After Texas A&M‘s 6-0 win over Florida to advance to the College World Series championship series, Aggies head coach Jim Schlossnagle revealed graduate student Hayden Schott is playing on a torn meniscus. After the win, a reporter asked Schott if he’s ever played through an injury like this before.
“No, I haven’t, but also I think it’s been overhyped a little bit,” Schott said. “I’m fine. I don’t know. We have [catcher] Jackson [Appel] back there who is way more banged up, has a way harder job than I do. Jace [LaViolette] is pushing through something.
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“At this point of year everyone’s pretty banged up. It’s just as a matter of much you want to leave on field. And there’s no one in our dugout that doesn’t want to leave everything on the field. That’s the beauty of it. It’s not just me, by any means.”
Obviously, Schott isn’t one to make excuses. Then again, the public may not learn how much the injury is actually affecting Schott until the CWS is over. In Texas A&M’s win over Florida on Wednesday, Schott failed to record a hit in his two at-bats.
However, in the Aggies’ previous win, Schott recorded three hits and two RBIs. Texas A&M will need Schott’s batting prowess if it wants to defeat No. 1 overall seed Tennessee.
The two teams only met once this season and it was in the SEC Tournament. Tennessee emerged victorious with a 7-4 win. In the loss, Schott went 0-2 from the batter’s box. He cannot allow history to repeat itself.
Hayden Schott isn’t alone in his refusal to make excuses. On Friday, Schlossnagle pulled back the curtain on his team has battled through injuries this postseason.
“If I would say one word, I’d just say perseverance,” Schlossnagle said. “It’s also a testament to our guys that maybe haven’t played a lot throughout the season. It’s just that next-man-up mentality. When you’ve guys like Kaeden Kent and Jack Bell who prepare the same way every day as if they’re playing, that’s how you have depth and a team that when guys do go down you can have guys step up.
“It’s a testament to them. It’s a testament to our team as a whole and our mentality. But it’s just awesome to see as a teammate, to have that next-man-up mentality, for sure.”
Tennessee and Texas A&M will kick off the championship series at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
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