St. Augustine's Meduri returns from injury

Anthony Meduri was thinking triple.

The St. Augustine Prep senior ripped the first pitch of the game against Malvern Prep on April 18 down the left-field line at the Tom Heinkel Tournament at Bishop Eustace.

"I didn't know it rolled under the fence [for a ground-rule double]," Meduri said.

Rounding second with his sights set on third, Meduri felt something pop in his right hamstring.

Nearly half of his senior season was gone in an instant.

"Extremely frustrating," Meduri said of the injury that kept him off the field for three weeks.

The good news for Meduri and the Hermits is that the outfielder was back in the lineup Saturday in a 2-1 loss to Eastern in the first round of the Diamond Classic.

Meduri still is hobbling a bit. He was laboring down the first-base line on a pair of groundouts.

But he also lined a two-out single that might have tied the score in the fifth, except it was hit so hard that St. Augustine coach Mike Bylone held the runner at third.

"It's good to have him back," Bylone said. "Hopefully, he keeps getting better and better."

Meduri, who lives in Columbus in northern Burlington County and drives an hour each way to St. Augustine, tried to help his team during his time on the sideline.

"On the bench, cheering the guys," said Meduri, a Binghamton University recruit. "It was really tough if we were losing and there was nothing I could do physically to help."

Meduri knows he has about two or three weeks remaining in his high school career. He's hoping to make up for lost time.

"Our main goal is the states, the playoffs, and that's still there for us," Meduri said. "I'm just trying to end my senior year as best as I can."

@PhilAnastasia

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