Student Athlete of the Week Sergio Pimentel

Hitting a baseball, already one of the most difficult tasks in all of sports, became significantly more challenging for Sergio Pimentel when he suffered an orbital fracture last summer.

Pimentel's injury occurred when a baseball struck him in the face, tearing a muscle in his right eye that now keeps his pupil permanently dilated. Along with struggling to see in bright environments, Pimentel's right eye now interprets straight lines as curved.

Little came easy for Pimentel early in his senior season on the Niwot High School varsity baseball team. In his first 27 at-bats, the middle infielder struck out 15 times and managed only two hits.

"At the beginning of the season, it was pretty rough," Pimentel said. "I had to learn how to play all over again because of my eye injury."

Pimentel was even thinking about cutting his high school career short amid his struggles at the plate.

"There were days where I wanted to quit," Pimentel said. "There were days I didn't think there was any hope."

With some help from his closest group of supporters, Pimentel changed his perspective on the situation and better results soon followed. He closed the regular season with four hits in Niwot's final four games, producing three RBIs along the way.

"I was victimizing myself a lot. 'I'm sucking right now because I can't see properly.' It probably did have something to do with it, but lately, I've changed my mentality to just go and play," Pimentel said. "Go do what you can and go try to have fun."

"When I play, I try and play for the team. I know I wasn't performing, but I know what I bring to the table. I know that I could be valuable to the team if I get back to where I was. That was really a big motivator. My dad was also pushing me to keep going at it. He's definitely my biggest supporter."

Through it all, Pimentel remained a valuable veteran on head coach Ken Rosales' Niwot roster.

"He's that quiet leader," Rosales said. "He doesn't say a whole lot, but he backs (teammates) up and you know that he has your back. He's gonna give it his all and it shows on the field."

On Thursday, May 9, Niwot's four seniors - Pimentel, Bo Gardner, Brock Rothstein, and Johnny Wu - played in their final high school home game. Battling through plenty of emotions, Pimentel recorded one hit and an RBI in the Cougars' 11-4 win over Northridge High School.

"It was a pretty emotional day for me, to be honest," Pimentel said. "I just kept thinking about all the work that I've put in throughout my whole life and all the support that I've gotten from my parents helping me to get through this challenge."

After graduation, Pimentel plans on working for his father's painting business.