Flashback to 2017. The Quarterfinal Round of the PIAA Baseball State Tournament. On the mound of the field at Pottsville High School.
Dillon Marsh, the Crusaders’ ace, was trying to battle alongside his teammates toward a run at a State Title, but instead, he was battling his body.
The then-junior wasn’t himself for the past few months. He had lost 25 pounds. He was getting sick and his family didn’t know why. And just a week earlier, Dillon found out that he was diabetic.
“We really didn’t know what was going on during the season,” he explained. “I was eating a ton and still losing weight. I wasn’t sure if I wasn’t working out enough. The guys would go out for pizza after a game, and I would go home and sleep.”
Adding to the confusion was the fact that he was tested for diabetes earlier in the season and the results didn’t show a high blood sugar. But as he kept getting sick, he went back in search of answers.
“We found out that the machine was broken and my blood sugar was through the roof. They gave me some insulin to help me get through the next few days, but I was beyond sick on the mound that day. My velocity was down and I just wasn’t myself.”
Catholic High lost that quarterfinal contest to end a remarkable season. Marsh felt a little responsible that he couldn’t deliver a state title to his senior teammates. His mother barely paid attention during the game because she was on the phone with her son’s doctors, trying to figure out how to help her son.
Dillon spent four day at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia after the game, and he immediately began feeling better. He was learning about the disease and how to handle it, both physically and mentally.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” he said. “That was the best thing that could have happened for my health.”
Dillon felt instant relief in the hospital. About a week or two later, he was feeling normal, or as he came to realize, his new normal.
Technology has made the transition easy for a 17-year-old. He has a Bluetooth monitor on his arm that communicates with his phone. At anytime, he can easily find out what his blood sugar levels are or if he needs to increase his medicine.
“I just push a button and I can eat,” he added.
On a day when he has practice, his insulin is kicked down, and on a normal day, it goes up. On a day when he pitches, he knows that he has to eat more and really monitor it.
“During a game, I need to drink a lot of Gatorade, or something with sugar in it in case it crashes. I have to drink a lot of water, too, especially if it’s hot because I get tired easily.”
With his new found routine, Dillon and the Crusaders picked up right where they left off last season. They won the District Title again and, as luck would have it, reached the Quarterfinals of the State Tournament in early June.
Dillon was called on to pitch, on the mound of the field at Pottsville High School.
Thoughts of the previous year had to be going through his mind. You know his mother was thinking about it. After what had happened to her son one year ago to the day, how could she not?
This time the outcome was a little different. Dillon led his team to a victory, tossing a no-hitter while striking out 16 batters.
“I just wanted to throw strikes and trust my defense. Once we took the early lead, I could just pitch and have fun. But being on the same field, that just made it special. It allowed me to move past everything and it was a great moment. And to do it with those guys, it was a great team to do it with.”
Dillon was called on in relief during the semifinals to help the Crusaders advance to the State Championship Game. On June 15, he tossed another complete game, leading Lancaster Catholic to its first baseball title in school history.
“It means the world to be the best in the state at our level, especially doing it with the group of guys I played with.”
Up next for Dillon is a scholarship to pitch at Kentucky. In fact, he left to take classes during the summer semester, to get acclimated to college life and SEC baseball, the day after winning the State Title.