Return to the roster

Chris beat the infection, finishing his last round of chemo in December 2019. Although he would still need follow up appointments for a few years, he was in remission. More importantly, he could finally get back to baseball.

“I was still really sick from the infection at the time, so I didn’t really feel much of it, but I knew I was happy,” Chris said.

Chris returned to the pitcher’s mound on Christmas with new cleats he got that morning. But the treatment left him weak and caused pain in his joints.

“It kind of discouraged me at first realizing how bad I was when I came back,” Chris said.

But he refused to give up. Chris knew that if he trusted himself as a player and kept working, he would get stronger. He worked out with his dad and started going to school practices again, even traveling with the team to California for a tournament in February. His first game back was in June.

When getting back into baseball, Chris took charge. He contacted coaches and scheduled tryouts on his own. Jennifer said that it has been amazing to take a step back and watch her son take initiative.

“I was surprised at how fast he could do it and how determined he was,” Jennifer said. “He came back with a lot more determination. A lot of drive and fire in him that we hadn’t seen prior to this.”

Chris officially joined the school’s team as a freshman at the start of this school year. When he is playing baseball now, Chris stands on the pitcher’s mound, not in the hospital hallway. He won’t have to stop playing to go to therapy or take more medication. He now wears a Marauder baseball uniform and his hair is grown out into the team’s signature mullet.

As a coach, Sherman said he was impressed with Chris’ work ethic. Chris said he is excited to start the college recruitment process soon to continue his baseball career.

“It would definitely be motivating,” Chris said. “Amazing. Just kind of unreal to realize I’m still actually playing.”

Although his diagnosis and treatment were difficult, Chris said he wouldn’t change what happened, because realizing that his family could have lost him helped Chris find a new appreciation for his parents and brother.

“I’m lucky to have them now because I could have gone away that easily,” Chris said.

Before games, Chris sometimes looks at photos from his battle with cancer and reminds himself of the times during treatment where he could only imagine playing like he is today. He reminds himself that he finally made it back to the baseball field.

“It feels better to play it now, realizing I could have lost it,” Chris said.