The ball never made it past the bat.
Instead, it ricocheted straight back into the mouth of St. John Neumann senior Gus Fusco.
For a moment, everything stopped.
“I saw some of my teeth come out,” Fusco said. “It was rough.”
On Friday the 13th, it felt fitting, just not in a way anyone expected.
What followed wasn’t just a scary moment in a baseball game against Archbishop McCarthy in mid-March, but a test of resilience. One that Fusco passed faster than almost anyone expected, and one that has since rippled through the Celtics’ locker room.
Fusco was doing something routine. He squared to bunt.
It’s a skill you have to be able to master in coach Charlie Maurer’s system, and one Fusco practices often.
This time, though, the ball didn’t drop softly in front of him. It came straight back. In a sport where quick reflexes are paramount, there was no time to react.
“Two fell off, and my front two got pushed back,” he said of his teeth.
In the immediate aftermath, Fusco caught a break. Within an hour, he was being treated, thanks to a connection to a doctor through someone close to the Celtics program. Without that quick access, the recovery process and the outcome could have looked very different if it weren’t for Daniel Winokur of WestShore Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and John Rexwinkle, whose son, Jack, plays on the team.
Instead, the focus quickly shifted to what came next. For weeks, normal life wasn’t normal. Eating became a challenge.
“I’m on a non-chew diet,” Fusco said. “I just swallow everything.”
The first two weeks were the hardest. Routines started to change. Even something as simple as a meal required adjustment and patience.
“It took a while to get used to,” Fusco said. “The first two weeks were rough, but now I’m settling in.”
Still, even then, Fusco’s mindset never drifted far from the field. He knows his value to the Celtics, especially with the program vying for a return to the Final Four for the first time since 2023. They start their quest on Saturday, April 25, by hosting a Region 1A-3 quarterfinal against St. Pete Canterbury.
“I knew it would take time,” he said. “But I knew I had to find a way back.”
Gus Fusco makes a quick return
That timeline, at least initially, didn’t seem realistic. Fusco was told it could be up to two months until he was back playing games. It was less than two weeks.
“They told him six to eight weeks,” Maurer said. “He still hasn’t eaten solid food… and he’s playing. That’s pretty unbelievable.”
Maurer has coached long enough to recognize toughness and grit. This, even by those standards, stood out. What stood out just as much was how Fusco approached the process.
“After the first week, he was cleared to hit off a tee,” Maurer said. “Next thing I know, he’s asking to hit live. I said no, and then he snuck into the turtle and started hitting. His dad’s my best friend, so he came to me and said, ‘I want to let him play.’ We put some parameters around it. Obviously, he’s all covered up, and he’s doing great.”
It’s the kind of effort that says as much about a player’s heart as any stat line.
To teammates, the initial scene carried a different kind of weight.
“When I walked out there… I thought he was gonna be gone the rest of the season,” said Anthony Kanellos, one of Fusco’s closest friends on the team.
Instead, it became a rallying point.
“It’s helped us come together as a team,” Kanellos said. “We’ve had more chemistry than in the past few years… that’s family.”
Moments like that, the kind that pause a game and shift perspective, don’t always lead to something positive. In this case, it did.
“It changes everything,” Maurer said. “Everybody knew he was tough and how elite of a kid he is. But to play through it and then perform through it is something pretty special. Our guys feed off of it.”
Gus Fusco doesn’t ease into return
When Fusco returned, he played like he was shot out of a cannon.
In his first game against Bonita Springs on March 26, Fusco was 2 for 2 with a pair of singles, a walk, two RBI, and a run scored. For safe measure, he added three stolen bases.
The Gus Fusco everyone knew was back.
“Pretty weird coming back,” he said. “It wasn’t normal at all. I was kind of nervous.”
With the quick return, he still had to make some adjustments.
To protect his mouth, Fusco turned to an unconventional solution: an airsoft-style protective mask, modified to shield the area while still allowing him to play.
“I was just researching stuff for something that looked kind of normal,” Fusco said. “I looked up plastic masks that cover your face, and I found this airsoft mask.”
Communication in the mask required small tweaks, and comfort took a little bit of time. But like everything else, Fusco adapted. He also shifted defensively, taking reps at second base instead of his normal spot in left field.
“I just wanted to be back out there,” he said.
Fusco still isn’t back to eating normally. Every day still requires a level of discipline most players never have to think about, but the perspective is different now.
“It doesn’t really get worse than that,” he said. “You just have to overcome it.”
And then there’s the detail that ties it all together. In the weeks since his return, Fusco has gone back to what started it all.
“I had a bunt last night (against Monsignor Pace), actually,” he said after St. John Neumann’s senior night win over Mariner on Thursday, April 9.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Just baseball again.
Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X at @NP_AlexMartin or via email: amartin@usatodayco.com. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: St. John Neumann’s Gus Fusco hasn’t let freak injury keep him from baseball
Reporting by Alex Martin, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
