GILBERT SUN NEWS | MARCH 20, 2022
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Highland’s Khamis sets example after injury BY AUSTIN SCOTT GSN Contributor
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n Dec. 24, 2019, the last day of a baseball camp, Highland senior third baseman Drake Khamis went back for a flyball when someone then slid and collided into him and broke his leg. He wanted to quit baseball months earlier, and now, leaving baseball seemed inevitable. During his freshman year, Khamis started out at Perry High School alongside his best friend and current Highland senior pitcher/outfielder Jack Ellsworth. Throughout his freshman season, he felt unappreciated and didn’t see himself playing a big part of the future and culture of the program. A transfer to Highland his sophomore year presented a change of scenery, but after not meeting his personal expectations with baseball, he was ready to call it quits. After breaking his leg and going through three surgeries, Khamis had days upon days to sit and reflect on his future with baseball. Suddenly, his mindset and light switch completely flipped. “I never realized how much I loved baseball until I literally could not play it,” Khamis said. “So then ever since that, I just had that awakening moment. I’m like, I’m gonna prove everyone wrong. I’m going to be that guy now.” After working his way back and showing glimpses of health, Khamis and Ellsworth spent the summer of junior year grinding nonstop, putting in hours of work every day to get ready for the new season. Unfortunately, junior year came around and it turned out that Khamis was not fully healthy, resulting in a subpar season. His archenemy, disappointment, started to linger around again. This time, Khamis went beyond himself
Khamis and Kehoe got off on the wrong foot when Khamis first came to Highland. Family and friends of Khamis even had to encourage Kehoe to speak with Khamis because he didn’t think that Kehoe liked him. “I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m doing this for a reason. You have the ability, you have great leadership qualities. I just gotta see more of that out of you,’” Kehoe said. “You’re not emptying your tank so to speak. You’re only giving half of what you have and that’s a shame beHighland senior Drake Khamis overcame adversity in the form cause you’re a of a broken leg in 2019 that made him question returning to very talented baseball altogether. But he battled back and rehabbed his injury to become a leader for the Hawks this season. (Dave Minton/ kid.’” After that GSN Staff) conversation, to find his purpose and motivation: lead- they both understood each other’s intentions on and off-the-diamond and ership. “I’m going to be a player-coach. I’m go- now their relationship couldn’t be any ing to be the older guy that is on your ass closer. Fast forward to today, Kehoe has in a good way, but not being mean about been impressed with the leadership of it. I was going to be the older brother alKhamis with the rest of the team and most,” Khamis said. “And I was going to said his moxie goes a long way. just do whatever (Highland head coach “He can talk to anybody. He talks to Erik) Kehoe says.”
the third base coach all the time, talks to umpires. I think it helps him stay focused in the game,” Kehoe said. “He generally cares, and he’s invested … he’s taking some ownership and that’s a really proud moment from a coach’s perspective.” Khamis reads many books and listens to many podcasts about the art of leadership with the goal of getting his teammates to perform at the highest level possible. “I wanted to experiment with the intangibles. How what you say can get people to like … subconsciously go to battle for you and with you,” Khamis said. Ellsworth has been with Khamis every step of the way. He transferred from Perry to Highland after his sophomore year to join Khamis and was also one of the main reasons Khamis didn’t quit baseball. “He can’t just quit on us, and he has to stay by our side and finish out through high school,” Ellsworth said. “He’s only young once so you don’t want to waste it on other stuff besides sports.” Ellsworth added that Khamis will do anything for his loved ones and he will cross those boundaries to make sure his loved ones are happy and safe. Now entering his senior year, Khamis is ready to use his leadership to propel his team to the next level. But more importantly, he is fully healthy for the first time in nearly two years. “This year, I’m back 110 percent and if things keep going the same way they have in the fall and all the scrimmages, I’m due for a really, really, really good year.” On March. 2, 2022, Highland lost a heartbreaker to Chandler for its first loss of the young season. While the coaches were sitting around and reflecting on the loss, a text from Khamis was
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