By Michael Militello

It was opening day for the Cactus Shadows Falcons’ baseball team and senior two-sport athlete Matt Sill walked to the plate accompanied by his walk-up music, V.I.C.’s Get Silly.

However, for Sill things were not silly four months ago.

On Oct. 30, during homecoming and his team’s final football game of the season, Sill cracked two vertebrae during a punt play.

The full-speed collision happened midway through the game.

“On that play we hit and I got whiplash because we hit so hard,” Sill said. “My whole neck went back and I think that’s what it did. It just kind of crunched my spine backwards.”

Originally, Sill thought he had pulled a muscle in his back. He simply stretched on the sidelines and played through the injury for the remainder of the game.

“I really didn’t feel it,” Sill said. “I think it might have been the adrenaline mixed with it not stiffening up yet. It wasn’t until after the game that I really felt it, and the next morning it was horrible.”

Sill finally asked to go to a hospital the morning after his homecoming dance. Sill received an MRI after an x-ray yielded inconclusive results.

His parents were shocked after learning their son had cracked two vertebrae. After Sill’s diagnosis, doctors told his parents in private that Matt needed to be transferred to a trauma center immediately.

After her initial worries faded, Kim Sill, Matt’s mother, worried about something else entirely.

“I told the doctor, ‘He (Sill) is not going to believe me,’” Kim said. “I play so many pranks on him that he won’t believe me.”

Apparently she was correct because Matt asked her how she got the doctor in on the joke.

It’s clear that Matt gets his silliness from his mother, who couldn’t help but mention Matt’s sleep-talking and his “freight-train-like snoring” while in the hospital.

Initially there was no timetable for Sill’s return to athletics due to the swelling around the vertebrae. Winter baseball was ruled out immediately and spring ball was in question.

Once the swelling subsided, doctors informed Sill that his recovery would take three to four months to heal.

“My dad was just focused on me getting as healthy as possible and doing everything the doctors said so I can be out there for baseball season,” Sill said.

Sill wore a back brace for over a month before starting physical therapy.

Cactus Shadows baseball coach Gaetano Gianni spoke highly of Sill when asked about his injury.

“Matt was a really big key for us last year,” Gianni said. “When he got hurt there was a question that he wouldn’t even play. I’m glad he’s out here. He started off the season a little rusty because he was injured. He’s doing well. He plays quite a bit for us. He’s a good player, and we’re happy to have him.”

Last year Matt had a batting average of .273 with 13 RBIs 3 homeruns and 23 runs scored.

 Michael Militello is a sports journalism student at Arizona State.