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thedrifter
05-20-09, 10:03 AM
Meadow Creek star chooses military over baseball

Shane Doonan picked joining the Marines over attempting a possible baseball career.

By DAVID La VAQUE, Star Tribune

Last update: May 20, 2009 - 9:19 AM

Shane Doonan is pondering his legacy within the Meadow Creek Christian baseball program on a new level.

A recent discussion with Saints coach Phil Almeroth about retired jersey numbers led Doonan to ask, "Coach, if I come back from Iraq in a box, will you retire my number?" Almeroth recalled, adding: "He was joking, but I'm sure that crops into his mind."

Doonan enlisted in the Marine Corps on March 20, ending nearly two years of indecision about whether to emulate Corey Koskie -- a former Minnesota Twin he looked up to -- or his neighbor, the boy who went to boot camp and returned as a Marine and a man.

"As soon as I found out, I thanked him, because that's not something a lot of kids are willing to do," Almeroth said.

Choosing the service over the show did not come easy for Doonan. At the start of his junior year, he was certain he would enlist. But a strong varsity baseball season made him reconsider. He hit .469 from the plate and went 3-0 as a pitcher with a 2.14 ERA. He participated in the Gopher Classic Junior Showcase and received letters from a handful of colleges.

Meadow Creek, located in Andover, is the No. 1 seed in Class 1A, Section 4 this season. The Saints begin postseason play at 4:30 p.m. Thursday by playing host to Minnesota Transitions. And while Doonan remains an integral part of the team's success, he is likely to fall short of last season's numbers.

"I think a lot of it has to do with getting distracted," he said. "I'm looking forward to going into the Marines, and I'm trying to get ready for that. I'm not really 100 percent focused on baseball. It's kind of sad, but it's true."

Baseball started to become secondary in the summer of 2007, when Doonan witnessed the effect of Marine boot camp on his neighbor.

"He came back and I was like, 'That is what I want to be,'" Doonan said. "He just had this confidence and you could tell he was proud of who he was."

Becoming a Marine, like his grandfather who served in the Korean War, required Doonan to accept realities about his future. He found baseball scholarships to be less lucrative than he hoped and wanted to avoid graduating in debt. He also leveled with himself about his passion for college and pondered how far a degree would even take him in an unstable economy and job market.

Though uncertain about his long-term goals with the Marine Corps -- Doonan scored well on an aptitude test and has several job options -- he hopes to eventually deploy to Afghanistan or Iraq sometime after boot camp, which begins in November or December in San Diego.

Doonan participated in a weekend boot camp in April at the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills. A Friday afternoon arrival meant missing out on Meadow Creek's game against New Life Academy of Woodbury. And camp ended Sunday, forcing him to cancel his date for Saturday's Anoka High School prom.

He traded baseball and dancing for a drill instructor screaming him off a bus, a 5 a.m. wake-up call and long days of marching, physical training and classes on First Aid, navigation and self-defense. He got in his car to leave Sunday morning and reflected on his weekend.

"I asked myself, 'Was that beneficial?' And I thought, 'Yes, that was awesome. That's exactly what I want to do,'" he said.

His father, Kelly, asked much tougher questions.

"He laid it out there," Shane said. "He asked me, 'Can you take a life? And can you do it without thinking about it?' To be honest, getting messed up in the head is one of my fears."

After much thought, Doonan arrived at an answer.

"They are shooting at me and my buddies, and I'm going to shoot back with the intent to kill," he said. "I'm going to go at them 100 percent, because that's my life."

Doonan, a nondenominational, Baptist-leaning Christian, said becoming a Devil Dog does not conflict with his spirituality. He said the fellow parishioners at Oak Park Community Church in Blaine are keeping him in their prayers.

"It's not a surprise to me to see kids like Shane, who have a pretty good foundation in their relationship with God, be able to make that commitment," said Almeroth, who has a nephew serving in the Air Force.

Ellie