USD Magazine, Summer 2002

"-([o moment m a flt season of great moments was as sweet to Bagley as the eighth inning at Pepperdine. As he watched team– mate Assael walk co rhe plate, Bagley knew the odds were against yet another miracle come– back. Bur he also knew his teammates, like himself, refused to quit. Assael pounded a double, driving in

"He came out when he was just sick as a dog ," says Bagley's father, Ken . "A lot of kids wouldn 't have done that, but no one could keep David away. Sometimes he'd come and just sit in the dugout and watch, but he was there." Gradually, the scales showed the weight coming back. By the time the 2002 season began, Bagley was back at third base and intimidating opposing pitchers when he came to the plate. " It was tough," he says of enduring the illness, " but I can honestly say I appreci– ate baseball more because of it. We had some rough times in the season, and before I was sick I probably would have dealt with it differently, let it get me down or panic . But there were times when I thought I'd never get back on the field, so I savored every bit of (th is season) ."

As his teammates hugged and high-fived, senior Joe Lima clutched his graduation mortar board in the same hand as his cham– pionship plaque, and hugged his dad in front of the Torero dugout. "(To be at commencement) would have been nice," Lima says, "but I didn't feel bad continued on page 33

freshman Freddie Sandoval and setting up a rally in which the Toreros built a two-run lead. This rime rhe lead held up, and in dra– matic fashion USD won its first wee championship. The outpouring of emotion on the field easily rivaled rhe joy felt by the graduates in Alcala Park that day.

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