Spring Fling 2018: Siegel baseball rallies around injured teammate

Matt McCurry felt the pain shoot up from his leg immediately, forbidding him from putting any weight on his left foot.

In the Siegel dugout, McCurry’s teammates knew something was wrong.

“He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever met in my life,” senior pitcher John Langworthy said. “I knew when he came up limp like that, I knew it was something serious.”

It was: broken fibula, torn ligaments and surgery potentially on the horizon. But even all of that did not account for the brunt of the devastation.

McCurry’s high school baseball career was over. 

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“It was tough,” the senior center fielder said.

Not just on McCurry. The impact of his hard slide into second base in the third inning of Siegel’s game against Rossview in the Class AAA state tournament on Tuesday night was felt in the dugout, too.

“It became more than baseball right there,” Langworthy said. “It became, that’s my friend. That’s a guy I love, who I’ve been playing with since sixth grade.

"I know that we’ve got a guy that can fill his spot in the lineup. That’s not what I’m worried about at that point. I’m worried about taking care of my friend and making sure he’s OK.”

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McCurry will head to the doctor Thursday to find out if his injury requires surgery.

“Your heart breaks,” Siegel coach Craig Reavis said. “And the thing about Matt is he got hurt busting his tail trying to get a run home. Made a hard slide trying to beat a throw. That’s how he’s played his career.”

That could have been the end of it. After such a freak injury about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, “it’d be easy for him to pack it in and not show up (Wednesday) morning” for Siegel’s 10 a.m. game, Reavis said.

But it was going to take a lot more than a busted leg to stop McCurry from doing so.

“I had to come out and support the guys,” said McCurry, who showed up to Wednesday’s game on crutches, with his left leg in a cast and wearing his No. 27 jersey. “See them make a run at it.”

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It was a bit surprising, Langworthy admitted.

“Honestly,” he said, “I don’t think many of us expected him to be here. But when we saw him, it put a lot of smiles on a lot of faces.”

Reavis saw it, too.

“I think when our guys saw him and his mood and attitude today, it probably did help some,” Reavis said. "He’s been a part of a lot of wins here, and he’s done a lot of great things for us. So yeah, seeing him in there smiling and being himself, it was heartwarming.”

Siegel rallied accordingly. On the brink of elimination, the Stars defeated Science Hill 4-2 on Wednesday to keep their season alive.

“I’m proud of them,” McCurry said, "and I’m just glad to be here now to root on the guys.”