Blue Jay’s Baseball Team Loses Ace Pitcher

Huesgen throws a pitch in a win against Iowa Wesleyan during the 2017 season. PHOTO COURTESY OF JOYCE LONG.

BY ANDREW BENNETT
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

The Blue Jay’s baseball team will be without Sophomore pitcher Sam Huesgen for the entirety of the 2018 season after he suffered a torn light labrum. Last year, Huesgen finished second on the team with seven wins. He led all starting pitchers in earned run average with a 2.57. He earned the award of SLIAC newcomer of the year and was a Second-Team All-Conference player.

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Last year, Huesgen was required to pitch a lot of innings because of the success he was having. When he was pitching, the Blue Jays were almost always winning.

Huesgen said: “Coach trusted me to throw late into games and throw a lot of pitches. He would check up on how my arm was feeling, and it felt fine almost the whole season.”

He said he only felt a little bit of pain towards the end of the season, but it was not enough to stop him from pitching.

“Coach trusted me to throw late into games and throw a lot of pitches. He would check up on how my arm was feeling, and it felt fine almost the whole season.” –Sam Huesgen

After the season, Huesgen took three months off to rest his arm. When he began to throw in the fall, he could feel the pain in his arm getting worse. He took it easy over the winter and then decided to go to the doctor in early February. It was then that he learned about his torn labrum, and that he was going to miss the 2018 season.

Huesgen said: “When I heard the news, I couldn’t believe it. More than anything, I was angry that I wasn’t going to be able to help my team out.”

Huesgen’s impact will be missed on the field. Senior captain and three-year starting second basemen Blake Strebler said: “It’s a huge loss for us. More than anything, I feel bad for Sam because of what he has to go through.”

“I don’t have a doubt that we will still be successful this year, I just wish I could play a bigger role on the team,” [Heusgen] said.

Although Huesgen was an integral part of the team, the Blue Jays are still set for another successful year. They have made it to the conference championship three years in a row. New faces will have to fill the void of losing Huesgen, but Strebler returns after making the All-Region team last year. Junior pitcher Alex Dickneite also made Third-Team All-Conference.

Huesgen said he still feels confident in his team. “I don’t have a doubt that we will still be successful this year, I just wish I could play a bigger role on the team,” he said, “I wish I could be making more contributions than just playing the walk-up music from the booth.”