From the Bench: Despite Torn ACL along with Surgery, BMS Baseball's Joseph McDonald Still Contributing
By Jeff Toquinto on April 20, 2025 from Sports Blog
Call it a maternal instinct or whatever you want, but Jamie Bailey McDonald’s is working quite well. If she was doubting it, she was not this past January.
She was at home during one of many brutally cold and equally snowy January days that wiped school off the calendar and set a lot of kids into outdoor mode. In particular, students, youngsters, and adults alike were making the trek to Compton Park during precipitation-filled weather to have some fun.
Jamie and her husband Randen McDonald’s son Joseph, 8th-grade student at Bridgeport Middle School, were among those that was part of the group getting in a little cold-weather fun.
“The kids had been going to Compton Park to take advantage of the snow and do some sled riding,” said Jamie. “They had been multiple times that month because of the snow.”
Heading to the park was not concerning. However, about 30 minutes later on one particular day that we’ll be talking about in length, something suddenly was different when her phone rang.
“One of his friends called me, and I saw the name and immediately had this bad feeling,” said Jamie. “I have a lot of Joseph’s friends phone number, but they usually don’t call me. I saw the name of one of his best friends, and my heart sank.”
The message from the youngster confirmed her instincts. Something was wrong.
“I was told Joseph was hurt. They said he couldn’t move much, and his leg was kind of sideways,” she said. “I immediately was asking was there any blood, was he talking; essentially anything. They just told me he was in a lot of pain.”
As it turned out, the boys were tubing in the park and Joseph and a friend were doing the maneuvering. This particular time, the two youngsters were too close to one of the few trees in the park and one youngster bailed. Joseph did not.
“He was backwards on the tube, and didn’t see it and didn’t bail. His leg bent back when he was thrown off the tube.”
The injury was serious. It would later be learned that he had a complete tear of his ACL. For good measure, he also injured his MCL. The 
injury would require surgery, and four weeks later he was at United Hospital Center and in the excellent hands of Dr. Joseph Fazalare, an orthopedic surgeon at the facility.
injury would require surgery, and four weeks later he was at United Hospital Center and in the excellent hands of Dr. Joseph Fazalare, an orthopedic surgeon at the facility.
“Dr. Fazalare said the surgery showed what they pretty much knew that it was a complete and total tear,” said Jamie. “They had to take a piece of his quad muscle to repair it.”
That was on March 12. Young Joseph McDonald, like anyone would be, was a bit apprehensive. However, along with trusting Dr. Fazalare, two of Jamie McDonald’s friends – Dr. Scott Ross and Dr. Chris Hagedorn were in the operating room as well.
“He knew all of them, and he knew Dr. Fazalare. I know he had the jitters, but thanks to the kindness of those doctors, he wasn’t panicked,” said Jamie. “The surgery went extremely well. We’re lucky to have had Dr. Fazalare.”
While that may seem like the hard part, the actual difficulty was Joseph knowing what was ahead. He learned he would need physical therapy at Bridgeport Physical Therapy, which was expected. However, he learned that a full recovery was in the future – likely in August.
“He knew he wouldn’t be able to play for Bridgeport Middle School this year,” said Jamie. “That, we knew, would be upsetting.”
For those that do not know, Bridgeport Middle School is among the schools that are part of the middle school baseball program that got started last year. Joseph was on the inaugural team, and was looking forward to seeing what he could do in year two – his final one as a
Brave.
Brave.
With playing out of the question, Joseph could have walked away and waited for his freshman year at Bridgeport High School and a return to travel baseball in the fall with Patriot League. Instead, something great happened instead.
“(Head) Coach (Gabe) DeVono and Coach (John) Calvert wanted him to be part of the team. He loves baseball, he loves being a team player, and he loves the game,” said Jamie, who is also an assistant coach. “He was thrilled to be able to dress and be a part of the team, even though he can’t play. He loves being involved and being with his friends.
“He cheers his teammates, his friends, at the games,” she continued, and mentioned he also has learned to handle the GameChanger application for the team. “If someone needs a pat on the back or congratulated coming off the field Joseph is the one that is happy to do it.”
Joseph agrees with his mother’s assessment.
“I love being there for my team and supporting my teammates,” he said.
Now, what the family has is an experience that could have been the worth thing to happen during his eighth-grade year to being one that is of value to Joseph and, perhaps more importantly, his peers and teammates.
“My husband and I wanted him to be involved in some capacity, but we weren’t sure how that would turn out because you have a 13-year-old missing out on playing his favorite sport,” Jamie said. “We feel a sense of pride with how it turned out, certainly better than we initially anticipated. He just wants to be around the game.
Father Randen also backed that assessment from Jamie as well.
“He loves playing baseball. He’s always done what’s best for his team and never questions why,” said Randen.
So, now Jospeh is officially a member of the BMS Braves baseball team. He suits up for every game and is making a difference. Not too bad for a young man who was in surgery a little more than a month ago.
“I can’t tell you how proud we are of him. For a kid who has to sit out of a lot of things, almost everything that he would usually be doing, 
he’s turned it into a positive experience,” Jamie said. “This will put him in the right frame of mind when August comes around.”
he’s turned it into a positive experience,” Jamie said. “This will put him in the right frame of mind when August comes around.”
All Joseph has to do is three sessions of physical therapy each week. He needs to follow the plan set out by Dr. Fazalare. And he needs to heal.
“By mid to late August, we hope to see him running fully, fishing, golfing, riding his bike and playing ball,” said Jamie. “We’ll be looking out for him and know his friends and teammates will be too.”
They certainly will be looking out for him. After all, instead of throwing in the towel he decided to be a part of the team and lookout for the rest of the Braves baseball team. That is what good teammates and friends do.
Editor's Note: Top photo shows Joseph McDonald shortly after surgery, while his knee is shown in the second photo with staples and still swollen. The third photo is of Joesph at physical therapy, while he's shown handling business in the Braves dugout in the next image. Bottom photo is of the McDonald family. All photos courtesy of Jamie and Randen McDonald.
