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Yellow Jackets first baseman overcomes testicular cancer

Date: 4/24/2015

SPRINGFIELD – Now in his senior year on the diamond at American International College first baseman Lucas Vallas finally feels comfortable at the plate and he can fully focus on the season ahead.

For most baseball players the hardest decision they have is whether or not to swing at a pitch, however, for Vallas things were much more complicated than that.

As a highly touted recruit, Vallas came to AIC in the fall of 2011 and emerged as one of the top freshman in the Northeast-10 come spring time. Vallas hit .275 during that 2012 campaign leading the team in doubles with 14 and earning a spot on the All-Rookie squad.

Recruited as a power bat, the fact Vallas wasn’t able to put a ball over the fence in his first season seemed odd to himself and those surrounding him.

“The last month of the season I had excruciating pain (in my groin),” Vallas said. “I never said anything because I wanted to finish the season.”

Once the season concluded, Vallas returned home to New York for the summer and thought with rest and relaxation the pain would subside. That wasn’t the case as the pain escalated to the point where he couldn’t even stand up and was forced to go to the doctor.

Test results revealed a tumor on his left testicle and because he waited as long as he did the infection spread to his lower abdomen and lymph nodes.

With April being National Testicular Cancer Awareness Month the senior takes time to reflect on the journey he had to go through to overcome such devastating news.

“I still remember the day I found out,” Vallas said. “The doctor called, and my mom went into the car so I couldn’t really hear. Then when she came out she just shook her head at me and we both broke down.”

Still in a state of shock and not knowing how to react, Vallas turned to the people he felt most comfortable around, his teammates.

“The first person I told was Fenton” said Vallas, referring to then junior captain and starting catcher, now graduate assistant coach, Dan Fenton ’14.

“At first I was completely shocked, I remember being silent for 20 to 30 seconds not knowing what to say” Fenton said. “I just tried to keep it as positive as possible not even thinking on the baseball side I was just worried about the health of my friend and wanted to make sure he was going to get the treatment he needed.”

Vallas then called head coach Nick Callini to inform him on the situation.

“There’s two separate reactions, the person reaction of just disbelief when you have a 19 or 20 year old kid saying he’s battling cancer,” Callini said. “That just isn’t a conversation you expect to have when a player walks through your door. The second reaction is the baseball side and you are wondering how this will affect his future, will he be able to play again and will he be the same again.”

Neither Fenton nor Callini doubted that Vallas would beat this condition and come back stronger than ever and that was the exact mindset Vallas had for himself.

“From the minute he got this news he gave me the I’ll be back, I’ll be fine, we are going to do this and beat this and the most impressive part for me is that there was never a moment that he felt guilty for himself or was down,” Callini said.

“I was really impressed by the mental side and the way he [Vallas] treated things, it was almost like he never skipped a beat” Fenton added.

Vallas had immediate surgery to remove the tumor and started four months of chemotherapy which finished just a few days before he returned to school for his sophomore year.

The eager Vallas didn’t waste any time, going against doctors’ orders, and began fall ball where he played the entire month of September and early October before he had his final surgery on his abdomen in late October 2012.

When he returned his appearance had changed some. What was once a full head of hair was now clean shaven, but his full beard as well as his humor remained unchanged.

“I was told that I would lose my hair, but I just hoped I didn’t lose my beard,” Vallas chuckled.

Again he didn’t feel sorry for himself and trained hard to recover and get back on the field for the start of the 2013 season. Coming back about a month before he was scheduled to he didn’t miss a step hitting .281 in 39 games with 11 doubles.

The team rallied around Lucas during that 2013 season and went on a roll winning 21 games the most games the Yellow Jackets have won in 20 years and fell just short of making the playoffs due to a tie-breaker.

Fenton and the leaders of that 2013 squad wanted to do something special to show their support for Vallas. They all got together to create a special shirt commemorating the struggle Vallas had gone through and used it as a fundraiser to generate money for male awareness.

“That was right after winter break and the team as a whole just wanted to say welcome back and we are behind you through this journey,” Fenton said. “I remember he had the biggest smile on his face and was so happy, then a couple weeks later he was swinging a bat with us.”

The shirt, which is purple to signify the official color of testicular cancer that originated from the orchid flower, featured a ribbon on the front with the saying “Ball to the wall” and Vallas’ number 31 with a tribute to his nickname Ruh as the hashtag Ruhstrong adorns the back.

Vallas remembered walking into the clubhouse for what he thought was a normal team meeting and saw all 35 players and coaches wearing the shirts and clapping.

“I just immediately broke down again because I was shocked that they would do that for me,” Vallas said.

“They supported me all the way through my treatments and surgeries, but making that shirt was the cherry on top of it all,” Vallas added.

The shirts are still part of the team as coaches and players wear them around campus and to practice, so that is a mark Vallas will leave on the program even after his graduation come this May.

Now in his senior season Vallas is two and a half years cancer free and is feeling the strongest he ever has and it is showing in his power as he already has three homeruns and 10 RBI’s to lead the team in just 13 games played to this point.

“I just want to make the playoffs finally,” Vallas said “We have been on the cusp ever since my freshman year and I think this is the year, we have never had this type of lineup before.”

Vallas has certainly had his ups and downs during his time here at AIC, but without the team things would have been much more difficult for him. The team truly helped him strive to fight this awful disease and come back stronger and better than ever.

One of the most underrated aspects of collegiate sports is the bonding and brotherhood that come with them. The team is a family, Vallas and company could have hung their heads and felt sorry for themselves, but they didn’t they attacked the situation head on and beat it together.

In a sport where the average reaction time on whether or not to swing is half a second, men need to know when something doesn’t seem right and not wait and be afraid to get things looked at. Better to be safe than sorry and waiting can only make things worse.

“We are a stubborn breed,” Callini said. “We like to think things can’t happen to us or won’t happen to us. But, there’s just so much out there now in terms of help and treatments that it’s in your best interest to get checked out if things aren’t feeling right.”

Vallas concluded, “You can’t wait or be afraid. I probably made things three times worse by waiting.”