SUBMITTED PHOTO - Tory Nelson (left) catches for the Hat High Mohawks baseball team during their trip to Hawaii in late February. Nelson committed to play at Bismarck State College in North Dakota.
With no spring season to play in, Tory Nelson’s already excited for the fall.
On Friday the Hat High athlete signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Bismarck State College in North Dakota, even though the local season’s been cancelled due to the global pandemic.
He’s definitely looking at things with a glass-is-half-full attitude.
“It is nice not having that heartbreaking last game coming soon,” he joked. “It’s exciting. I was a multi-sport athlete, played volleyball, and it sucks knowing it was my last volleyball game.
“But it’s nice to know I’m able to play more, play at the next level. Hopefully I can take it as far as I can.”
The catcher and infielder for the Mohawks did get a few baseball games in before COVID-related restrictions were put in place. The team went to Hawaii from Feb. 26 to March 2.
Even then, things were starting to get a little stressful with regards to the evolving worldwide crisis.
“We were pretty nervous,” said Mohawks coach Lyall Foran. “There were some directives provided by the school district, if it got any worse we could have seen the trip shut down.
“We were really fortunate to have that experience, take the kids down there and get some pre-season games in which ended up being our only season games.”
Foran described Nelson as a fantastic leader, and one he hopes will see others follow in his footsteps. Nelson, who will work towards a career in physical therapy, had numerous options for where to go play post-secondary ball.
“He’s one of those types of players that leads by example,” said Foran. “He’s very self-motivated, always a guy that wants to try to improve. He understands the amount of work that’s necessary to get to that next level.
“He was really just a joy to coach.”
His new coach seemed optimistic about what Nelson can do, noting his high school batting average was above .400 each of the past two years.
“Tory has a good chance to come in and win an infield spot if he continues to progress,” said Bismarck’s Michael Keeran in a press release. “He was the captain of his high school volleyball team too, so we know he has great leadership as well, which is extremely important.”
Right now however, all Nelson can do is keep working out on his own, play catch and hit off a tee. The Moose Monarchs season is in serious jeopardy of being cancelled due to COVID, so his next game may well be for the Mystics.
“Right now it’s like a lot of things, just up in the air,” he said, noting he’ll be one of three Canadians on the team. “I still try to improve when there isn’t much you can do about.”
Foran says he wants to figure a way to get some games set up for the fall, regardless of what happens this summer. The lost opportunities this spring will be tough to get back, but it’s worth a try.
