COFFEETOWN HS SPORTS

Nathan Dierker and his grandfather survived a violent car crash in February. Before the calendar turned over to April, Dierker was ready to inflict his own pain on baseballs in the batter’s box.

Only one problem kept the Tempe, Arizona ballplayer from game action:

Doctors told Dierker to cool it, as he still had a couple of broken bones near his spine.

What kind of excuses did you use recently to get out of any given task on your to-do list?

Ah, sorry honey, can’t clean those built-ins, as I have an in-grown toe nail.

Dang, too bad babe, won’t be able to spread the mulch today. Think I ruptured a taste bud.

Ok, maybe your maladies were more serious than that. But did you have a broken back?

Well, guess what. Even if you did, it looks like you still could have at least given it a shot until doctors told you that you shouldn’t move.

That’s just what Arizona high school baseball is all about, as Dierker told Phoenix TV station ABC 15:

“The first couple of weeks were rough. It was surgery. It was being there (in the hospital), it was constant pain for a minute,” Dierker said.

Even with broken back bones, this Arizona high school baseball player showed up to practice

High school baseball practices can be a lot of fun.

Yes, there’s an element of conditioning that isn’t great. Some coaches earn nicknames you’d never call them to their faces.

But if you played Arizona high school baseball or California high school baseball or Tennessee high school baseball, then you know there’s a lot of room for goofing off.

Playing horseshoes with batting donuts.

Wearing your glove on your head.

Throwing dirt in the freshmen players’ eyes and scorpions in their water bottles.

I made that last one up. Just sounds like something people do in Arizona.

It’s just part of the game. You have to find ways to balance the grueling, physical stretches with some light-hearted jokes and pranks.

Still, even laughing can hurt when your back is injured and you were just in the hospital a few weeks ago. Luckily, Dierker turned a corner that motivated his teammates.

“It was good to see him laughing,” Marcos De Niza High School teammate Julien Arroyo said.

“When he first got in (the hospital), he was hurting. He was hurting bad.”

Dierker’s bond with his teammates is stronger than ever after the crash

Dierker will have to finish the rest of his sophomore schooling on the internet.

But I imagine he’ll do whatever he can do contribute to the Padres’ baseball season in person.

“I am going to be there,” Dierker said.

“Hopefully, they’ll let me in the dugout, maybe? I am going to be there for them and support them very soon. I know they miss me and I miss them.”

Here’s the wild part: even with the injury and the lack of playing time, Dierker still shows up and practices with his team.

Probably the scorpions in the freshmen water bottles part that keeps him coming back, I’d guess.

“It’s just been a healing process from there. It’s just therapy. No bending. No twisting. It’s going to be a few months of recovery,” Dierker added.

Some people just love the game.

Even more than the sport, it’s often the bond with teammates that keeps injured players in the middle of the action.

And Dierker is doing whatever he can physically to keep those emotional spirits high, even if he isn’t fully Arizona-diamond back.

When Dierker’s teammates see him getting after it, they know there’s no excuse to loaf or pull up short in drills

“He’s a hard worker,” head coach Matt Courtney said.

“First one there. He’s always working hard and doing what he needs to do. Doing everything to get better and working outside of school.”

“He was never down,” teammate Anthony Pietrangeli said.

“He was always like a very happy person on our bench.”

Hopefully, Dierker can make a full recovery and play with those teammates who he inspires each day.

No matter what his baseball timeline looks like, there’s a reason for this detour from the diamond.

Dierker, his teammates and his coaches will be all the better for it when he does.