By Juan Saucedo
Daily Titan Staff Writer

Cal State Fullerton baseball junior shortstop Christian Colon feels optimistic about returning to the diamond in top shape next spring despite suffering a broken leg while playing for Team USA this summer.

The Team USA captain was injured on July 24 while playing against Canada at the 2009 Enbridge Northern Pipeline World Baseball Challenge in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.

Canadian Nic Lendvoy slid hard into second base in an attempt to disrupt a routine double play on a bunt in the top of the eighth inning.

Although Colon converted the double play, he was carried off the field with a broken tibia and fibula. Team USA won the game, but Colon couldn't play in the championship game against Germany two days after the collision.

"I didn't think about it because it's just something that's so routine," Colon said.  "I was trying to turn a double play on a bunt. I didn't think he was going to try to block it."

Colon said he has never experienced an injury like this in his career, but that the injury also came at the right time.

"It's the perfect time to have an injury because you have all this time to get ready for the season," he said. "I'm happy that I have six, seven months to get ready, and it takes three months for the bones to heal."

Fellow Titan junior Gray Brown, who played beside Colon last season, knows what Colon is going through due to rehabbing from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in high school.

"After having surgery, the most important thing is to get strength in your leg," Brown said. "But even more important is trying to get your confidence back."

It took a while for Brown to regain confidence in his knee after the injury. Trainers and coaches can help a player regain health, but they can't help them get their confidence back, he said. But Colon shouldn’t have a problem.

"Any injury is terrible news, but I wasn't worried because I heard it was a clean break and he's a hard working kid with a hard work ethic," said Brown.

Colon has been rehabbing his injury on campus at the baseball clubhouse.

"I feel good. It's not even as big as people think," Colon said. "I just broke my bones, and there weren't any torn ligaments."

Colon plans to help the healing process by icing the injury every day and dipping his leg in a pool.

"Once the bones heal, I can start working on getting movement," Colon said.

Coaches and trainers will make sure that Colon doesn't make any movements that could worsen the injury.

"We won't let the leash off of him until we hear from the doctors that he's ready," head coach Dave Serrano said.

The coaches will be keeping a close eye on Colon’s progress throughout the fall because he's an essential part of the squad, Serrano said.

Serrano often tells his players that nobody is more important than the team, but if the Titans do get Colon back next season the team would definitely benefit. However, he said that his team will be fine regardless.

"I'm very optimistic," said Serrano in a telephone interview. "I know Christian will do everything to get back one-hundred percent."

Serrano said that when Colon gets his strength back that they'll start him off with physical therapy under the close watch of a physician.

Colon turned 36 double plays last season for the Titans while batting .357 with eight home runs and 40 RBI’s.

He was also a part of the 2008 Team USA squad that finished a perfect 24-0 and won a gold medal at the FISU World Championship in the Czech Republic.

"I'll be back in November, and I'll be good," Colon said. "I'll be one-hundred percent."