One of the great things about coaching is you not only get to share in the great stories and performances of your own players, but of players on the opposing teams as well. One of those inspiring stories came in the spring of 2005 from John Fortenberry, a right-handed pitcher for East Central Community College.
What happened to John on January 23, 2004, was pretty gruesome. Pitching in an intra-squad game at what is now known as the Clark/Gay Baseball Complex on the ECCC Campus in Decatur, one of his teammates turned an 84 miles-per-hour fastball around and drove it into Fortenberry’s right cheek.
The sight and sound of the impact of the ball was horrifying. “It was more of a sound than a sight,” said Jake Yarborough, the ECCC head baseball coach, who was coaching third base at the time. “You could hear it. It was a smack and you knew it was bad.”
The impact crushed Fortenberry’s right eyeball and shattered several facial bones. He crumpled to the ground in a bloody mess, but remained conscious as he was taken to the hospital.
A team of doctors re-constructed his face with three plates and 29 screws, but they could not save the eye. A ball made of coral was placed in the socket, wrapped in a network or remaining blood vessels and muscles and tucked behind a black patch, which he would wear until the time when he would receive a prosthetic eye.
But his love for the game and his dream to pitch in college baseball was the driving force for him to recover from his injuries, to overcome his fears, and make a comeback.
He returned to the mound for his freshman season in 2005, wearing a hockey-style catcher’s mask for protection, and finished with 2 wins and 4 losses, a 4.06 ERA, and 46 strikeouts over 51 innings.
He picked up one of those two wins in the second game of a doubleheader against the Hinds Eagles at Joe G. Moss Field in Raymond. It was a gutsy performance where he worked six innings, allowed seven hits, walked two, and struck out five in a 3-1 win. I know we all respected his great heart, his courage, his effort, and his “stuff.”
Losing to East Central was never any fun and we had done it plenty of times over 22 years, but of the hundreds of games I lost during my long coaching career, I figured one loss on this particular day, to this young man, in this setting, at this moment, was not going to linger with me very long…. like all the other ones did.
In fact, I was inspired by it all. It was a clinic on all the intangibles that are necessary to compete, not only in this game, but in life itself. Confidence, motivation, and determination… mental toughness were all on display. I loved it!
You could not help but pull for the guy. I believe my players felt the same way, except, perhaps, our third baseman Jeremy Ferguson, who scored our only run of the game with a tape measure home run to left-center field.
Lesson Learned: Eyesight and vision are two different things. Never lose sight of your goals and dreams. Sometimes those visions become realty and are found on a road less traveled.
John Fortenberry
Rick Clarke's Diary of a Mad Baseball Coach 