How Gadsden City's Gabriel Brito battled back from two major injuries back to the diamond

Gabriel Brito, a multisport star athlete for Gadsden City has completed his full return to the diamond after battling through injuries over the last year.

Brito made it back for the end of football season, setting a new school record for longest field goal before jumping into bowling season. There he helped lead the Titans back to the state meet for the first time in a few season. The return to the diamond means a full circle to where the injuries caught up to him last year.

Going into the 2023 baseball season, Brito already was dealing with a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder that he injured in November of 2022. That injury necessitated a move to first base from pitcher, but during an early season practice, Brito ended up tearing his ACL, ending his junior season early.

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"When he went down last year, I got physically ill, like legitly physically ill," coach Scott Brackett said. "I thought I was going to vomit. I knew he was going to be back, knew he was going to work his tail off. I mean he came back seven months post surgery and kicked a 52-yard field goal, that's just how impressive that kid is."

From there it meant surgery on the knee first, the day after the injury occurred. He did three months of hard rehab on his knee to prepare himself for the surgery on his shoulder. That started a countdown to the football season, Brito was able to play a bit but it ended on a high note with the record. While the baseball season didn't get off to the best start, with the Titans needing to early March to pick up their first win, Brito is happy to be back out there.

"It feels great to be on the field because the last I was on the field we had a pretty good team but then just got hurt. I was very excited to be back," Brito said. "...So the knee feels great but the shoulder sometimes get sore, throwing. Batting is just fine."

For Brackett, he knew that Brito would be back this year, now as a half bionic man. Brito's mental side of his game is what allowed him to start last year before the knee injury and even now as he comes back.

"I'll tell you what he's the bionic man on his left side," coach Brackett said. "He is a professional, that kids baseball IQ is off the chart, he knows what he needs to do. He gets mad when he doesn't do that, that's the competitor in him."

Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports and Jacksonville State athletics for the Gadsden Times. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: How Gadsden City's Gabriel Brito battled back from two major injuries