By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
CENTRE – This year, Easter Sunday is on April 20, just a little over two weeks away. It’s the celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection.
Over the past year, the Cherokee County Warriors baseball team has witnessed the resurrection of one of their teammates from a serious car accident from almost a year ago in senior pitcher Ben Elsberry.
Doctors didn’t give Elsberry much of a chance to survive. Even if he did, he was likely looking at brain damage sustained from his injuries.
But in the days, weeks and months since his recovery, Elsberry has persevered. On Wednesday morning, his miraculous story added its latest chapter. He signed a baseball scholarship with Southeastern Baptist College in Laurel, Miss.
“It’s been a challenge, ups and downs, highs and lows,” Elsberry said. “I believe He kept me here for a reason. I hadn’t accomplished my purpose in life. I’m going to college to play baseball, and I’m not saying baseball is my calling, but I believe He put me on the Earth to use the game of baseball to help keep people motivated, make them a better person, a better man, a better husband, a better father.”
Warrior first-year head coach Josh Decker said Elsberry is “the purest example of what hard work, determination, and perseverance can do for you.”
“You couldn’t write it out any better in a movie,” Decker said. “It was kind of like a fevered dream when it (Elsberry’s accident) happened. We really didn’t know what he’d look like coming back.
“We were at workouts one day last summer, and he walked in the weight room and said ‘I got cleared to lift.’ I was like ‘Whoa. Okay. Hang on a second. Let me call your dad (Eddy Elsberry) and make sure.’ I called Eddy and he was like ‘Yeah, he’s good to go.’”
Decker said from that day forward, Elsberry “hit the ground running.”
“He’s been off throwing with Coach (Ethan) Johnson, staying in the weight room with Coach (Jacob) Kelley. He lost a good bit of weight. He came back when we started throwing in late August, and Coach Johnson was like ‘He really hasn’t lost that much velocity-wise.’ We knew the mental side of it wasn’t an issue. It was physically what it would look like.”
Decker’s fears subsided when he watched Elsberry throw for himself.
“It was coming out of his hand just like he never left,” Decker said. “I can remember thinking ‘I wonder what this is going to look like when we’re rolling into December?’ We’re rolling into December and he’s already put on 30 pounds. He was like ‘Hey Coach, I’m good to go.’ That just happened in the blink of an eye. It’s nothing shy of a miracle. You can look at his numbers. You can look at his production and what he’s done. He hasn’t lost anything. That’s the most incredible part about it. It’s an incredible bounce back story.”
In 38 1/3 innings this season, Elsberry has given up 16 earned runs on 34 hits with 12 walks and 40 strikeouts with a 2.92 ERA. He was given the baseball by Decker on Tuesday to begin a crucial area series with White Plains, an 11-3 Warrior win.
Elsberry got stronger as the game wore on. He gave up a run in the top of the first inning and two more in the third, but threw four consecutive scoreless innings to close it out. He allowed just three runs on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts in seven innings.
“Once I realized I was OK and I was going to be able to play baseball again, it was like ‘How bad do you want it?’” Elsberry said. “I could’ve just folded in the moment and gave up, but I knew there was a reason to keep going. I knew if I kept going I was going to get somewhere. God provided me with this opportunity, and I’m grateful for it every day.”
Decker and the Warriors are grateful as well.
“Having that guy who comes in, a strong pitcher, throws game one of an area series, he’s accepted that role of ‘Hey I’m going to throw and I’m going to be the best teammate possible,’” Decker said. “I couldn’t ask for a better kid to coach and a better kid to model what we’re trying to do. Hat’s off to him. He’s tough. He’s gritty. He’s a bulldog.”
Elsberry thanks his family, coaches and teammates for their support on his road to recovery.
“When I have people who are pushing me, not just to get back where I was but to be better, that’s really big,” Elsberry said. “The guys have supported me through everything. It’s not just one or two people, it’s everybody. They’ve all really helped me. Credit goes to them, my parents, my family. They’ve all made sacrifices even before (the accident), everything from playing travel ball on the weekends to now. In the end, it’s paid off and I’m very grateful.”
