By COOPER STANLEY, Student Writer
A routine play, a pop; and a dead silent team were all it took for star catcher Logan Porters season to end before it began.
I didnt think it was torn, Porter said, referring to a ligament in his knee. As I laid on the field after I heard the pop I expected pain, but it really didnt hurt that much.
Porter, a junior catcher for the Northwestern Oklahoma State baseball team, was a captain, a leader, and an offensive and defensive weapon for the Ranger baseball team; arguably the most important player for the Rangers. He was lost to a knee injury one week before the season opener.
The catcher is the quarterback of baseball. The catcher controls the game, calls what pitches a pitcher should throw, is involved in every play of the game and usually is a natural leader of almost every team.
Christian Hammerl is a senior second basemen who played with Porter for two years. Its tough when you lose not only one of your best players, but your catcher at that, he said, Our whole team just held their breath when he went down. We all just hoped he would be okay.
But Porter wasnt okay, and the worry of players, coaches and fans of the Ranger baseball team would be confirmed when the catcher was diagnosed with a torn ACL just days after the injury.
The worst part was I thought it was just my hamstring, Porter said. I laid there and thought okay, four to six weeks and Ill be back on the field playing. Little did Porter know at the time, the road to recovery would be anywhere from six months to a yearlong recovery process.
Porter said: I wouldnt wish this injury on my worst enemy. The first two weeks after my surgery was some of the worst pain I have ever experienced, just trying to bend my knee slightly was excruciating. I could barely sit down. Sleeping was uncomfortable. I couldnt shower. It was brutal.
For Porter, getting over the first two weeks was the worst part. Once he regained a bit of strength back, the recovery and rehab process became easier. He was able to push himself and began to see results.
Porters athletic trainer who worked with him through most of his rehab, John Frazee said, Porter is one of the most determined athletes I have worked with. Hes worked hard since day one of his surgery.
Working day in and day out in the athletic training room, Porter hopes to be back on the baseball diamond throwing and swinging the bat after just three months.
Porter doesnt fear tearing his ACL again. The 20- year-old from Surprise, Arizona cant wait to get behind the pitch again and catch and just play baseball. Porter explained that if he feared getting injured again he wouldnt be the same player he was, wouldnt be as dominate and as beneficial to his team.
Porter draws inspiration from other athletes who have come back from ACL injuries just as good if not better than before. Porter said Marcus Stroman and Adrian Peterson are perfect examples of being able to come back off an ACL tear and still be dominate. And Porter is right when speaking of those two in particular. Stroman came back to professional baseball just five months after tearing his ACL in a MLB spring training practice, and Minnesota Vikings running back Peterson came back to the NFL in just six months.
I was mad at first, Porter said. I was pissed that this happened to me, especially so close to the season, but I realized that this may be a blessing in disguise. This injury gave me a chance to mature as a person and to appreciate the game of baseball a whole lot more.
The year off from baseball gave Porter more time to think about his life and the situation he was in. He didnt know it when it first happened, but his ACL injury would lead to him making a big decision to leave Northwestern after spring semesters end and move closer to home.
The injury made Porter view things differently; he wanted to be closer to family. It was something that through his rehab process he wished he could have had.
Without the injury, Porter would be just finishing up his junior year on the field, probably helping the Rangers get a couple more wins, and probably accumulating some noteworthy statistics, and almost for certain be coming back to Northwestern next year.
But Porter did tear his ACL on that cool February day in Alva, and things did change. Porter refuses to let his story end with an injury.
For now he doesnt exactly know where he will be playing baseball next year, but he knows it will be close to home, closer to Arizona than Oklahoma is.
What he does know is he will be playing and the next time Logan Porter hears a pop on the baseball field, it will be the ball coming off his bat and disappearing into the night sky.