Fitchburg's Adams `lucky'.

Byline: Chad Garner

COLUMN: HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

Fitchburg High senior pitcher Peter Adams appreciates every time he steps on the field.

Adams loves baseball, but he treasures life even more.

Adams' life and favorite sport were almost taken away from him on April 11 last year.

On that night, Adams and his sister, Mary, were involved in a horrific car accident in Leominster. Adams, who was driving a bright red 1993 Pontiac Trans Am, hit a stone wall head on and both had to be extricated from the car. They were taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center -Memorial Campus and placed in the intensive care unit.

Adams suffered a broken left leg, broken jaw in four places, a lacerated spleen, lost his front teeth, and had several puncture wounds, cuts and countless number of stitches.

"I was very, very lucky," Adams said. "I probably should have been dead. I saw a picture of my car and then realized my injuries weren't that bad. My car was in awful, awful shape."

His sister suffered head trauma and bruises on her stomach and face.

Adams was released from the hospital after a week to recover at home.

"My stomach dropped because I didn't expect it to be that bad," Fitchburg senior center fielder B.J. Hyvarinen recalled of a visit he and some teammates paid Adams at home. "I saw how bad his face was and he was laying on the couch ... it was horrifying to see a friend go through something like that."

His sister, however, was at UMass for a week before being sent to the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston to recover further.

Adams was out of school for three weeks and was told to take it easy because of the lacerated spleen. But he began to recover quickly and was walking on his broken leg after only 18 days.

"The doctor told me that the reason why I healed so quickly is because I was in good shape," Adams said.

Fitchburg coach Dan Roy wasn't surprised with Adams' ultra-quick recovery.

"He's always been a hard-working kid," Roy said. "It's unbelievable. If there was a kid who could do it, it would be him. He was determined to play baseball again."

Adams played in only one game before last year's accident, the season opener. He played the last three innings in right field. In two at-bats, he hit an RBI single to shallow right field and popped out to right.

It wasn't the junior season Adams was hoping for. All he could do was think about what it would have been like to pitch on the varsity. The accident happened on a Friday night, with Adams scheduled to get his first start on the mound on Monday against Wachusett.

"It was motivation (to return healthy this year)," Adams said. "I was more disappointed for the team because we were already short on pitching. I was more frustrated because I let the team down."

Adams missed the rest of the season, but is back stronger than ever this year.

"We knew he was a hard worker and he'd do whatever he could to get back," Fitchburg senior pitcher/first baseman David Ptak said. "He's the one kid who's most fired up about the season. It's great to have him back. He's our ace and we need him on the mound."

Adams, a right-hander, got the start in the opener for Fitchburg against Groton-Dunstable last Tuesday. He pitched four innings and left with the lead, but the Red Raiders fell, 13-10.

"He was ecstatic, he was so pumped to be out there pitching," Hyvarinen said.

Baseball aside, Adams is just happy to be alive.

"I do things differently now; I try harder at things," Adams said. "I do things like I don't have a second chance ... I already got my second chance."

Setting the bar high

A tip of the cap to Emile Johnson at Leominster High. The 39-year Blue Devil coach - the winningest coach in state history - got his 650th career win after third-ranked Leominster won its opener, 20-1, at Doherty last Thursday.

"We were just talking that if someone got a head job right now they'd have to go undefeated for 30 years and they'd still be 50 wins behind," Leominster pitching coach Sid Rafuse said. "I think it's a mark that will never be broken."

NAME: FITCHBURG HIGH SCHOOL; LEOMINSTER HIGH SCHOOL