LA's Briggs headed to LBW to play baseball
By TIM GAYLE
LOWNDESBORO -- There were plenty of opportunities for Colby Briggs to walk away from the baseball diamond.
He was preparing for his senior season at Lowndes Academy when he suffered an injury that required ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, or Tommy John surgery. Gone were his chances of playing sports his senior year and quite likely any scholarship opportunities as well.
“It does go through your mind,” Briggs admitted. “You’ve just got to be mentally tough and work through it.”
Five months later, he was back on the mound, pitching for the Rebels. And despite losing virtually his entire senior year to injury, he was able to perform at a tryout and earn a scholarship offer to Lurleen B. Wallace Community College.
That’s why his signing ceremony on Tuesday included special recognition for his physical therapist, Mike Ellis of Pro Impact Physical Therapy and Sports Performance.
“I trusted the process,” Briggs said. “Mr. Mike Ellis said, ‘Colby, I’m going to get you back to where you need to be’ and I trusted him 100 percent and worked hard for it. I was able to come back in about five months and started pitching again and I kept getting stronger and stronger.”
Briggs was pitching in Atlanta at a summer league tournament in July when he suffered the injury. At first, it was only a nagging pain that rehabilitation therapy should cure, but when it didn’t get better, a closer inspection led to a second opinion and surgery in October.
“He played football every year here but wasn’t able to play this year (because of the injury),” Lowndes Academy coach Shane Moye said. “He’s always been a huge leader for our school, played all three sports his entire career and has been responsible for 94 wins on the baseball field in his five years as a starter.
“We all thought there was a possibility of him not playing his senior year, but he worked tremendously hard and Mike Ellis and Pro Impact did everything they could to get him back on the field just to play. And he was able to pitch and have a good season for us.”
Briggs missed a state championship season in football and a trip to the state tournament in basketball, but had returned to full strength by March, a short five months later for an injury that used to take at least a year to recover from.
“They put a cable in instead of a tendon,” Moye said. “They tie the tendon to it and say you can’t tear it again. I think after a year he’ll be stronger than it ever was.”
His baseball season came to an end last weekend at Autauga Academy in the quarterfinals of the AA playoffs, but his earned-run average was under 1.00 in the 20 innings he pitched and he was batting .489 while playing at first base, third base or pitcher.
The best news came toward the end of the season when Moye was able to secure a workout for Briggs at LBW and veteran coach Steve Helms offered the senior a scholarship at the end of the workout.
“We just called him, took Colby down there for a tryout and he offered him on the spot,” Moye said. “We just got lucky because it was so late in the (recruiting) game. I think he’s going to push Colby to play even farther in his career.”
It’s not your normal path to a college scholarship but somehow, despite a devastating injury, the loss of much of his senior season and the opportunity to impress college recruiters, Briggs was able to smile after his signing ceremony on Tuesday.
“I really can’t explain it,” he said. “I had two other offers right before I tore my Tommy John and they kind of went on hold with that. Coach Helms trusted me enough to come play for him. I’m really excited to play for Coach Helms.”