The feeling of sting on your hands when you connect your bat with the baseball, streaking down the line as your ears ring and you feel your legs telling you to go faster, and finally sliding into the bag; coming back into reality- hearing the cheers of your teammates, coaches, and fans. This is a feeling Senior Darian Crisp has become accustomed to with De Smet Baseball. Now, he will experience that same feeling with NJCAA nationally ranked Heartland Community College.

“Playing baseball at the next level has always my main goal in high school,” Crisp said. “Working to play baseball professionally after college is my true dream.”

Before Crisp’s senior season, he required surgery on his right hand on March 10. His doctor told him he would miss six weeks. After doing one hand swings, working on his legs, and using bands and stretches to regain strength in his hand, he was able to beat the doctor’s previous prediction.

“Surgery really hit me on an emotional and mental level,” Crisp said. “Coming back in four weeks was truly a blessing. I was able to come back with no pain and being able to preform even better than before.”

Since coming back, Crisp has started his senior campaign obtaining 7 hits out of 11 at bats, 1 HR, 3 RBI’s in five games.

“He [Crisp] works so hard for it,” teammate Cooper Howell said. “He deserves it. It takes a lot of guts because it’s a hard path to go through, there’s not much of a life outside of baseball when you go to a JUCO [Junior College].”

Crisp is a two year varsity starter. He had the highest batting average last summer on his club baseball team, Adidas Athletics. He was also nominated All-Tournament for hitting at the nationally known Perfect Game WWBA Championship in 2021.

“It [Junior College] separates the kids who like baseball from the kids who love baseball,” Crisp said. “I love baseball so I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get to the next level.”