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By Josh Preston
Driftwood Sports Writer
“Tanabe, Chri grounded out to 3b (1-0); Sheridan, Jo advanced to second.” This line in the box score, recorded on the last day of March in 2010, was the beginning of a long, difficult road for the University of New Orleans' current First Base Coach and Student Assistant,
Kal Bonura.
“It was on a two hop ground ball to his right…he actually had a nice play, showed some good arm strength,” said Kenny Bonura, Kal's father who has close ties to UNO.
The ceremonial toss around the infield after an out ensued, but Kenny could see that something was wrong with his son, “When they were throwing the ball around…he was looking at his fingers,” Kenny recalled, “he just didn't look right.”
Kenny was correct. Kal had just suffered a nerve transposition in his elbow, an injury that causes pain from the elbow down to the fingers -- it can be linked directly to the stress put on the nerves from continuous throwing.
Kal was making his first start in a Privateer uniform as a redshirt freshman against Brown University when the injury occurred. He had made his debut with the squad over a month ago and played sporadically over the next month before having his freshman year, and eventually his playing career, slip away.
“I made a throw in the third inning and felt a pop in my elbow,” said Kal who finished the day without a hit in 4 at bats in his first start as a Privateer. “It wasn't until I woke up the next day that I knew something serious was wrong.”
Over the next 16 months, Kal would learn just how serious the injury was, as he heard that same “pop” in his elbow twice -- once in December of 2010, and again in September of 2011. The first two “pops” resulted in surgeries for Kal, until the final one in September ended his hopes of playing for good.
“He's pretty competitive,” said Kenny with a chuckle reflecting back on his son's first college start, “and when he got the opportunity to play I knew he wasn't coming out.”
Kal's father was quite the player himself as he was the starting second baseman for the Privateers 1984 roster that reached the College World Series. He was also an assistant on UNO's coaching staff for six years, beginning in 1997, and Kal was rarely far from his father's side during that time.
“Coach (Randy) Bush was fantastic about letting me take him on the road,” said Kenny, “He was tight with the players, he took batting practice with us, he took ground balls with us...” and after pausing for a moment reflecting on his son's injury said, “he wanted that life, and that's where I noticed it kind of hurt him a little bit, because it's really what he wanted to do.”
Baseball was in his heart, but Kal's athletic talent extended beyond the baseball diamond. In addition to being named to the all-district team two separate years in baseball at Holy Cross High School in New Orleans, he was also an all-state football player in 2008, hauling in passes from UNO's own Chris Brady, quarterback of the Privateers club football team in 2009 and 2010.
“I made it clear early in the recruitment process that I was going to go for baseball instead of football,” said Kal, who was recruited by schools for both sports, including UNO, which seemed to be a perfect fit.
“I think my dad coaching here and me always being around UNO made me want to experience something different,” said Kal, “…and I didn't want to go somewhere just because of who my dad was. I wanted to make my own career path.”
To do that, Kal decided Southeastern University was the best fit, but soon came to the conclusion that Hammond was not the right place for him. He returned home to UNO before the start of the 2010 baseball season.
“It's been a rough little ride for him,” Kenny said, referring to both the transfer and elbow surgeries, “but he's a tough cookie, he can handle it,” he said proudly.
Kal is doing so by moving on to the next step in his baseball career, “I knew if I didn't get a chance to play pro ball I would be a coach for as long as I can remember,” he said.
And now, Kal is fulfilling that dream as he coaches players he played with just last year, “It's kind of weird having a player that you've always played with as your coach,” said Pitcher, Cory Meyers, who is currently suffering from an elbow injury of his own, “but they respect him and it works.”
“My dad has taught me so much about being a coach,” said Kal of his father who currently coaches Chalmette High School's ninth grade team while assisting with the varsity, “especially how important the mental aspect of coaching is, being able to get the players to believe in themselves and each other.”
The two are in very different stages of their coaching careers at this point, but have not ruled out the possibility of someday coaching alongside one another, “Yea I'd love to do that,” said Kenny. “It would be a dream!”
