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Aimee Kelly was in her comfortable, familiar spot behind home plate at Savannah Christian's Coach Carter Field immersed in one of her favorite pastimes as she was taking photos of the action while her son — Raider senior Harding Dennis — pitched against Price Avenue Christian on Feb. 21.
Then, in the blink of an eye, she was in a state of panic.
She heard the resounding ping of a ball smoked off the aluminum bat of a Prince Avenue batter but never saw the line drive back up the middle as Harding hit the ground after being hit directly in the face.
She watched as coaches, including her husband, SCPS assistant David Kelly, along with teammates, umpires and trainers surrounded her son on the mound as she made her way to the third base home dugout of the Raiders.
"My first thought was that he could have had a TBI (traumatic brain injury), but then I saw he was kicking his feet a bit on the ground," Kelly said. "And then I got to the dugout, but I didn't want to run on the field right away and be 'that' mom. When I got out there, there was blood all over the mound. It was very disheartening to see, and I just went into shock and started to think about what we had to do next."
Remarkably, Dennis was conscious and brought a moment of levity to the dire situation as he said, "I really ate that one didn't I?" before asking if the batter had been thrown out. Dennis had a no-hitter going through three innings of work and had fanned seven batters before he went down in a game SCPS went on to win 3-0.
"When he said that joke, I knew he still had his sense of humor and was coherent," Kelly said. "So that made me feel a little better."
A trip to the emergency room followed, and Kelly said she had trouble finding a parking space — so she dropped Harding at the entrance, and he was able to walk in by himself. They soon found out he had fractured seven bones in his face. The road to recovery started in the hospital that Friday night as Dennis began to process what had happened.
"He hit that ball pretty hard, and I definitely didn't see it off the bat," said Dennis, who signed as a pitcher with Georgia College & State University in November. "I didn't know what happened until I was on the ground and saw the blood. My vision got blurry and my hearing went out for a minute and I felt numb. The best way to describe it is, if you play 'Call of Duty' was that I got hit with a flash bang. I broke seven bones in my face, but only two were displaced, with the others shattered in place. I definitely got lucky with how it turned out; everybody thought it would be a lot worse."
Doctors thought that Dennis would probably miss the rest of his senior season, but the stubborn lefty had other plans. An 'A' student who plans to major in sports medicine at Georgia College & State, Dennis didn't miss a day of school as he was back in the classroom on Monday morning.
"At no point did I think I would be out for the season," Dennis said. "I thought there was no way I was not coming back, even though some of the people around me doubted that."
Savannah Christian coach Matt Oglesby is a baseball lifer who played his high school ball at Jenkins and earned a scholarship to play at Savannah State. He's been leading the SCPS program for six years.
"That was the worst I've ever seen in person," Oglesby said of the sizzling liner that hit Dennis. "The sound the ball made when it hit him in the face was terrifying. We rushed out and were trying to stop the bleeding, and it was such a relief when he joked about it. I was a little surprised when he came back, but he's such a tough kid. He texted me from the hospital that he was good to go to pitch the next Tuesday. He was obviously joking — but that's the kind of attitude he has had throughout all of this."
Aimee Kelly said Harding's determination has been inspiring.
"When we got home that night, David and I cried because we thought his season was over, and he had worked so hard for his senior year, and we were hurting for him," said Aimee, a seventh-grade English teacher at SCPS. "But he was back in school Monday morning. I wanted him to stay home, but he didn't want to get behind."
When Dennis convinced his family that he was coming back to play, his mom gave the OK as long as he wore protection.
"I told him he had to have a cage in front of his face, and that was non-negotiable," Aimee Kelly said. "Now he's wearing a softball helmet to bat and a softball mask when he's pitching and playing first base."
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Dennis said steak is his favorite food — but it was off the menu for a few weeks after the incident. He was limited to soups, apple sauce and protein shakes as he dropped down to 165 pounds.
He returned to the Raider lineup as a designated hitter on March 4 and had an immediate impact in a 13-12 setback against visiting Lovett. Dennis went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs in the loss. His two-run homer put the Raiders up 12-11 in the sixth inning. He came back to pitch and play defense a month to the date after the incident and earned the win in an 8-2 victory at Vidalia.
Through Saturday, Dennis is hitting .455 with an OPS of 1.247. He has five doubles, two homers, 26 RBIs and 19 runs scored with 10 stolen bases. He has a 5-2 record on the mound for the Raiders, who are 14-12 on the season and 6-3 in Region 3A Division I play with the Private School playoffs set to start on April 25th.
"I wasn't too afraid when I came back because I had that softball helmet on and I thought I wasn't going to get hit again," Dennis said. "I didn't want that to get into my head too much. I needed to play — and whatever happens, happens. It's a lot bigger than me and my injury. At this point it's about helping our team."
David Kelly is a coaching veteran who has been at Savannah Christian for six years, and he feels blessed that he's able to work with his stepson, Harding and his son, Dawson Kelly, who has signed with Gordon State College, in their final season of high school ball. He's seen his share of line drives that have hit pitchers, but this one was different.
"I've seen guys take shots to the body, but never one to the face like that," Kelly said. "And the fact that it's your stepson — I was worried. I think it's brought a little more humbleness to Harding, but he's always had that piss and vinegar in him, and he showed it by coming back so fast and having that day at the plate against Lovett. Then when he came back to pitch, he set the tone with eight strikeouts against Vidalia. As parents, that settled our nerves, and it's been fun to watch him grow into a team leader."
Aimee Kelly said she has always been proud of what her adopted son has done on and off the field, but this experience brings a new perspective to her as a parent.
"When he hit the home run in that first game back, it was a feeling of satisfaction," she said, "and I had to admit that he was right, and I was wrong. This is something that we weren't expecting to happen in his senior year — but he dealt with the adversity and took it head on. We're very proud of him."
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at [email protected]. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Christian's Harding Dennis shows heart with baseball comeback
Continue reading...
Then, in the blink of an eye, she was in a state of panic.
She heard the resounding ping of a ball smoked off the aluminum bat of a Prince Avenue batter but never saw the line drive back up the middle as Harding hit the ground after being hit directly in the face.
She watched as coaches, including her husband, SCPS assistant David Kelly, along with teammates, umpires and trainers surrounded her son on the mound as she made her way to the third base home dugout of the Raiders.
"My first thought was that he could have had a TBI (traumatic brain injury), but then I saw he was kicking his feet a bit on the ground," Kelly said. "And then I got to the dugout, but I didn't want to run on the field right away and be 'that' mom. When I got out there, there was blood all over the mound. It was very disheartening to see, and I just went into shock and started to think about what we had to do next."
Remarkably, Dennis was conscious and brought a moment of levity to the dire situation as he said, "I really ate that one didn't I?" before asking if the batter had been thrown out. Dennis had a no-hitter going through three innings of work and had fanned seven batters before he went down in a game SCPS went on to win 3-0.
"When he said that joke, I knew he still had his sense of humor and was coherent," Kelly said. "So that made me feel a little better."
A trip to the emergency room followed, and Kelly said she had trouble finding a parking space — so she dropped Harding at the entrance, and he was able to walk in by himself. They soon found out he had fractured seven bones in his face. The road to recovery started in the hospital that Friday night as Dennis began to process what had happened.
"He hit that ball pretty hard, and I definitely didn't see it off the bat," said Dennis, who signed as a pitcher with Georgia College & State University in November. "I didn't know what happened until I was on the ground and saw the blood. My vision got blurry and my hearing went out for a minute and I felt numb. The best way to describe it is, if you play 'Call of Duty' was that I got hit with a flash bang. I broke seven bones in my face, but only two were displaced, with the others shattered in place. I definitely got lucky with how it turned out; everybody thought it would be a lot worse."
Doctors thought that Dennis would probably miss the rest of his senior season, but the stubborn lefty had other plans. An 'A' student who plans to major in sports medicine at Georgia College & State, Dennis didn't miss a day of school as he was back in the classroom on Monday morning.
"At no point did I think I would be out for the season," Dennis said. "I thought there was no way I was not coming back, even though some of the people around me doubted that."
Savannah Christian coach Matt Oglesby is a baseball lifer who played his high school ball at Jenkins and earned a scholarship to play at Savannah State. He's been leading the SCPS program for six years.
"That was the worst I've ever seen in person," Oglesby said of the sizzling liner that hit Dennis. "The sound the ball made when it hit him in the face was terrifying. We rushed out and were trying to stop the bleeding, and it was such a relief when he joked about it. I was a little surprised when he came back, but he's such a tough kid. He texted me from the hospital that he was good to go to pitch the next Tuesday. He was obviously joking — but that's the kind of attitude he has had throughout all of this."
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Aimee Kelly said Harding's determination has been inspiring.
"When we got home that night, David and I cried because we thought his season was over, and he had worked so hard for his senior year, and we were hurting for him," said Aimee, a seventh-grade English teacher at SCPS. "But he was back in school Monday morning. I wanted him to stay home, but he didn't want to get behind."
When Dennis convinced his family that he was coming back to play, his mom gave the OK as long as he wore protection.
"I told him he had to have a cage in front of his face, and that was non-negotiable," Aimee Kelly said. "Now he's wearing a softball helmet to bat and a softball mask when he's pitching and playing first base."
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Dennis said steak is his favorite food — but it was off the menu for a few weeks after the incident. He was limited to soups, apple sauce and protein shakes as he dropped down to 165 pounds.
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He returned to the Raider lineup as a designated hitter on March 4 and had an immediate impact in a 13-12 setback against visiting Lovett. Dennis went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs in the loss. His two-run homer put the Raiders up 12-11 in the sixth inning. He came back to pitch and play defense a month to the date after the incident and earned the win in an 8-2 victory at Vidalia.
Through Saturday, Dennis is hitting .455 with an OPS of 1.247. He has five doubles, two homers, 26 RBIs and 19 runs scored with 10 stolen bases. He has a 5-2 record on the mound for the Raiders, who are 14-12 on the season and 6-3 in Region 3A Division I play with the Private School playoffs set to start on April 25th.
"I wasn't too afraid when I came back because I had that softball helmet on and I thought I wasn't going to get hit again," Dennis said. "I didn't want that to get into my head too much. I needed to play — and whatever happens, happens. It's a lot bigger than me and my injury. At this point it's about helping our team."
David Kelly is a coaching veteran who has been at Savannah Christian for six years, and he feels blessed that he's able to work with his stepson, Harding and his son, Dawson Kelly, who has signed with Gordon State College, in their final season of high school ball. He's seen his share of line drives that have hit pitchers, but this one was different.
"I've seen guys take shots to the body, but never one to the face like that," Kelly said. "And the fact that it's your stepson — I was worried. I think it's brought a little more humbleness to Harding, but he's always had that piss and vinegar in him, and he showed it by coming back so fast and having that day at the plate against Lovett. Then when he came back to pitch, he set the tone with eight strikeouts against Vidalia. As parents, that settled our nerves, and it's been fun to watch him grow into a team leader."
You must be registered for see images attach
Aimee Kelly said she has always been proud of what her adopted son has done on and off the field, but this experience brings a new perspective to her as a parent.
"When he hit the home run in that first game back, it was a feeling of satisfaction," she said, "and I had to admit that he was right, and I was wrong. This is something that we weren't expecting to happen in his senior year — but he dealt with the adversity and took it head on. We're very proud of him."
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at [email protected]. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Christian's Harding Dennis shows heart with baseball comeback
Continue reading...
