Bell senior looks to bounce back from injury, adversity

The 2015 baseball season for L.D. Bell could be described as one of adversity, especially for one of its unquestioned leaders. Mason Peterson, who has been an impact player for the Raiders since his freshman year, was hampered most of the season by an arm injury. The senior-to-be knows he has one last chance to leave his mark on Bell baseball.

Just as the district portion of the schedule loomed in March, Peterson suffered a UCL sprain in his throwing arm.

“The last ball I threw was from the outfield and I didn’t set my feet right. It was all arm and it just kind of gave it the final blow,” Peterson recalled.

What Peterson deemed poor mechanics had taken its toll on his arm. He consulted a specialist, who advised him to rest it completely for a couple of weeks, followed by another few weeks without throwing and six months without pitching.

“It was disappointing, because I love playing in the field and I love playing defense,” Peterson said, pointing out there was a silver lining. “I didn’t want it to be a Tommy John surgery, so that was a blessing that I didn’t have to get a UCL repair.”

So just as they prepared to navigate their first trip through District 7-6A, the Raiders were without a guy slated to be the everyday center fielder and closer. Following the doctor-ordered two weeks of rest, Peterson did return to the team in a limited role as the designated hitter. But the limited role started impacting Peterson’s mindset.

“I think he felt like he needed to hit a three-run double every time he came up [to the plate],” coach Paul Gibson said. “It’s just hard to play baseball that way when you feel like you have to do something every at-bat. So I think he was pressing a little bit.”

Peterson admits that got in his head.

“Since I wasn’t doing my part in the field, I felt like I had to do a lot at the plate,” he said. “Baseball is 90 percent mental and it really got to me, I guess. I didn’t have the year I had my freshman or sophomore year.”

Peterson still managed to earn second-team all-district honors as the team stumbled to a 3-9 district record and missed the playoffs. The district honors were little consolation.

“My expectations are always the same,” he said. “It’s L.D. Bell baseball and we’ve always been an outstanding program. Going into the new district, I didn’t expect anything different.”

Peterson is now playing with many of his Bell teammates in a North Texas summer league, back to doing everything but pitching.

“My arm feels great,” he said. “If I wanted to, I feel like I could pitch, but I don’t want to risk anything.”

The primary objective at the moment is getting some chemistry with the new faces that will join the varsity ranks next spring, as Bell will once again field a relatively young team. Gibson says he has high expectations for Peterson both on the diamond and in the locker room.

“He did a great job for us as a freshman,” Gibson said. “He was a difference-maker for us when we made it to the regional semifinals in 2013. Had a good sophomore year. Injury played a big role in his junior year, so we’re just looking for him to get healthy and relax and be a leader on and off the field.”

After the adversity of 2015, Peterson thinks he has better perspective to do just that.

“I feel like just let the game play itself,” he said. “I’ll just go out there and try to relax at the plate and not press as much as I did last year, because that didn’t work out as well as the two years before. Back then, I was the youngster and I could just go up there and, if I didn’t get a hit, that’s OK, I can come back and get it next at-bat.

“We really want to come back obviously and make the playoffs,” he continued. “We’re really just trying to forget last year and overwrite it.”

This story was originally published June 29, 2015 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Bell senior looks to bounce back from injury, adversity."