After appearing in only one game in 2020 and six in the early portion of the 2021 spring season, Sealy High alum and Texas redshirt freshman Justin Eckhardt saw his summer opportunity in California as both a redemption tour and a coming-out party.

Coming off Tommy John surgery and the pandemic-shortened season, Eckhardt pitched the most he had since high school this summer for the Santa Barbara Foresters of the California Collegiate League after he joined the team around the fourth of July.

Eckhardt helped string together a 21-game win streak in the second half of the season that culminated in a second consecutive National Baseball Congress World Series title for Santa Barbara and All-American and World Series MVP honors (2-0 Record, 12 Innings, 13 K’s, 0 BB, 0 ER, 4 Hits allowed in the tournament) for the member of Sealy High School’s Class of 2018.

He said those honors were no small feat after he completed his comeback from surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow.

“Coming back from Tommy John surgery is nothing that can be taken lightly, you’ve got to put your work in every single day to get back to where you were or better, if not better. It was definitely a humbling experience,” Eckhardt said Monday. “Me not being able to pitch for a month and a half in competition kind of upset me but just knocking the rust off these past couple years has got me back in the groove of things. I think that was a big thing going to Santa Barbara was for me to fine-tune the areas I needed to improve coming off our past season and getting my confidence back in all the abilities that I know I’m capable of. It’s definitely a humbling experience but I’ve absolutely loved every bit of the journey it’s brought me on all the things I’ve gotten better at along the way.”

Eckhardt’s arrival out west was delayed after the Longhorns were one win away from the championship series in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. but he said he fit into the Friday-night starting role after another pitcher left for the MLB draft.

At the time, Eckhardt said the team was struggling a bit and split the four games he saw before the midpoint break. He said a group of players then sat down with Manager Bill Pintard ahead of the second half and told him they wouldn’t lose again.

The Foresters held their promise and won their last 21 games which carried them to the NBC World Series in Wichita, Kan.

“Our coach was kind of upset at the (halfway point). During the break, a group of us sat down and looked at areas we can improve our game then a couple of us sat down with Coach Pintard and told him that we were going to be alright and our best baseball was ahead of us,” Eckhardt said. “After the first half of the season break, we just went on a 21-game win streak and everybody was having fun. We won a lot of close games, but all that matters is that everybody was having fun and that’s when good baseball started to be played.”

Returning to the root of enjoying baseball was another item on Eckhardt’s to-do list out west.

“Just going back to having fun with baseball, that was a big thing about me going to California was remembering how to have fun with the game and not put too much pressure on myself,” Eckhardt said.

He’ll look to carry that mindset into the 2022 spring season but before then, returned to campus over the weekend and started rekindling friendships with teammates.

“Very excited, I went to the field today (Monday) and got to see some of the guys for the first time and congratulate them on their summer seasons, a lot of them saw what my summer season was like and they’re excited to have me back. The coaching staff was happy to have me back as well,” Eckhardt said. “We’ve got some new guys coming in so I think it’ll be good for myself to teach them off the experiences I’ve had along with a lot of the other older guys on the team, we can be coaches and teachers for all the young guys coming in. We have a lot of returners coming back too so I think we’ll make a good run in the 2022 season.”

From Tommy John surgery in 2018 to competing in two World Series less than 60 days apart in 2021, Eckhardt thinks he’s right around where he was at before the surgery.

“Going through the day-to-day grind of coming back from surgery and not knowing whether you’re gonna have quite the success that you had before surgery, it was a relief,” he said of winning the championship. “I’d like to say I’m back to where I was, if not better.”