During a baseball tournament in eighth grade, senior Nick Hardin woke up one morning with a swollen elbow. The night before, Hardin felt no signs of an injury. However, when he woke up, Hardin and his family immediately knew something was wrong.

Hardin ended up needing an Osteochondral Autograft Transfer Surgery, or OATS, in his elbow if he wanted to play baseball again.

The Osteochondral Autograft Transfer Surgery takes healthy cartilage and bone from other joints and replace the damaged cartilage and bone in his elbow. Hardin underwent the procedure in November 2020. 

“At the time, we were nervous because it was one of those things like, it just kind of depended on how he recovered,” Hardin’s mom, Devin Hardin said. “But he was back to throwing a baseball and swinging a bat not even three months later.” 

Yet the recovery process was not easy for Hardin.  

For months after the procedure, Hardin went to physical therapy multiple times a week so he could return to his favorite sport. Once he was cleared to play, Hardin spent time with his stepdad in hopes of returning better than before for his freshman season.

Hardin’s stepdad started coaching his travel team almost immediately after he started playing and continued through his high school career. 

“I had surgery, and then I just spent countless hours with my dad in the cages throwing and just taking countless reps,” Hardin said. 

Hardin, who has been playing baseball since he was seven, said that some of his biggest influences are his parents. 

For most of his childhood, his weekends were spent with his parents at tournaments with his travel team. After joining his travel team his stepdad especially became a big part of his successes.

“I think we just learned to eat, breathe and sleep baseball,” Hardin said. “Just everything involved baseball. Baseball was all we did and it consumed us. Our nights were filled with baseball practices and our weekends were filled with games.” 

Since his childhood, baseball has been one of the biggest parts of Hardin’s life. Once he started playing when he was seven, he instantly fell in love with the sport.

After the injury occurred when he was 14, Hardin’s decision to continue playing baseball was an obvious choice.

 “It’s just really the only sport that I’ve ever really loved,” Hardin said. “And the type of relationships and friendships you make during it, it’s just priceless.” 

Because of all the work he put in after the injury and during his childhood, Hardin was able to become an important part of the program for his senior year. 

This year Hardin was one of the captains on the team and has been on the varsity team for three years. Hardin leads the team in batting average, doubles and stolen bases this season.

“Nick is just an overall great young man,” head coach Christopher Buechner said. “He is one of the hardest workers on our team, and he is not afraid to hold others accountable.” 

Hardin also made the decision to continue playing baseball through his college career and is committed to Mississippi College. 

For Hardin, the recruitment process was easier than others. The coach for Mississippi College made a visit over the summer and watched him play. Soon after, Hardin received a call with the offer. 

“It’s just the next step,” Hardin said. “I mean, not a lot of kids get to experience that. So, all the hard work that I put in, really just pays off.” 

One of his teammates, senior Tanner Gillean, is also committed to the school. 

Hardin and Gillean have been playing baseball together since their freshman year. Both of the athletes described their excitement to continue playing together because of how much easier the transition will be.

“He’s a great leader,” Gillean said. “He is always making sure all of us are in line and doing what we’re supposed to do. Even if some people aren’t listening to him, he’ll still do it.”  

Because of the injury, Hardin had to relearn a lot of different aspects of the sport. However, with the challenges he faced during the recovery process, he learned more valuable life lessons in baseball.  

“It sucked, obviously, because I couldn’t play for an extended amount of time,” Hardin said. “Then I had to relearn every single thing that I’ve been working at. It was really crushing in the moment. But I’m kind of glad it happened so that I could learn adversity and how to overcome things” 

Hardin continues to face some challenges because of the injury. Specifically, Hardin is unable to fully straighten his arm which makes certain plays challenging. Despite this, he learned how to work around the obstacle.

The injury has pushed Hardin to work hard during team practices and in his spare team, which has contributed to his success. 

“It’s put me behind the eight ball a little bit,” Hardin said. “But it’s really taught me adversity and pushed myself to do the extra work and outwork everyone. It just gave me the type of competitiveness I need.”