This pitcher's comeback story hits
close to home
"Show
me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I'll show you someone
who has overcome adversity."
-Lou Holtz
I'd like to share a
perseverance-coated story about a local athlete that I found inspiring.
I will tell the story in the format of the classic Paul Harvey's
"The Rest of the Story", not revealing the athlete's name until the end.
The story begins five springs ago when a sophomore pitcher on
Canton's junior varsity baseball team -- we'll call him "Big E"
-- was promoted
to the varsity on May 1 to pitch against state-ranked Dearborn Divine
Child.
The promotion meant a lot to Big E, who loved all sports, but
particularly baseball.
Big E absolutely loved pitching
and aspired to someday pitch at the next level.
Even though he had good command of his pitches,
including
a fastball that moved in the 83-mph range, Big E only lasted two
innings against Divine Child, a power-packed team that went on to win
the Division 2 state championship that spring.
Remaining positive and confident, Big E made the most of his
second varsity opportunity -- a starting stint against state-ranked
Farmington five days later. He struck out 15 batters in a 3-2
extra-inning victory.
Big E earned three more varsity starts that season for Canton,
finishing 4-1 with a 1.80 earned run average and more strikeouts than
innings pitched.
Big E's junior season went well, too, as he finished 6-3 with a
miniscule E.R.A. and high strikeout ratio. He received letters from
Division 1 and 2 college coaches, including one from Michigan State
University's head baseball coach, who expressed interest in the lefty's
polished mound skills.
Big E's baseball future looked bright -- that is, until the
weeks leading up to his much-anticipated senior season when he started
experiencing discomfort in the area around his left elbow.
An MRI revealed there was no structural damage, which was good
news, but frustrating news as well, given that the pain persisted
throughout his senior season.
Big E's once-dominating fastball struggled to reach 75 miles per
hour. He was a shadow of his former self on the mound, failing to win a
game.
Big E's final high school appearance came in a Division 1
Regional final against eventual state champion Birmingham Brother Rice.
Like his first varsity start two springs earlier, he only lasted two
innings.
The game was painful to watch for those who knew Big E well
because they knew in their heart that prior to his elbow problems, Big
E would have given the stocked Brother Rice line-up all it could handle.
It seemed that Big E's dreams of pitching in college were all
but
dashed -- until something amazing happened.
Due to a combination of rest, answered prayers and destiny, Big
E's arm started to feel stronger over the course of the next couple of
weeks, so he kept his commitment to pitch for the Michigan Hawks travel
team.
Big E started throwing so well that a good friend of his
forwarded a copy of the Hawks' summer schedule and Big E's pre-injury
pitching credentials to Walt Head, the head baseball coach at Saginaw
Valley State University, the college Big E had decided to attend,
baseball or no baseball.
The very next day, a few minutes before Big E took the
mound in a summer tournament game at Eastern Michigan University,
you'll never guess who walked into EMU's baseball stadium and grabbed a
seat directly behind home plate.
Armed with a JUGS radar gun, it was Walt Head.
Pitching against a team loaded with three or four All-State
players, Big E was lights out. His fastball was zipping again and his
curve ball had bite.
A few days later, Walt Head called Big E and invited him to try
out for the Saginaw Valley State University baseball team later that
fall.
To make a long story short, Big E made the team. He was
red-shirted his freshman season and started this season impressively,
striking out 12 batters in his first eight collegiate innings in his
role as one of the Cardinals' late-inning relievers.
However, after two rough outings, Big E went almost three weeks
without getting called into a game.
Which leads us to this past Monday -- the day of SVSU's final
regular-season double-header.
Big E was called into the game in the top of the fifth inning
with the Cardinals on top, 8-4.
He promptly walked the first batter before yielding a long
double to the second.
Given the situation, another pitcher was sent to the bullpen to
warm-up -- an occurrence that bummed out Big E's dad, who was watching
his son pitch for the first time as a collegian.
But then something pretty amazing happened. With runners on
second and third, nobody out, and his probable successor warming up
quickly in the pen, Big E struck out the next three batters.
Mixing his 85-mph gas with a sharply bending curve ball, Big E
struck out three more in the sixth inning and two in the seventh to
finish with eight K's in three innings.
If his dad would have been any more proud, he may have burst.
I know this for a fact because Big E's real name is Erik Wright.
He is my son.
And now you know the rest of the story.
Ed Wright
can be reached at (734) 453-1980 or info@plymouthcantonsports.com.
ED WRIGHT COLUMN
ARCHIVES
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Plymouth's Hahn well deserving of MHSAA's
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Falcusan earns
"Greatest PCEP Female Athlete 2000-09" title with convincing victory
Goble-Rolfe showdown was one for the record
books
Local teams hit the high school basketball
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Annual poem saluting athletes who
excelled in 2009
Danny Cassidy will be remembered as
a
humble, happy young man who had the jump shot to be envied.
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rivalry brings out the best in junior gridiron heroes
Let's bury that crazy John
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On
crazy finishes, sharp cornerbacks
and unheralded mid-fielders
Let's hear it
for the band, high school volleyball and 88-cent Corn Flakes
This
All-Star Football team has true
character(s)
The story
behind the creation of
PlymouthCantonSports.com
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PlymouthCantonSports.com or if you have ideas for the site, please send
an e-mail to Ed Wright at info@plymouthcantonsports.com.
