How Keener, the Catcher Who Has Come Through So Much, Came Through in the Clutch
5/2/2018 12:49:00 AM | Baseball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- What catcher Brock Keener did to pull out a comeback victory for the University of Michigan baseball team was pretty amazing. He belted a bases-loaded triple in the bottom of the eighth inning, then scored an insurance run by tagging up on a fly ball to short left field and sliding in head first.
A two-run deficit had become a two-run lead thanks to Keener, and the No. 13-ranked Wolverines were on their way to a 6-4 win Tuesday night (May 1) over Eastern Michigan at Fisher Stadium.
However, what Keener has overcome both in life and with an injury is what is truly amazing about this senior from Richmond, Texas.
Keener is playing through a fractured thumb on his left glove hand, wearing a protective splint but absorbing pain with each pitch he receives.
Still, he has made it through much worse.
Keener is a cancer survivor.
It was discovered that he had melanoma skin cancer as a 14-year-old, but he leaned on family and his faith in God to get through that scary time.
"I was diagnosed with early melanoma," Keener said. "It wasn't that big of deal."
When informed that cancer is always a big deal, he smiled and said, "I really don't think about that part in my life much. Thank God I didn't have to go through chemo. I knew that so many kids had to go through way worse than I did.
"I had to have a handful of surgeries on my back to have it removed. A lot of kids have it way worse than I did. It was great for me to overcome it, and it opened up my eyes at a young age. It made me appreciate going to Mott's."
That would be the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, where he and many other Wolverine student-athletes visit on Thursdays and other times to encourage and speak with patients.
Brock nearly always heads straight for the Coach (Lloyd) Carr Pediatric Cancer Unit on the seventh floor.
"I see those kids and I see them fighting," said Keener. "It's crazy seeing them there. I know that at 13 or 14 you don't know what's happening really. I felt lost. I didn't know how bad it was going to be or what was going to happen.
"So, to be where I'm at now is just ..."
Keener, standing outside the Michigan dugout, paused, smiled and added, "Just praise the Lord. That's the way I look at it."
Now, he's able to offer children hope amid their own feelings of being "lost" and not knowing what is ahead.
"For sure," said Keener. "If any kid can use me as motivation and keep fighting, that's why you play the game right there. All the wins and losses are great, but helping kids to keep pushing, you can't beat it.
"That's incredible."
Wolverines head coach Erik Bakich is blown away by him.
"Brock is one of those kids that I would hope my daughter finds some day," said Bakich. "He's solid in all areas of his life. He has a strong faith, strong core family values, he's been raised by a set of parents that have done an outstanding job. And I'm just proud of him. He's a great teammate, no matter what, no matter what his role has been at Michigan."
Keener's path to Michigan was anything but a straight line. It was a zig-zag route through cancer surgeries and a transfer from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to Alvin (Texas) Community College and, eventually, to Ann Arbor for his final two seasons.
Bakich said he expected power-hitting catcher Harrison Wenson to leave following the 2016 season after getting drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but Wenson returned and Keener found himself on the bench and even playing some at first base, getting just seven at-bats, but three hits. Then he encountered injuries and did not immediately earn the starting position this season.
But he had one unique internal GPS that he followed to experience what he is experiencing now.
"Through it all," said Bakich, "Brock was an energy-giver in the dugout and extremely positive. His work ethic never tailed off. If anything, it got stronger. He had the inner-confidence to know he was going to make his presence felt.
"What you saw today is a perfect microcosm of who he is as a person. He just is going to find a way to add value and contribute in some positive way. He had a designed day off today, but we needed him, and he comes in and delivers the biggest hit you could possibly give. That's him. That's Brock."
Bakich marvels at how Keener, batting .277 with 12 RBI, plays through the thumb injury while having to catch high-velocity pitches throughout games.
"He's got a broken thumb right now," said Bakich. "He's had a ligament that pulled the bone and tore a part of the bone off."
How can he catch with something like that?
"Good question," said Bakich. "I don't know. But that's toughness. That's Brock. He's going to catch for the team. And the doctors said that just as long as it's in a splint and it's immobilized, and it can't do this (bend back), it's fine. So, it hurts. It's still painful. But it can't do any damage.
"He's one of the tougher kids in college baseball. He's just going to find a way."
Keener downplays what he is going through in that regard.
"My thumb's been messed up for a little bit," he said. "But if I'm in between the lines, it's fine. It's part of playing the position. I don't even think about it. It's just nicked up."
Keener was getting a planned day off until the third inning, when catcher Joe Donovan pulled a hamstring as he approached first base while legging out a single. Keener was called upon to pinch-run and stay in the game. He ended up scoring on a grounder to second base by Ako Thomas, and accounted for five of the six runs scored by the Wolverines.
"That's crazy," Keener said, when informed of that.
Keener also caught a good game, and praised the job relievers Troy Miller, Angelo Smith and Jack Weisenburger did in allowing one run over seven innings to provide the Wolverines an opportunity to come back.
Weisenburger came on with runners on second and third with one out and got two strikeouts to end the threat in the top of the eighth.
"Jack came in in a tough situation," said Keener. "Coach (Bakich) filled him in on the situation and said, 'We need weak contact and strikeouts. Go get 'em!' And that's what he did. He's got great stuff and attacked them.
"That is what led to the win. We were building momentum, and Jack did it."
The bottom of the eighth belonged to Keener. He drove a pitch to the gap in right-center field and sprinted around the bases before sliding head-first into third base, coming up with his hands balled into fists and his arms extended, shaking for joy and shouting.
"We'd been battling all day," said Keener. "It started with a walk (to Dominic Clementi) followed by a hit (from Jordan Nwogu) and a gritty walk (by Blake Nelson) with two strikes. We were like, 'This is it. We've got to do something here.'
"Coach gave me that 'let-it-loose-all-or-nothing' sign and I got a pitch I could put a good swing on. It was a fastball, a little over the plate and kind of up, and I was able to get the barrel to it. I just happened to find a gap, and it was awesome."
Keener said he looked into the "bunker," which is what the Wolverines call their dugout, and "saw 35 brothers" cheering wildly.
The catcher who has been through so much, had come through in the clutch.
