Hicks off to a quick start

The pop itself was not heard beyond the players who hovered near the Buckingham County sidelines at the cozy football field in Goochland.

The impact of the injury, however, has been felt this season at the University of Virginia.

John Hicks, a rookie catcher for Virginia’s red-hot baseball team, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right leg in the final regular-season football game as he pursued a personal milestone.

Because of that injury, Hicks was limited as a senior at Goochland and ultimately slipped in the MLB Draft before deciding to playing college baseball.

“We were beating them by probably 30 points, but the only reason that I was still in the game was that I needed 40 yards for 1,000,” Hicks said. “When I hit the guy, I heard my knee pop. I was just lying on the ground and I tried to get up but I knew that I had messed something up.

“I just wanted to walk off the field, but I was on the other sideline actually and I stood up and I had all my weight on my left leg and when I went to put my weight on my right leg I just collapsed. The coaches came out there and carried me off.”

Hicks, listed at 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, rehabbed and was able to return to the diamond for the final three games last year at Goochland. Weeks later, he was drafted in the 31st round by the Los Angeles Angels.

The negotiating process began shortly after as Hicks played summer baseball in Baltimore.

“I told the guys from the Angels the money that I needed and they couldn’t give it to me coming off the surgery,” he said. “The coaches at Virginia were great and they told me it was my decision. They told me a couple things that I might want to consider and after I thought about it, I knew that it wasn’t really a difficult decision.”

Bypassing that payday could provide Hicks with a grander check following his junior season. The freshman is hitting .380 with two homers and 10 RBI through 14 games and has not shown effects from his knee surgery.

Better yet for Virginia’s coaching staff, Hicks has played with true grit, something that was expected after they tracked his football career.

“I think one of the great attributes about John is that he loves to compete. He loved to play high school football and he was very successful at it,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “He could play every position on the field. He is really athletic and he loves competition.

“I think football teaches something that no other sport does. You have to grit your teeth and compete and you will get knocked down at times. John has been knocked down in his career with his knee injury, but he has bounced back. I think that competitiveness has served him well.”

Hicks remains quick to admit that his football background has been meaningful in his progression.

“Football helps you out with everything,” he said. “With football, you know it is a team sport that has ups and downs and you have to forget about the last play.”

This weekend, as Florida State arrives for the first home ACC series of the year, Hicks will see time at catcher in a platoon with junior Franco Valdes, creating a two-headed monster of sorts.

“Franco has helped me out so much,” Hicks said. “In the fall in the Orange and Blue World Series, I had a tough game and he came up to me and said, ‘I had those last year. You are always going to have them.’”

“He told me to forget it and come back and have a nice day. Every time I do something he is always there to tell me how we do it at UVa or just the better way to do it. He is always there to help me.”