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Hatch returns from injury with newfound perspective cowboy baseball Oklahoma State vs. TCU When: 6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday Where: Allie P. Reynolds Stadium Follow: @NathanSRuiz, @Marshall_Once, @HK_Barber
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For Thomas Hatch, everything is quiet. The Friday night crowd at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium cheers. Oklahoma State infielders root for him from their positions. Coach Josh Holliday issues instructions from the dugout. Hatch hears none of it. This is not selective. It is necessary. His focus is solely on the baseball in his right hand and the leather catcher’s mitt about 61 feet in front of him. The next pitch is what matters. There is no pain, no fears, no thoughts. “They’re all external distractions, something you don’t need to be focused on,” he said. “It’s hard enough to pitch. With distractions, it’s even harder.” On the mound, Hatch finds peace. His opponents do not. To the batters facing him, to anyone who doesn’t know him, Hatch is a mystery. “Unless you know Thomas, you’re not going to get inside of his shell,” teammate Blake Battenfield said. With a quiet confidence, Hatch comes set. Silence surrounds him as the sizable crowd sounds like a family gathering and trash talk dims to a whisper. Each pitch is a gift, he has learned. That is what happens when the FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2016
devin wilber/O’COLLY Thomas Hatch, an Oklahoma State pitcher, experienced pain in his right elbow the summer after his freshman year. In his return from a partially torn UCL, Hatch has a 1.98 ERA as OSU’s Friday night starter.
game you love is taken away for 15 months. *** He woke up to soreness in his right elbow. The day before, July 6, 2014, Hatch threw three innings for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod League. He was disappointed. Having allowed only one hit, he wanted to pitch longer. It was the last time Hatch pitched in a game for a year. He didn’t throw for a week, but the dull pain didn’t fade. Hatch returned home to Tulsa from Massachusetts, bringing a sudden end to the summer baseball season after his freshman year. For the next month, Hatch took anti-inflammatory medication and was on a strict throwing program in an effort to heal. All the while, he didn’t know what was hurting him. He received his first MRI, then spent another month on anti-
inflammatories. As Hatch approached winter break of his sophomore year, the pain remained a mystery. He visited a handful of doctors, and they all passed on the same messages. “Nothing’s wrong.” “You’ve got to throw through the pain.” “Maybe it’ll go away.” But Hatch knew. He had thrown a baseball as long as he had pursued an education. He could tell something was wrong. Hatch lost baseball physically. He fought for it mentally. OSU pitching coach Rob Walton, a maestro of the arms and minds of pitchers, never experienced pain in his elbow during his playing career, he said. His shoulder devoured his career, however, as struggles with his right rotator cuff forced him to retire at 25. He worked with Hatch psychoOCOLLY.COM
logically, continual conversations confirming to Hatch his efforts to return were worthwhile. Walton, a former OSU pitcher, was injured during his time as a Cowboy, but he came back stronger. He told Hatch he could do the same. “Your mind can wander in places it doesn’t need to wander,” Walton said. “‘Am I gonna be able to pitch again?’ You’ve got all kind of negative thoughts that can creep into your mind. Thomas, the way he talked about it is, things happen for a reason, and it was hard for me to understand those things, even in my own career.” Hatch traveled to Pensacola, Florida, to meet with Dr. James Andrews, a renowned orthopedic surgeon known primarily for repairing ligament injuries in athletes. Hatch had visited about five
other physicians and radiologists, but in about five minutes, Andrews diagnosed Hatch with a Grade 2 sprain, or a partial tear, of his right ulnar collateral ligament, the ligament requiring Tommy John surgery when completely torn. Although surgery wasn’t needed, the source of his physical pain had been identified, but the diagnosis left him with cause for mental anguish. His passion was taken away. *** Holliday told Hatch he would call back in 15 minutes. They were discussing the possibility of Hatch, a senior at Jenks High School, coming to Vanderbilt, where Holliday was an assistant coach. Something came up, though, and Holliday had to go. As promised, he called Hatch 15 minutes later, having just been announced as the next baseball coach at OSU. Immediately, Holliday’s conversation with Hatch shifted to the Cowboys. For Hatch, it was almost unbelievable. He grew up an OSU fan. His father walked onto the baseball team. Two uncles and an aunt went to school in Stillwater. He spent several afternoons at Cowboy and Cowgirl sporting events. OSU was a second home. Hatch jumped at the opportunity to play in front of his family, despite offers STORY CONTINUES ON PAGE 3
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