My Lumberjack Life: Kanin Dodge
9/17/2021 8:53:00 AM | Baseball
First off, I want to say how incredibly thankful I am to be playing baseball here at SFA. Playing Division I college baseball was my lifelong dream of mine, and here I am as a Lumberjack living out that dream. I am so appreciative to the SFA coaching staff for giving me the chance to come here to fulfill my dream and do what I love to do most, play baseball.
My journey here first started off with a year of junior college after high school, as I attended Bossier Parish Community College and played baseball there in the spring of 2019. I was blessed to have a pretty good year there and was recruited by the SFA staff to come here the following year. So, I decided that was what I wanted to do, and after one year of junior college I became a Lumberjack in the fall of 2019.
As soon as I got here, I made sure that I was going to stay true to who I am, work as hard as I can, be the best teammate I can be, and leave the results up to the Lord. This resulted in the starting second base role for that spring 2020 baseball season. I was pumped about it and ready to go that year. Then, I'll be the first to admit, I did not get off to the start I had imagined offensively, and neither did the team. We were struggling a little bit to start the season, then we had our first conference series at home in which we swept Lamar. I felt as if I was back in a groove and I was about to get rolling, and so did the team.
We were feeling good as a team and had a good week of practice leading up to our next weekend series against HBU, but that is when we got the news that we were shut down for at least two weeks due to COVID-19. We then found out that all spring sports were shut down for the year. This was a crazy time, and like so many others, just a time full of questions and uncertainty about the future for my team and I.
After some time, we found out that we would get our year of eligibility back because of the pandemic. So, I, loving the game of baseball as I do, definitely wanted to use that extra year and maybe start on my master's degree with that extra year of eligibility.
Fast forward to last year, fall of 2020. I am very excited to get back to playing baseball after having our season get cut after just 16 games. This time I had even more of a reason to be excited to come back to SFA, because my older brother was coming with me. He had been playing baseball at Northwestern State University for four years, and he was graduate-transferring to SFA to come play with me. This was very special for me and my family, we were going to have 2 years to play college baseball together.
Things were going great through the fall, and once again we were ready to go for the season. After Christmas break, we couldn't wait for the season to begin. Then, I began to feel some pain in my left wrist when I would swing the bat. Not great timing for this, as we only had about a month before the season started. So, my trainers and I begin to try to figure out what was wrong with my wrist.
We try a couple different things, nothing really helped. We seek answers from doctors and it takes us a while to find any diagnosis. I still was waiting on answers when the season started. I was supposed to be playing second base, but wasn't able to play because I couldn't swing. I played defense a few times and pinch ran before we finally get some results, and I learned that I needed surgery. A surgery also marks me down as a medical redshirt. Much like my 2020 season, I was forced to let go of my 2021 season.
Last year was a much different perspective for me. This was really the first time in my life that I wasn't playing, and instead was on the outside looking in. I tried my best to still do whatever I could to help the team by taking charts or whatever it was that was needed. Most of the guys actually started joking around and calling me "Coach KD." But one thing that was reiterated to me through this whole process was that God doesn't make mistakes. I'm a firm believer in the Lord and I know there's a plan set out for me.
Watching the whole season last year from a different perspective allowed me to learn so much, as a player and as a person. I was able to see and understand things that I wouldn't have been able to if I were playing. I feel like that knowledge that I learned will help me so much in the future of the game of baseball and in the game of life. Things didn't go as I thought they would, but it's not my plan that matters, it's HIS.
Here I am today, in my third year here at SFA, with the same amount of eligibility as I had when I first got here. A senior in class but still a sophomore in baseball because of the COVID year and my medical redshirt year. God willing, I will graduate in the spring this year and then begin my master's degree, which I will graduate with at the same time that my eligibility ends; another thing that the Lord worked out for me. I am extremely ready to play a full year of baseball this year for the first time in a while; alongside my brother, who is in his last year of eligibility. My wrist is back to feeling great, thanks to the help of our training staff and therapists back home in Lafayette, Louisiana.
I can't stress how thankful I am for my previous two years here at SFA. I can't thank everyone enough for being part of my journey. I have been taken care of so well and that means a lot to me. I have learned so much and have really enjoyed getting to know what it means to be a Lumberjack. I'm beyond grateful for my incredible support system back home as well. There is no one that means more to me than my family. I'm just so ready to get back on the baseball field and represent SFA across my chest.
God bless, Axe Em!
Kanin Dodge
My journey here first started off with a year of junior college after high school, as I attended Bossier Parish Community College and played baseball there in the spring of 2019. I was blessed to have a pretty good year there and was recruited by the SFA staff to come here the following year. So, I decided that was what I wanted to do, and after one year of junior college I became a Lumberjack in the fall of 2019.
As soon as I got here, I made sure that I was going to stay true to who I am, work as hard as I can, be the best teammate I can be, and leave the results up to the Lord. This resulted in the starting second base role for that spring 2020 baseball season. I was pumped about it and ready to go that year. Then, I'll be the first to admit, I did not get off to the start I had imagined offensively, and neither did the team. We were struggling a little bit to start the season, then we had our first conference series at home in which we swept Lamar. I felt as if I was back in a groove and I was about to get rolling, and so did the team.
We were feeling good as a team and had a good week of practice leading up to our next weekend series against HBU, but that is when we got the news that we were shut down for at least two weeks due to COVID-19. We then found out that all spring sports were shut down for the year. This was a crazy time, and like so many others, just a time full of questions and uncertainty about the future for my team and I.
After some time, we found out that we would get our year of eligibility back because of the pandemic. So, I, loving the game of baseball as I do, definitely wanted to use that extra year and maybe start on my master's degree with that extra year of eligibility.
Fast forward to last year, fall of 2020. I am very excited to get back to playing baseball after having our season get cut after just 16 games. This time I had even more of a reason to be excited to come back to SFA, because my older brother was coming with me. He had been playing baseball at Northwestern State University for four years, and he was graduate-transferring to SFA to come play with me. This was very special for me and my family, we were going to have 2 years to play college baseball together.
Things were going great through the fall, and once again we were ready to go for the season. After Christmas break, we couldn't wait for the season to begin. Then, I began to feel some pain in my left wrist when I would swing the bat. Not great timing for this, as we only had about a month before the season started. So, my trainers and I begin to try to figure out what was wrong with my wrist.
We try a couple different things, nothing really helped. We seek answers from doctors and it takes us a while to find any diagnosis. I still was waiting on answers when the season started. I was supposed to be playing second base, but wasn't able to play because I couldn't swing. I played defense a few times and pinch ran before we finally get some results, and I learned that I needed surgery. A surgery also marks me down as a medical redshirt. Much like my 2020 season, I was forced to let go of my 2021 season.
Last year was a much different perspective for me. This was really the first time in my life that I wasn't playing, and instead was on the outside looking in. I tried my best to still do whatever I could to help the team by taking charts or whatever it was that was needed. Most of the guys actually started joking around and calling me "Coach KD." But one thing that was reiterated to me through this whole process was that God doesn't make mistakes. I'm a firm believer in the Lord and I know there's a plan set out for me.
Watching the whole season last year from a different perspective allowed me to learn so much, as a player and as a person. I was able to see and understand things that I wouldn't have been able to if I were playing. I feel like that knowledge that I learned will help me so much in the future of the game of baseball and in the game of life. Things didn't go as I thought they would, but it's not my plan that matters, it's HIS.
Here I am today, in my third year here at SFA, with the same amount of eligibility as I had when I first got here. A senior in class but still a sophomore in baseball because of the COVID year and my medical redshirt year. God willing, I will graduate in the spring this year and then begin my master's degree, which I will graduate with at the same time that my eligibility ends; another thing that the Lord worked out for me. I am extremely ready to play a full year of baseball this year for the first time in a while; alongside my brother, who is in his last year of eligibility. My wrist is back to feeling great, thanks to the help of our training staff and therapists back home in Lafayette, Louisiana.
I can't stress how thankful I am for my previous two years here at SFA. I can't thank everyone enough for being part of my journey. I have been taken care of so well and that means a lot to me. I have learned so much and have really enjoyed getting to know what it means to be a Lumberjack. I'm beyond grateful for my incredible support system back home as well. There is no one that means more to me than my family. I'm just so ready to get back on the baseball field and represent SFA across my chest.
God bless, Axe Em!
Kanin Dodge
Players Mentioned
INF
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