USD Magazine Summer 2015

TORERO  ATHLETICS

Taylor Kaczmarek’s life-changing cancer diagnosis has led him to a heightened appreciation of what really matters.

Pi t cher Tay lor Kaczmarek i s determined to make the mos t of every day [ h e r o i c ] THE STUFF OF DREAMS

batters in 81 innings at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix. He batted .343 and accepted a scholarship to USD. Then came the pain in his left foot, leading to a blood clot in his leg. Next came sleepless, sweaty nights. Playing catch with a friend one day, he nearly passed out. “I had no idea why,” says Kacz- marek. A doctor thought he had mono. Blood was drawn. Then came the phone call. “You need to go to ER, immediately,” a stranger told Kaczmarek. “Your symptoms point to leukemia.” That night, Russell Vaughan, Kaczmarek’s catcher since junior high, spent the night in his friend’s hospital room. No cot. No sleeping bag. Sprawled on the floor. “I love the kid,” says Vaughan. “He needed someone, and if I made him feel comfortable, made him feel like he didn’t have cancer, then I’m going to try to make it as easy as possible.” Leukemia is cancer of the blood. There are about 6,000 reported cases of acute lymphoblastic leu- kemia annually in the United States. There is about an 80 per- cent cure rate among youths. Because he was young and in excellent health, Kaczmarek underwent an aggressive form of chemotherapy. He was hospital- ized for a month. Ever the athlete, he pedaled a stationary bike, cranking out push-ups and sit-ups. “I was miserable at the end,” he says. “I wanted to breathe fresh

TIM MANTOANI

by Don Norcross

T

acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was diagnosed on May 26, 2012, seemingly at the height of his baseball career. “In the beginning I was scared,” recalls Kaczmarek, a junior major- ing in business administration. “It wasn’t really, ‘Why me?’ It was more, ‘Holy (cow). I’m scared.’The only thing I’d heard about cancer was one of my dad’s buddy’s passed away. The only thing I knew was the worst.” Until cancer’s call, Kaczmarek seemed to be on the fast track to

a pro baseball career. He was selected the Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year his senior sea- son at Desert Ridge High in Mesa, Ariz., compiling an 11-1 record, driving in an absurd 58 runs. “He was a stud,” recalls Desert Ridge coach Pat Herrera. “He was our dude.” Drafted in the 50th round by the Dodgers in 2010, his senior year in high school, Kaczmarek passed on turning pro, instead heading to community college. Two years later, he struck out 88

he dream goes like this … USD pitcher Taylor Kacz- marek stands atop the

mound, peering toward his catch- er. The fastball touches 90 mph. The breaking ball darts at a 45-degree angle. The change-up drops off the table, the batter foolishly lunging, bat flailing at air. “Throwing a pitch, knowing it’s going to be a strike, even before the batter does,” says Kaczmarek. For now, it’s only a recurring dream, not reality. Kaczmarek is battling and, for now, defeating

14

USD MAGAZINE