Caleb Davis, business finance senior, has dealt with a lot more than the average college senior.
Davis, a player on the OCU baseball team, is returning to school this semester after being diagnosed with cancer in the summer of 2019.
Davis said he has been playing baseball since he was five years old.
“I played all the sports,” Davis said. “I wrestled, played football, track, basketball, but then I realized when I was around 11 that baseball was what I wanted to pursue. It was my favorite, and it was what I was best at.”
Davis played baseball at Yukon High School, where he was recruited by Keith Lytle, assistant coach of OCU baseball.
Denney Crabaugh, head coach of OCU baseball, said Davis is a great player.
“He’s got a great attitude,” Crabaugh said. “He’s also got a great work ethic. He was a starter for us last year and a part-time starter his first two years. He’s a good, solid player, and he was second or third on the team for home runs last year in 2018.”
Right before the fall semester of 2019, Davis went to the doctor and discovered he had testicular cancer. When he went in for a follow up, the doctors discovered he had developed stage three lung cancer.
Davis underwent chemotherapy starting that fall and received his last round of treatments on Nov. 15.
Crabaugh said Davis would visit the team when he could.
“That’s one thing about it. He’s had a great attitude through all of this,” Crabaugh said. “He was positive about being able to come back and that he was going to beat it.”
Crabaugh said Davis’s teammates have shown a lot of support through the treatment.
“Right before he started chemo, we had a little team get together at his house,” he said. “We have these wristbands that say ‘Caleb strong’ on them that the guys wear, and we have some guys who have gone and sat with him while he did chemo.”
Crabaugh said the team also has T-shirts and sweatshirts that say “OCU Baseball, we are family” on them, along with the number 14, which is Davis’s number.
Davis said he has felt the encouragement from his teammates, especially when he knew he was going to lose his hair.
“The night before I started chemo, all of my teammates came over to my house in Yukon and shaved their heads with me so they all looked like me,” Davis said. “I’ve had teammates calling me and texting me because I wasn’t able to be at practice, just asking how I was doing.”
Davis said he appreciates the closeness of his team.
“I’ve seen baseball teams on the bigger levels where everyone is just for themselves,” he said. “My team is a lot more close-knit than other teams, and that’s why we’ve had a lot of success.”
Davis recently discovered that his cancer has gone into remission, and he will be returning to complete his degree in business finance.
Crabaugh said Davis will redshirt this semester in baseball and get stronger.
“We are just hoping he gets his strength back and jumps back into our lineup next year,” Crabaugh said.
Davis will graduate in the fall and plans on getting his masters in finance.
Davis said his baseball coaches have been inspiring, as well as Jack Pugh, the OCU strength and conditioning coach, and Lynette Martin, director of student success for the Meinders School of Business.
Davis said he would like to thank Kolin Marley, sports science senior, and Jake Patterson, business administration junior, for sitting with him through chemotherapy. He also thanked his girlfriend Sam Posey, dance pedagogy senior.
Davis said Posey was supportive during his treatment.
“She was a trooper even while dealing with her full, busy school schedule at OCU as well,” Davis said.
Posey said Davis has been selfless through the entire endeavor.
“Whenever times would get tough for him, he would never stop fighting,” Posey said. “He always made it a priority to make sure his loved ones were okay even through his really tough days. His mindset throughout this trial has been such an inspiration because he never chose to give in or let what he was going through bring him down.”B
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