coach. My freshman year wasn't bad. I played varsity and batted .420 and was the starting catcher for the second half of the season, and I was selected to first team all-league. My team (Christian Life Academy) finished second in league (behind Calvary Christian Vista), and won its first playoff game in school history.
I am currently training for this highly anticipated 2012 season for Calvary Baseball! I can't wait for this season!
"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" - Philippians 4:13
