Shorecrest Prep's Rasmussen Overcomes Severe Concussion to Deliver Big Hit - Brent Rasmussen had missed 24 days of games and practices due to complications from a concussion. In his first game back, he delivers a decisive blow in a Chargers win.
When Brent Rasmussen's three-run home run gave Shorecrest Prep a 5-3 lead in what turned out to be a 7-3 Chargers win, it capped a month that included a swing of emotions for the Shorecrest shortstop in which at one time he wasn't sure he would play again this season.
On March 19 playing at Kissimmee Osceola, after the Chargers had batted, the team took the field for the bottom of a frame when a ball thrown by catch Spencer Heath to second after a few warm-up pitches hit the lip of the infield, bounced straight up and caught Rasmussen square in the face.The ball, despite ricocheting off the infield for a weird bounce, caught Rasmussen all too perfectly, half hitting him in the base of the nose, half hitting him in the forehead.
The force of the ball knocked Rasmussen out cold for at least two minutes Rasmussen said. He was sent to an Orlando-area hospital where after five hours of examination was sent home, diagnosed with a concussion.
Doctors advised Rasmussen to sit out the rest of the month of March. But the time away from the field grew longer. "I was supposed to be off the field for two weeks at first," Rasmussen said. "Then I had some symptoms. "Rasmussen tried light practicing but began having headaches and nausea. Doctors advised him to sit out two more weeks.
His medical sentence expired, Rasmussen again began practicing to start last week. No setbacks, so he was cleared by doctors to begin playing and none too soon. With the Chargers trailing 3-2 in the fourth inning, Rasmussen belted a three-run home run that turned out to be the game-winning hit in a 7-3 Shorecrest win.
Rehabilitation complete.
No one was happier than Rasmussen.
"I thought that maybe [the injury and time off] would set me back since I was not practicing," Rasmussen said. "But once I came out to my first practice, I felt pretty good. "I knew I wasn't 100 percent but I knew I could play."
Shorecrest coach Don Reed couldn't have been prouder if it was his own son who overcame the time off to hit such a clutch shot. Rasmussen "just had two days of practice and he played phenomenally."
On March 19 playing at Kissimmee Osceola, after the Chargers had batted, the team took the field for the bottom of a frame when a ball thrown by catch Spencer Heath to second after a few warm-up pitches hit the lip of the infield, bounced straight up and caught Rasmussen square in the face.The ball, despite ricocheting off the infield for a weird bounce, caught Rasmussen all too perfectly, half hitting him in the base of the nose, half hitting him in the forehead.
The force of the ball knocked Rasmussen out cold for at least two minutes Rasmussen said. He was sent to an Orlando-area hospital where after five hours of examination was sent home, diagnosed with a concussion.
Doctors advised Rasmussen to sit out the rest of the month of March. But the time away from the field grew longer. "I was supposed to be off the field for two weeks at first," Rasmussen said. "Then I had some symptoms. "Rasmussen tried light practicing but began having headaches and nausea. Doctors advised him to sit out two more weeks.
His medical sentence expired, Rasmussen again began practicing to start last week. No setbacks, so he was cleared by doctors to begin playing and none too soon. With the Chargers trailing 3-2 in the fourth inning, Rasmussen belted a three-run home run that turned out to be the game-winning hit in a 7-3 Shorecrest win.
Rehabilitation complete.
No one was happier than Rasmussen.
"I thought that maybe [the injury and time off] would set me back since I was not practicing," Rasmussen said. "But once I came out to my first practice, I felt pretty good. "I knew I wasn't 100 percent but I knew I could play."
Shorecrest coach Don Reed couldn't have been prouder if it was his own son who overcame the time off to hit such a clutch shot. Rasmussen "just had two days of practice and he played phenomenally."
