What are you excited to see in 2008?

Back on March 21, 2002 I was a senior catcher playing for the Belmont Abbey College baseball team and on this day we were playing Augusta State University in Augusta, GA. We had a pretty good team that year battling for a regional berth and had just finished a hard fought extra inning loss to Augusta State. Everyone was upset but was loading the team bus for a long ride home. It was at that point I received a phone call that would change my life for the next few months. I had learned that my younger brother, a junior in high school had been in a very serious car wreck on the way to one of his high school games. It was a rainy day and he had lost control of his car, went down a hill and hit multiple tree's on the way. He was airlifted to CMC with a broken neck, fractured skull, punctured lung, and many other broken bones. I was just leaving Augusta GA but my coach at Belmont Abbey arrainged for our SID at the time to pick us up and drive my coach and I directly to CMC. To this day I can not thank the coaching staff at Belmont Abbey enough for all they did for me and my family. When we arrived at the hospital he was in critical condition and they were unsure if he was going to make it through. He was in the ICU for 5 days on a ventilator and in a drug induced coma. With the massive head injury he sustained the doctors were doubtfull that he would make a full recovery. If he did make it through the first 48 hrs he may have brain damage and didn't know if he would ever walk again due to the broken neck much less ever play baseball again. My brother had grown up playing baseball his whole life and was a pretty good RHP as a junior in HS.

My family and I spent the next 1-2 months living in the hospital and watching my brother gradually get better and better. It was hard to deal with this as a senior in college but my family and I witnessed a miracle from God over those 1-2 mths. Ultimately my brother did make it through after 2 major surgeries to repair the vertibrae in his neck that had broken and major reconstructive plastic surgery to repair all the bones that had broken in his face. To this day he has a large titanium plate covering the back of his neck to protect those repaired vertibrae. During the surgery to repair his face they actually took his face off, rebuilt all the bones, and then put his face back on. God's hand was truly on my brother's shoulder throughout this entire healing process and he was eventually able to make a full recovery. He was able to walk again and slowly but surely began throwing a baseball again.

So what am I excited to see in 2008?

The Belmont Abbey baseball team play it season schedule because my brother is now a tall, skinny, side-armed, senior relief pitcher for the Crusaders. Things have come full circle now due to God's awesome power and now my brother is a senior playing for Belmont Abbey's baseball team. Who do they have on the schedule again this year? Augusta State.

So if your ever at a Belmont Abbey game this year and you see a side-armed lanky right hander going in the game, know that he is one of God's little miracles.

 

That is an awesome story

thanks for sharing it. I hope he shoves it and has a great senior season.

 

C'mon sumball, he deserves all the attention he gets, what is his name so we can follow him.

 

Braves

Hey Braves,

Trey Summerlin #3 Rhp

Thanks

 

Yes, I know of Trey. I can't wait to see him pitch this year. But please, not Da Bears games

That is a great story, sumball....and what a thrill for you to have a brother like Trey

 

I will be sure to get to a game just to shake his hand. Thank you so much for this story.0-8

 

Awesome story... again thanks for sharing it!! It is amazing the things God does for us each day!!

 

Remarkable. Thanks for sharing. Unbelievable recovery. It does sound like a miracle. So much to be thankful for.

 

Sumball7 - Thanks for sharing

I watched a good bit of the fall scrimmages and I can assure you he showed no signs of the past. He will be counted on heavily this spring I'm sure. And knowing his past will make each pitch more special. Look forward to meeting you at a game.

 

Great story

But what I would like to see in 2008. The smell of fresh cut grass. The crispness of a lined field. The sharpness of the players warming up before the game. The pop of a fastball hitting the mitt. The sound of wood making contact with the ball. The anticipation of the the long fly ball as it makes it's way to the fence. The roar of the crowd as it sails over. The smell of red hots and peanuts. The young father and son waiting for that foul ball. The cheers after the last out. The boys congradulating each other after a hard fought battle on the field of dreams.