“Coach, I’m going back into the game.”

That’s what shortstop Austin Nicholson said to head baseball coach Corey Farra while sitting in the dugout after being hit in the face by a pitch. It was the rivalry game against Marcus on March 18; he couldn’t just not play.

The injury, along with a back injury from earlier in the year, would end up keeping Austin out of the season for a whole month – more time away than he would have ever wanted.

Austin gives a thumbs up to the camera after being treated by athletic trainer Erica Almarez. Austin was not allowed to return to the game after his injury. (Photo provided by Darci Nicholson)

Austin discovered his love for baseball at a young age after playing tee-ball, coach pitch and kid pitch. This was inspired by his father, who played college baseball and was offered a place on the Kansas City Royals. His dad taught him the basics of the game and acted as his coach all his life.

“I was born into it and fell in love with [the game,]” Austin said. “Baseball was the sport that I thought I had a future [in,] so I [stuck] to it and focused only on baseball after my freshman year.”

During middle school, Austin played on a travel team where he played football, baseball and basketball. After spending his freshman year at Prestonwood, he chose to fully commit to baseball and transferred to Hebron for his sophomore year.

“Not even 20 minutes after I met him, we were laughing and joking around,” second baseman Adam Alvarez said. “[Austin and I] are a lot alike. He’s like another brother on the field. He’s a super good and funny guy and always makes the room laugh.”

During the off season last year, Austin set a personal goal of gaining 10 to 15 pounds of muscle, which he wanted to achieve through lifting heavy weights. A combination of wear and tear, improper form, lack of good stretching and batting resulted in stress fractures throughout his spine, causing constant back pain – finally giving out during a scrimmage early in the season.

“I had been playing [on my fracture] all year,” Austin said. “I [was] trying to help the team win because I’m a team player, so I played through it so I wouldn’t be on the bench.”

During the bottom of the fifth inning on March 18 against Marcus, Austin was on his third at-bat ready to swing. The Marcus pitcher then threw a wild pitch, resulting in the ball hitting Austin in the face.

“I [saw] a fastball come at my face,” Austin said. “I didn’t expect it, and I didn’t move – I was shocked when it hit me. I was furious and wanted to charge [toward the pitcher], but I walked in the opposite direction because I [felt like] didn’t know where I was at the moment.”

After Austin got hit, Farra ran out to check if he was OK. He brought Austin back to the bench in the dugout to get him checked out by athletic trainer Erica Almarez.

“He was adamant to get back into the game,” Farra said. “I had to sit him down and tell him that he’s got a bright future ahead of him and that going back into the game is not something that the [team] needs.”

The game ended with the Hawks losing 4-1. After receiving scans, the doctors informed him that he didn’t have any orbital issues with his eye and the injury was just a fractured nose. Because of his one month hiatus, he planned to focus on his strength in his core and back to avoid further problems later.

“I wanted to get back on the field as soon as possible,” Austin said. “I took it quite personally and was angry, but I wanted to [my anger] as fuel going into the next games and crush the ball. It sucks not being out there with your guys, but I knew I could [still] help out [by] being loud on the bench.”

Austin officially came back to baseball for the game against Braswell April 16. He said he planned on pushing through playoffs to get the team as far as they can. 

“I know that I’m going to hear a lot of outside noise, but I know I need to block it all out, take it pitch-by-pitch and be a team player,” Austin said. [I want to] win the game, and that’s how I’m going to have a different approach to this year than last year.”

Austin has committed to Oral Roberts University for college baseball after being invited to camps since his eighth grade year. He said he hopes incoming freshmen joining baseball know that it’s OK to believe in themselves even after injuries.

“In the game of baseball, you’re going to fail, and you need to learn to adapt to that failure,” Austin said. “When you fail, it leads to success because you learn how to [grow] from that failure. You have to have confidence in yourself [to know] that you’re the guy, and [that] you can hit that game winning run.”