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Sauer overcomes, excels en route to Semoball Awards Comeback Athlete victory
Against all odds, John-Paul Sauer made it happen. Recovering from a torn ACL, signing with Tulane University and finishing his senior season with Jackson baseball undefeated, the kid never let adversity get in the way of pure dominance.
The Indians pitcher was an obvious choice for the 2024 Semoball Comeback Athlete of the Year sponsored by the St. Louis Cardinals.
No athlete in the area could get the hang of Sauer, cutting up offenses all year long as he marched out to one of the best résumés in Southeast Missouri.
Holding Dexter scoreless in a 5-0 victory to claim the SEMO Conference title in early May, it was the staple win in a tremendous year for Jackson as the Indians steamrolled to an outstanding 25-8 record.
The injury, sustained just before the start of the Jackson football season, was a drastic one. Deciding to return to the gridiron, the quarterback-turned-tight end got the worst news imaginable.
A torn ACL can take up to a year, oftentimes more to recover before an athlete can return to play. It didn’t just put him out of the football season, but very likely the baseball season seven months later.
Much more than this, it can take up to two years before an athlete fully, 100 percent recovers from this type of injury.
At the risk of losing his shot with the Tulane Green Wave out of New Orleans, one of the best schools in the country with an acceptance rate of just above 11 percent, he needed to make it happen, and he did.
Sauer defied the odds, coming back at the start of April and pitching some of the best ball of his career as Jackson just kept winning.
Signing his National Letter of Intent to continue his career at Tulane on April 12, the sensational senior put a bow on what’s been a wonderful career in the red and black.
Despite Jackson’s early exit this year, a game in which Sauer was sidelined in preparation for a later district matchup, his time at Jackson is one that won’t soon be forgotten.
Getting started early as a part of Jackson’s state championship football squad in 2020, Sauer’s biggest accomplishment in a Jackson uniform came when he closed out some big games in the Indians’ 2023 baseball run.
Shutting the door on Lafayette to claim Jackson’s first-ever quarterfinal victory, the then-junior doubled down with a complete-game, one-run-allowed 2-1 victory over Nixa to claim third in Class 6.
Now, he’s etched in the history of the hallowed halls at Jackson High as a perennial example of resiliency and tenacity, the hallmarks of being a Jackson Indian.