More Than A Championship Season For Spalding

By John Singleton

Jeff Palumbo and Nick Freeberger arrived on the campus of Archbishop Spalding High School in September of 2010. Freeberger, a junior transfer from Cardinal Gibbons, and Palumbo, the newly-hired baseball coach from Dematha, had never met. Palumbo was to replace the popular varsity baseball coach Steve Miller. Freeberger was forced to leave Cardinal Gibbons when the Catholic school closed for financial reasons.

“It was a hard thing to see Gibbons close. I had so many friends there. And everybody just sort of went in different directions,” explained Freeberger.

Amid a spirited off-season training program, new-kid-on-the-block Freeberger quickly made friends and fell into a routine. But the drive toward the championship was soon interrupted by something unforeseen. Freeberger remembers nothing about the collision near the Oakwood Rd exit on Rte 100 the morning of January 3, 2011. At 7:30am he was fighting Monday morning traffic and looking forward to school after Christmas break. By 9am he found himself in the shock trauma unit at the University of Maryland Hospital with a cervical fracture, more commonly known as a broken neck. Freeberger was lucky to be alive.

“When you get a call about something like this there’s just a lump in your throat,” said Palumbo.

As doctors battled to save Freeberger’s life, they drilled sixteen holes in his skull and told him he would never play baseball again. The screws were for a medical appliance called a “halo,” a cage-like apparatus that fits around a patient’s head to fully stabilize and straighten the neck. As specialists fastened the bolts into the teenager’s skull, Freeberger could hear the “pop” as each rivet was secured. The halo looked like a medieval torture device.

“I was screaming,” recalled Freeberger. “I’ve never felt pain like that before. But the one thing I kept telling myself was that our team was going to win the championship and I was going to be back to play in that game.”

On March 22,the day Nick Freeberger was released from the hospital, he took batting practice. On March 24 he played in Spalding’s game against St. Paul’s. Despite having triumphed over multiple infections, 16 screws and 64 needles in his skull, not to mention eight weeks in the vice grip of a halo, Freeberger struck out looking in his first at-bat of the season.

“Nick was an inspiration to the team even when he was in his halo,” said Coach Palumbo. “He loves the game of baseball. He worked hard to get back. Baseball played a big role in his recovery.”

With the approach of May, Freeberger’s game improved just as his team caught fire. On May 24 the Cavaliers squared off against Calvert Hall for the MIAA A Conference championship. In the first inning Freeberger stepped to the plate and hit a home run. He went 2-3 for the game with a single and three RBIs. Calvert Hall walked him on his fourth and final at-bat, and the Cavaliers won the championship, 7-4.

“I’m thankful to Jesus Christ. I could easily not be here today. I prayed a lot during this whole process and I know a lot of people prayed for me,” summarized Freeberger, who will return to Spalding as a senior next fall. “The Spalding community rallied around me. The team would pray for me before and after every workout.”

In addition to helping his team win the MIAA A Conference championship, Freeberger finished the 2011 season batting .445 with 8 HRs and 30 RBIs. He was selected as an MIAA and All-County player.