Overcoming obstacles no problem for Dykstra

By: SHAUN O'NEILL - Staff Writer | Sunday, February 25, 2007 10:25 PM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- Allan Dykstra was told once that he might never play baseball again. No wonder, then, that he cherishes every moment on a ballfield.

"I'm out here every day wanting to play," the Rancho Bernardo High graduate said after a solid three hours on a hometown field. "That's what I want to do with my life."

Dykstra's internship toward his life's work continued Sunday afternoon as he took the field for Wake Forest against the University of San Diego. Dykstra capped a big homecoming weekend by helping his team avoid a sweep at Cunningham Stadium. The Demon Deacons won 5-3, and Dykstra got them started with a two-run home run in the first inning.

Dykstra was 1-for-3 in the game and drew one walk. In the three-game series, he went 4-for-10 with two homers, four RBIs, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. He saved his team from being no-hit in the series opener when he collected its only hit. The first baseman is off to a rousing start to his sophomore season: .435 batting average, .957 slugging average, .548 on-base percentage, three home runs and six RBIs in seven games.

"He goes up to the plate with a high level of confidence," said Demon Deacons coach Rick Rembielak. "What I see about him is he doesn't panic. When he gets two strikes in the count, he stays pretty calm."

Such was the case against Toreros starting pitcher Josh Romanski in the first inning. With a runner on second base and one out, Romanski fed Dykstra a series of breaking pitches. With first base unoccupied, he wasn't about to challenge the opposition's best hitter. The count ran to 3-2, and Dykstra fouled off two pitches on the corners. Then came a hanger, and he popped it beyond the right-field fence to give the Deacons a 2-0 lead.

Calm? Darned right Dykstra was calm.

Batting with two strikes hardly qualifies as a challenge compared to what nearly sidetracked his baseball career entirely.

During his freshman year at Rancho Bernardo, Dykstra took a fall playing basketball and suffered a hip injury. Soon after, he developed avascular necrosis in his right hip ---- the same affliction that ended Bo Jackson's athletic career prematurely.

"The doctors said they'd never seen it in a 14-year-old," said Cathy Dykstra, Allan's mother.

The bone was dying. And doctors also found a tumor growing at the top of his femur ---- the thigh bone. Major surgery was necessary. Allan received a bone graft and spent two months of summer in a body cast. Even as the school year rolled around, he was on crutches for a few months.

Another six months later, however, and he was a ballplayer again. The worst-case scenarios of the doctors were forgotten as Allan made the RB varsity roster as a sophomore. The hip limited him to designated hitter duty most of that year, but there have been few, if any, concessions to the injury since. Not only did he play three years at RB and earn a scholarship to Wake Forest ---- spurning the Boston Red Sox, who drafted him in the 34th round ---- but he also became a freshman All-American and an Atlantic Coast Conference all-academic team member in his first year in college.

"After all he went through with the hip, he's had the attitude, 'I can overcome anything,' " Cathy said. "It was a big deal."

Challenges on the field are diminishing for Allan. He's a 6-for-5, 230-pound bull with a compact left-handed stroke and the plate discipline worthy of any "Moneyball" hero. Think Adam Dunn without the strikeouts.

Given his lofty statistics, his greatest challenge just might be maintaining focus for another two years until he can re-enter the professional draft. He can do little more to increase his standing among scouts.

"I have to take each at-bat, each game for itself," Allan said. "I had people try to get a hold of me, agents and stuff, looking forward to the future. But I'm still a sophomore. I've got one more year (in college) after this one. I can't get ahead of myself, and I have to keep my mind on the job at hand."

Even his coach can't resist one peek into the future.

"He'll get even better as a pro," Rembielak predicted, "because the umpires are better. His plate discipline is so good that he'll benefit from having umpires who can see it as well as he can."

-- Contact staff writer Shaun O'Neill at (760) 740-3546 or soneill@nctimes.com.

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