Marysville High School’s Jacob Wright rips a base hit in this file photo. After missing all of the 2017 football season with a knee injury, Wright will play his senior season of baseball this spring.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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It can be very difficult for a high school senior to miss a sports season due to an injury.
Marysville High School’s Jacob Wright knows that feeling.
Wright suffered a season-ending knee injury during the first football scrimmage of the 2017 preseason against Hilliard Bradley.
He torn his ACL, MCL and meniscus and had to undergo surgery.
Wright had to watch MHS football from the sidelines, all the while undergoing the operation and physical therapy.
The entire process has been deemed a success as he has been cleared to play baseball this spring.
It was a long recovery period, at least in the beginning.
“I had surgery four weeks after the injury,” said Wright. “The surgeon waited until some swelling went down and I regained full range of motion.”
His physical therapy sessions were also delayed.
“I became ill because of the antibotics they prescribed to keep infection away,” said Wright. “That put me three weeks behind with my physical therapy.”
The process slowed so much that doctors originally told Wright that he’d be lucky to get back to action for the last half of the 2018 baseball season.
He wasn’t having any of that.
Wright put his mind to it and finished his rehab work in two months.
“I did a lot of vertical jumping and treadmill work during my therapy,” said Wright. “I think my fast recovery time surprised my doctor and the physical therapist.
“They told me they had never seen this quick of a recovery,” he said. “They’re pretty happy.”
The Monarchs recently played their first preseason scrimmage against Vandalia-Butler.
Wright admitted he was a bit nervous going into live action.
“I was a little worried at the plate because it’s my pivot (right) knee,” he said. “However, I went two-for-three with a double and it felt fine.
“I also had to stretch for a throw,” said the Monarch first baseman, who hit .370 in 2017. “I had to move off the bag for it, but it felt pretty good and I’m ready for the season.”