Paralyzed teammate inspires Waukon to state tournament berth

WAUKON - You'll find so few people who believe the Waukon Indians have any chance to win their Class 3A state baseball tournament quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon.

Just look at the records. Waukon is 15-24, mighty top-ranked Solon is 36-4.

Solon has a bunch of great athletes who have won in other sports, including one guy (Derrick Loveless) who was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays. Waukon has a bunch of guys who can tell you what country Toronto is located.

But the Indians have Mark Hawes, and that's unbelievably huge. He'll be in uniform Tuesday, either in the dugout or right next to it, cheering on his teammates.

"He's inspiration," said Waukon catcher Mitch Berns. "You throw your bat and helmet down after a strikeout, and you look up and see him smiling back at you. That puts it all into perspective. We could be in his shoes. There are worse things than striking out."

Much worse things. Hawes is paralyzed from the chest down after shattering the C4 vertebrae in his neck in a freak preseason practice injury in May.

Waukon's starting shortstop, Hawes got into a rundown between third base and home plate during a team hitting and baserunning drill. He ran toward third, turned and sprinted the other way, accidentally hitting his head on the catcher's shin pads as he dove.

"At first, it felt like a stinger," Hawes said. "The pain went away after about three or four seconds. But I couldn't get up. I just laid there. I knew it was something bad."

Head coach Matt Breitbach tended to him immediately.

"I could see him touching my leg, but I couldn't feel it," Hawes said 

He was airlifted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where he underwent surgery. Doctors have given him little chance of walking again, but his progress has been good.

Hawes' arm strength and movement in therapy allowed him to be discharged from the hospital a month ahead of schedule. His first day home was Waukon's baseball Senior Night, which he attended.

"He is part of our team," Breitbach said. "He's been on our roster all season, been No. 11 all year."

"So many other people would hang their heads and be down," said teammate and best friend Logan Wood. "But Mark is one of the most positive kids I've ever met in my life. I definitely feel he'll be able to overcome this. No doubt."

Wood has been on a pitching roll in the postseason, allowing two runs in 20 2/3 innings. He'll need to be at his best Tuesday to give his club a chance.

"Mark has really inspired me to go out there and do my best. To get him some wins," Wood said. "Once the postseason started, I kind of thought to myself 'Well, it's now or never.'"

There will be a fundraiser for the Hawes family (parents Ed and Mary and siblings Chad, Kristen and Nathan) Aug. 7 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavillion at 11 a.m. Players at nearby Lansing Kee, which is in the 1A tournament, voted to give Hawes a scholarship annually awarded to one of their seniors.

Hawes will attend Iowa State University in the fall, where he'll room with Berns and teammate Michael Becker. He wants to get into some sort of mechanical engineering, already having some ideas for new and improved wheelchairs.

An amazing kid.

"Stuff happens for reasons unknown. Nobody knows why this happened to me," he said. "My family is having a lot harder time with it than I am. My mom is always freaking out, and I don't know why. I'm home alone right now. I can go to the bathroom by myself, I can feed myself.

"They're always worried about what it's going to be like when I get to Ames. But I'll be fine."

WAUKON (15-24) vs. SOLON (38-4)

When: 2 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Principal Park, Des Moines

Noteworthy: No question who is favored here. Waukon lost twice as many games as it won in the regular season, but knocked off Decorah and Crestwood in district play and beat Oelwein in substate on a walk-off RBI single in the seventh inning from Mitch Berns. Pitcher Logan Wood (6-6, 3.42 ERA) has had a strong postseason and will need to be just about perfect to subdue a Solon lineup that includes Iowa recruits Derrick Loveless (.555, 11 HR, 26 stolen bases) and Nick Day (.504, 14 home runs), as well as Marshall Koehen (.492, 10 HRs). Ace pitcher Brandon Shulista (8-0, 0.56 ERA) unexpected returned for Solon's substate win over Davenport Assumption. The Spartans, of course, were last season's 2A champion.

MARION (26-16) vs. STORM LAKE (26-8)

When: Noon Tuesday

Where: Principal Park, Des Moines

Noteworthy: This 4-5 matchup appears to be close on paper. Marion is at state for just the second time, both under Coach Steve Fish, who won his 500th career game late in the regular season. Shortstop Zach Nielsen has had a terrific senior season, hitting .441 with six home runs and team-leading 52 RBIs. Kirkwood C.C. basketball recruit Kasey Semler hits .408 with a team-best 63 runs. Tyler Hedtke is the team's ace, compiling a 10-3 record and 2.75 ERA. Storm Lake is in state tourney for third year in row. The Tornadoes advanced to the 3A finals in 2009 and lost in 10 innings in the quarterfinals last season to Charles City. They hit .378 as team, led by shortstop Michael McCabe's .500 average. Carsen Anderson is 9-0 as a pitcher.

WASHINGTON (29-7) vs. ADEL ADM (23-14)

When: 6 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Principal Park, Des Moines

Noteworthy: Second-seeded Washington comes in on 10-game win streak. Pitching has been a key for Demons, as they have good 2.72 ERA. Josh Moore (6-2, 0.74 ERA) and Colin Steele (6-0, 1.79) give Washington nice 1-2 pitching punch. Brad Weatherman has team-best seven home runs. ADM is tied with Waukon with .296 team batting average, worst in 3A field. Top pitcher Dylan Nelson is 5-2 with 2.47 ERA.