'All my worth is through God': Texas A&M pitcher Nathan Dettmer says he is not defined by baseball
Despite pitching for the fifth-ranked college baseball team, Texas A&M University's Nathan Dettmer doesn’t let baseball define him through either the wins or the losses.
The 20-year-old shared his faith with the press Tuesday after leading the Aggies over Notre Dame 5-1 in a College World Series elimination game. Dettmer pitched seven innings without allowing a run and allowed only three hits.
During a post-game press conference, Dettmer told reporters he had struggled since the team was beaten by the University of Oklahoma last week in a game where he gave up seven runs and was pulled in the second inning. He said that mental battle was won — with a bit of help from teammate and fellow pitcher Micah Dallas.
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"He texted me that from one game, it doesn't define me. It doesn't define me as a person. And baseball doesn't really define me as a person," Dettmer told reporters.
"All my worth is through God. I just prayed to Him that night. And He just told me that that's not my story. He's got a plan for me and that one game wasn't it."
"I just have to trust in His plan," the sophomore continued.
After the 13-8 loss to Oklahoma last Friday, Dettmer was working on very little rest ahead of the Notre Dame matchup.
It didn't show.
Dettmer's strong performance propelled the Aggies (44-19) to a rematch with Oklahoma in the Bracket 1 final.
With six strikeouts and zero walks, Dettmer notched his longest outing on the mound since April, when he was named SEC conference pitcher of the week.
"I knew He had a plan for me and had success today, and it was awesome," Dettmer said. "Great feeling."
"His pitches had depth," Notre Dame's Brooks Coetzee told The Associated Press. "He had the sinker going. He had the fastball's run going, had the changeup going. Nothing was going straight, and he was pitching everybody differently. He didn't fall into tendencies."
Following the win, Dettmer shared a photo on his Instagram page of him pointing skyward with a caption quoting Proverbs 3:5: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding."
How did teammate Dallas describe Dettmer's outing?
"Absolutely amazing," he wrote on Instagram.
The Aggies fell short in their matchup Wednesday against Oklahoma, losing 5-1 to the Sooners and falling short of the Men's College World Series final.
