TOWAMENCIN – Mason Nadeau stood crouched with his hands on his knees. The Knights were home against CB West, and the sophomore outfielder had just singled to get on to first base. Late in the game, it was a day in which the Knights were fighting for a comeback, down 7-5 to the Bucks after scoring all of their runs in the first three innings. Mason Nadeau was trying to help his team comeback, the young but talented player determined to make a play. Anyone who talks to Nadeau can sense his determination in every word he speaks.

Looking up, he got the signal to steal from his coach. As the pitcher made his move, Nadeau took off. But the Bucks had him trapped.

“I was going to steal, but got caught in a rundown. I dove back to first base, and my shoulder went right into the first baseman’s shin,” said Nadeau.

Nadeau laid there on the ground, unmoving. He did not know at that point what the doctors would say, he did not know that his season was over, and he did not know that he was in pain. All he knew was that something was wrong.

“I remember I tried to get up and just couldn’t move my arm. I just kind of laid there, I got helped up and my shoulder just kind of felt weird,” said Nadeau. “Once I finally got up to my feet, my arm was just kind of hanging, and I thought ‘alright, something’s not right.’”

Nadeau, after being helped off the diamond, had to leave the game. While the Knights scored three runs in the seventh inning to pull out the win against the Bucks, Nadeau was on his way to the emergency room, where he would spend hours getting x-rays to take a closer look at his arm. Despite receiving medication for the pain, the pain was unbearable, and the wait excruciating.

“Going to the emergency room,  that was probably the worst pain I have ever been in. The car ride there was all bumpy, and it was just awful,” said Nadeau. “I think it was actually two or three hours before they popped it back in. When I got there they had to do x-rays to make sure I didn’t break anything, so they shot me up with some morphine, but it didn’t help much.”

The doctors came back with a diagnosis, telling Nadeau he had dislocated his right shoulder. After they popped it back in and gave him a sling, Nadeau left the hospital. As he walked out the door, his path to recovery began.

After receiving surgery on the last day of school, Nadeau started to rehab his shoulder, a process that would span from the middle of July to October. Shoulder rehab consists of a gradual process of strengthening the muscles around the joint, stabilize the socket, and restore the shoulder’s full range of motion. Nadeau, however, faced his injury head on with the same determination that he plays with on the field, even when doubt crept into his mind.

“I got kind of worried sometimes, because some nights I’d sleep wrong and my shoulder would hurt,” said Nadeau. “Working out, I was a little cautious getting back into it, but that quickly left my mind and I just started working as hard as I could.”

Shoulder injuries are physically painful, but they can be utterly terrifying for a baseball player. With the amount of pressure put on the shoulder when throwing, a baseball player needs that joint to move seamlessly and strongly to perform at his best in the field. This was not lost on Nadeau, who admitted to being unnerved sometimes by the thought.

“Throwing was definitely the hardest part, because I’ve heard stories about guys throwing and their arms just popping out, so that was kind of in the back of my mind,” said Nadeau. “There’s still a bit of a mental block with that, because my arm is one-hundred percent now, but the throwing is just all mental at this point. Sometimes I was afraid to cut it loose, but as of now I’m doing that no problem.”

The recovery process was hard, but for Nadeau, being away from his team and the game he loves was harder. Like all little kids, Nadeau tried other sports, playing soccer for a few years and trying football, which he described with a laugh as “not a good experience.” Baseball, though, has always been his sport, the one he loves the most, where he can take the field and be locked in on one goal.

“I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember. It’s pretty much the only sport I’ve played my entire life,” said Nadeau. “It’s just something different when I’m out on the field. It’s kind of indescribable. I get lost in a different world, and that’s what has always kept me coming back to it.”

That feeling and his love for the game motivated Nadeau throughout his recovery. He kept himself away from baseball while he was recovering, knowing he would find it too hard to stay focused on his rehab if he got caught up in the games he was missing. But despite losing an entire season, Nadeau was determined to return an even better player than he was before.

“I kept my eyes focused on the end product and stuck to all the rehab I had to do, because I had the goal to just be back better than before,” said Nadeau. “But, while I was in the sling and everything, I didn’t want to be anywhere near baseball, because it was just kind of hard. I went to some games, but I just tried to stay away from it. Then, once I was able to move it more and do some stuff, I gradually started to work my way back into it.”

Now that his shoulder is fully recovered, Nadeau is having a nice season for the Knights. The starting centerfielder holds the third highest batting average on the team at .360, is second on the team with 4 steals, and has scored a team leading 8 runs for the Knights. More importantly, Nadeau has started every game so far this season, proving himself a key piece of the Knights lineup. To Nadeau, it just feels like he’s where he belongs.

“The first game we were supposed to have, I didn’t sleep at all that night. I was beyond excited. It ended up getting rained out, so I was pretty bummed out,” said Nadeau with a grin. “But then when we played our first game, I just had the biggest smile on my face the whole time, because I was finally back after eleven months.”

The Knights are on a tear of late, surging to an 8-1 record, 6-1 in their conference. When asked about how the season is going, Nadeau was quick to point out how balanced play and team success have been the key to the Knights’ success.

“As a team, I think we have been playing really well. We’ve especially had great pitching from guys like James Witner, Paul Haynie, Kellen Williamson, Colin Healey; they’ve just been shutting teams out,” said Nadeau. “As an offense, we’ve been scoring runs and getting the job done, making all the plays. But I feel, that as an offense, we have the ability to score a lot more runs. We’re just getting warmed up. We’ve had a good season, we’re 8-1 right now, but I think we have the ability to just blow teams out of the water once we start firing on all cylinders.”

Reluctant to talk about himself, Nadeau feels he has had a pedestrian season so far. He is quick to point out the improvements he feels he must make in regards to his own play.

“Myself, I’ve had an okay season. I’ve made a couple of mistakes, and my bat’s definitely not where I want it to be, so I’m hoping to get that sorted out and start driving the ball to all fields.”

Nadeau sees himself as an energizer, a player who can come in and make a big play to get his teammates excited and fired up. Starting the season as the leadoff hitter, Nadeau has since switched to second in the order to give the team a different look and few more options on offense. But Nadeau still recognizes the importance of starting the game strong, describing himself with one word.

“Sparkplug,” says Nadeau with certainty. “That’s my goal, to try to be a sparkplug player. I like to bring in energy that generates for the whole team and just kind of get things going. Or if someone else does it, I’ll just try to continue the good vibes.”

Despite his individual triumph and success this year on the diamond, Nadeau is focused solely on helping his team win anyway he can. While it has been a goal of his to play college baseball since he was little, his injury put those thoughts on hold. He does not know yet where the game will take him, but he knows how he will get there. Whether he has to be a vocal leader, a leader by example, or a role player, Nadeau just wants to work hard and play the game he loves with the same determination that saw him through his recovery.

“My goal is to just play the game right, be a leader on and off the field, and play my role the best I can.”