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He pitched a and allowed just COLUMN: Doud thrown a four hits in a 4-0 win over Rialto that gave San curve, but persevered Marino the CIF championship. Doud finished 9-0 that season thanks to a wicked split-finger he developed early By Miguel A. Melendez, Staff Writer and relied on for much of his success the Posted: 05/22/2009 10:58:28 PM PDT following season. FIFTEEN years ago, a freshman by the name of Josh Doud pitched the game of his life. Doud put together another strong performance as a sophomore in leading San Marino to its last That season, the San Marino High School Rio Hondo League title. The Titans' quest to baseball team had been riding the arm of the defend their CIF crown fell short in the second lanky, 6-foot-3 right-hander who led them to round in perhaps the start of unforeseen the promised land. events.

Angel Stadium was site of the 1994 CIF- And much like the San Marino baseball program, Southern Section Division IV championship game, Doud weathered a heavy storm before clear skies the stage and scenery much too grand for young ensued. nerves. He wasn't the same his junior season, with his Legendary San Marino Mickey MacNamee performance on the mound having little to do - himself a baseball institution having served with pitching mechanics. more than three decades as Titans coach - pulled Doud to the side before sending him to Doud's parents divorced after his sophomore the mound. year and he moved between relatives. At one point he moved to an uncle's ranch just outside "I remember he came out and said something of Austin, Texas. like, `Are you nervous?' and I said, `Yes, very,' " Doud recalled. "And he responded, `Good, or else He returned his junior year to San Marino where there would be something wrong with you.' " he quarterbacked the Titans football team, but his focus was suspect once baseball season came Doud sat alone in the dugout, with his around. teammates - including current Titans coach Mack Paciorek - keeping their distance to avoid Doud moved back to Texas his senior year but jinxing his impressive performance. was ruled ineligible.

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His potential, however, proved too much to Their truck was forced to the shoulder by overlook. another car driven by a woman also under the influence. Doud was drafted by the in the 15th round of the 1998 "It was a two-lane highway," Doud said. "My amateur draft. The likes of Mark Prior, J.D. Drew friend got on the shoulder to avoid hitting her. and were drafted that year, too. He tried to get back onto the highway but lost control." In the 1998 May issue of Baseball America, a baseball analyst wrote, "A lot of mystery The truck rolled over 15 times. Doud's friends surrounds Josh Doud ... He was declared were ejected. One broke his arm and the other ineligible to play but worked out on the side for had a barbed wire go through the right side of scouts and grabbed their attention with a his lung. fastball in the low- to mid-90s." Doud had it worse. Doud wasn't so much a mystery as he was deprived of good direction, something that As the truck rolled, Doud could feel the pain of became reality when one bad choice altered his his right hand tearing off. life forever. Doud still was conscious when the rolling He enrolled at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, stopped but went into a state of shock. where he was supposed to continue pitching before the Orioles would sign him to a contract. He took off his shirt, picked up his hand and wrapped it. One week after he was drafted, Doud and two of his teammates were celebrating the end of the His hand eventually was reattached but Doud first week of school. went through three painful years of therapy.

"Everyone was like, `Hey, the weekend is here,' " "I think if we hadn't been drinking we wouldn't Doud, 29, said via telephone from Texas. "We have been out there at three in the morning," were 18 years old and it was our first weekend in Doud said. "But you're 18 years old and feel college." you're bullet-proof. Clearly that wasn't the case."

They had been drinking all day and got in a truck And just like that, Doud's potential vanished. to head home. Doud wasn't at the wheel but the inevitable still occurred. The Orioles scout that drafted him visited but also parted ways.

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"I guess I'm a statistic," Doud said, "one of those "In a kind of sick way the accident was the best players that was great but never ended up thing that happened to me," Doud said. "It gave playing ball." me the opportunity to make some changes in my life and learn some hard lessons. We don't want Doud started drinking heavily and using meth to learn them the hard way but sometimes you and heroin. have to."

It's been 11 years since the accident and Doud Like any , it's not always how you start still has only 50 percent use of his hand. But he's but rather how you finish the game. also seen the light at the end of a long tunnel, and it started when he met his wife Susan, a The same applies to the game of life. paralegal in the Texas state attorney general's office. [email protected]

He was one month clean from drugs when he (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4485 met her and she took him to a hospital for detox. He's since been clean and sober, going on six years.

She also led him to Austin Christian Fellowship, where he now works as a facilities assistant and plans on finishing his degree in business administration.

"I sound like a broken record," Doud said, "but if you put yourself in bad situations bad things are going to happen, so don't be surprised when they do.

"I have a very colorful story and I share it to kids at hospitals and DUI classes. I kind of see it as a gift."

Doud and his wife have been married seven years, have a 3-year-old daughter, Sealy, and recently bought a two-story home in Austin.

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