Brookstone’s Daniel Amos shines after return from knee injury

On Wednesday, Brookstone’s Daniel Amos finally was medically cleared after rehabbing a medial collateral ligament tear for three months. By Saturday, the senior left fielder was back delivering crucial hits for the Cougars.

Amos was 3-for-4 with three RBIs in Brookstone’s 9-0 victory over Carver. Amos’ at-bats helped the Cougars break away from the Tigers after tight opening innings. The performance also was a boost for Amos, whose season debut was an 0-for-4 against Jordan on Friday.

“It was good to be back,” Amos said. “I came back Wednesday, so I haven’t seen a lot of live pitching. Yesterday I was a little off. Today I just saw the ball a lot better. I’m just glad to be able to do something with it.”

The injury Amos spent the offseason recovering from occurred in Brookstone’s first-round football playoff game Nov. 11. In the second quarter of the Cougars’ 14-7 loss to Pinecrest Academy, Amos suffered an MCL tear. On Nov. 21, he was in surgery.

What began not long after the surgery was a rehab process which Amos admitted was a trying one.

“I didn’t have a lot of progress in the beginning,” Amos said. “I could barely move my knee. Over time, I could see the improvement and could focus up and be able to get back.”

The time spent diligently working his way back into full health only made Saturday’s showing sweeter.

Amos helped Brookstone take total control with an RBI single to right field in the bottom of the third inning to go up 3-0. Another RBI single one inning later made it a 6-0 game. Amos capped the outing with an RBI double in the sixth inning, pushing the lead to 7-0.

Brookstone head coach Vincent Massey was certainly excited to see Amos getting back into a groove.

“I’m happy for him,” Massey said. “He’s the type of guy who’s going to be in that spot for us.”

Massey said he expects Amos to only get better as he gets more at-bats under his belt. He pointed to Amos and shortstop Sam Dismuke, who also had three RBIs, as two senior Cougars he expects to come through for the team again and again.

Amos said it felt good to contribute to the team after his struggles on Friday. He said Saturday’s performance was a confidence booster he needed early in his senior season and was something he could build on going forward.

Although he could now turn his full attention back to baseball, Amos couldn’t help but think about the grueling rehab that led him to this moment.

“I was supposed to be out four to six months,” Amos said. “Today was like three months. It feels real good.”

This story was originally published February 18, 2017 at 4:32 PM with the headline "Brookstone’s Daniel Amos shines after return from knee injury."