A College Baseball Career Filled With Adversity

Something unexpected that has come out of my five years spent on the Anderson University baseball team, and what I would say is my biggest lesson learned, is knowing how to deal with adversity. Coming in to play at the college level I had high expectations for myself; I wanted to be a four year starter, win several conference championships with my teammates, be awarded the conference player of the year, and get a chance to play professionally. Instead, it was filled with several trips to the hospital, countless early mornings spent in physical therapy before class, and many sleepless nights wondering what went wrong.

My senior year of high school I started experiencing severe back pain that greatly limited my ability to even perform simple daily tasks. I ended up missing the last fourth of my senior baseball season after we found out I had suffered a stress fracture in my spine and had misaligned hips. Thankfully, after a successful four months of rehab, a cortisone shot, and wearing a back brace 24/7 I was healthy enough to play my freshman baseball season at Anderson. I experienced no problems the entirety of my freshman year all the way through my sophomore year. I was playing extremely well, and had even earned several conference awards at the end of my sophomore campaign, so I thought there was nothing but great things ahead.

About seven or eight games into my junior season I started experiencing some lower back and hip pain again. I was off to a hot start, leading our team in several offensive categories, so I didn’t want to mention my pain to anyone. But eventually it became too much to bear so I decided it was best to remove myself from the lineup for a few weeks in hopes to be healthy for our conference season that was approaching. The Daily Journal wrote a nice article outlining these events in the link provided: http://www.dailyjournal.net/2018/03/29/branton_sanders_feature__march_29/ . My second game back from recovering from my injury scare, I slid headfirst into third base and completely dislocated my left shoulder. After an MRI, it showed that I had torn my labrum, meaning that my season had come to a screeching halt. I had also unfortunately played in one too many games that year in order to receive a year’s eligibility back from the NCAA, so I was extremely disappointed that I had basically wasted my entire third season by only getting to play in thirteen games. However, I was still grateful that I would have time to recover and have the opportunity to play my senior year.

I spent the majority of the summer going into my senior year rehabbing my shoulder back to health. I decided against surgery since it was my non-throwing arm and a labrum surgery recovery was typically around 6-8 months. If I went through with the surgery, it would mean missing our Fall season and would have me back to picking up a bat again just a month before the season was scheduled to start in February. The doctors said I could strengthen it back through physical therapy alone, I’d just be at a higher risk of dislocating again since my labrum had not been completely repaired. Having already spent so much time on the sidelines, it was a risk I was willing to take. I didn’t want to have to miss any more games, especially during my senior year.

Four games into my senior baseball season, I felt a pop in my back which took my breath away and prevented me from being able to bend over or even walk without pain. After yet another trip to the hospital and another MRI, it was shown that I had herniated a disk in my back. The surgery and rehab route meant missing my entire senior year, something I couldn’t stand to think about. I decided to get an epidural in efforts to ease the pain and try to make it back to play. This ended up providing relief for a week or so, before the pain flooded right back. My senior year amounted to a mere four games played. I was absolutely crushed. I had worked so hard in the weight room and in my physical therapy sessions but it felt like no matter what I did I couldn’t catch a break. My college baseball career was over just like that.

After a couple weeks of playing the victim and feeling bad for myself, I flipped a switch in my mind and decided that I wasn’t done yet. I began researching Anderson University’s 10 Month MBA Program and NCAA medical redshirts and began to seriously plan my return for another year. After talks with my coaches, family, and friends, I decided that I would enroll for another year in school to pursue my Masters in Business Administration and finally get to play baseball again, something that had become good at eluding me for the past two years.

Less than a month before my fifth year season was scheduled to start, I dislocated my left shoulder once again in a freak accident. At this point it was almost comical. I seriously felt like God was punishing me for something because no matter what I did, a new injury that kept me from playing the game I loved seemed to be the result. After a lot of praying and encouraging conversations with my loved ones, I decided that I wasn’t about to let an injury stop me this time. I knew I’d been in this position before and that if I got through it last time, I could muster the strength to get through it again. So I kept a positive attitude and absolutely cruised through my physical therapy in just over a month, making it back into the lineup after only missing our first three games of the season.

2020 was the year for Ravens Baseball. We had an insanely talented team loaded with eighteen senior players and a lot of gifted underclassmen. We were winning the conference tournament and making it to the World Series without a doubt in anyone’s mind. We had beaten two Top 25 ranked teams in the country already and were feeling unstoppable heading into our annual Florida trip over spring break. We had just flown down to Kissimmee and were about to head out for our first practice in the sunshine state when our coach gathered us up in the parking lot of our resort. He broke the news that our athletic department had decided to suspend our season until further notice because of COVID-19 and that we were to return back to Indiana immediately. Not too long after we returned home, it was announced that all spring sports were cancelled for the remainder of the year. It’s hard to explain the emotions that were running through my head at this time. I was heart-broken, confused, frustrated, and absolutely clueless on what to do next. I battled my way through four different injuries just to have my last year ripped away by a global pandemic?

I was faced with a lot of challenging obstacles in my college baseball career. There were several times where I was really down in spirit and felt helpless. The one thing I had looked forward to most about college was getting to play baseball, and each year it seemed like there was something standing in the way preventing me from it. However, I thank the Good Lord everyday for blessing me with the people that surround me on a daily basis, because without the endless support from my family, friends, coaches, and girlfriend, I don’t know how I would have made it through the emotional roller coaster that I experienced throughout my five years at Anderson University. Even after all that I went through, I still wouldn’t change a single thing that happened. Each one of those painful experiences I went through taught me to be resilient and to never give up. It taught me that no matter how many times I get knocked down, to keep getting right back up and asking for more. Overcoming my past tribulations has provided me with the confidence to know that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. I am determined to reach the goals I set for myself and no matter what life throws at me, I know that I’m well equipped to overcome anything that stands in the way. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and I am certain that because of everything I was put through that I am a stronger and better person because of it.