Damian Henderson - Cal State Bakersfield Baseball
“My story has come with great struggle, as this game has not come easy to me. I was born and raised in North Carolina with big dreams to play at the highest level one day! I first picked up the game when I was 2 and from an early age became mainly a pitcher. I worked out at a place called Kzone Academy for 8 years tirelessly working to try and become as good as everyone else, all I wanted to do was compete.”
“After years of hard work, multiple elbow injuries, and coaches telling me I wasn’t good enough, I decided I was going to try hitting at the Junior College level. During my Freshman year at Salt Lake Community college in Utah, the only JC who’d given me a chance as a hitter, I was able to grow under as a player. That year I was a contender for player of the conference, with a few more professional looks and D1 offers than in high school.”
“Still feeling far away from my dream, I chose to go D1 for me sophomore year to a place that I knew would help me get one step closer to the ultimate goal. That school was California State University Bakersfield. An NC boy playing California Ball, who woulda known. That year I struggled. With a low batting average, lots of strikeouts, and not many homers, Bakersfield did not give up on me. They sent me to a summer ball team after the season, named the Humboldt Crabs, where I finally figured a few things out in my approach and swing.”
“That summer I broke their single season homerun record, and led in almost all batting categories. This gave me a lot of momentum into the pivotal junior season at CSUB. After the first three series, I had already tied my previous year in home runs and was batting in the upper three hundred. The tireless hard work for years to achieve my dream was coming to light.”
“Then...an uncontrollable, unprecedented event ended the season. Despite feeling frustrated and distraught, like all progress was thrown away like wrapping paper on Christmas, I’ve kept moving forward. I’m grateful for loved ones, teammates and coaches who have supported me and reminded me of my goal to play professional baseball this summer after the 2020 MLB player draft.”
“With all of this journey so far, if there’s a single lesson I have learned, it would have to be a quote from Rocky with a few of my own words, “Life is tough, life’s gonna beat ya down, over and over and over. And as soon as you think you’ve got it figured it out, you’re knocked flat on your back. Just remind yourself as you lay on the ground, as the dust settles, that the next thing to focus on, is getting back up, to throw another punch.”
