(Rolling Prairie) — Exactly one year ago — May 8, 2025 — New Prairie’s baseball program had seven players and two coaches injured when the team bus was struck by a box truck.

On Friday, the one-year anniversary of the crash, Sports Michiana attended the Cougars’ practice and found a team thankful for the blessings that have come out of the accident, including the presence of Lucas Bradshaw, a player who was thrown from the bus and suffered a traumatic brain injury that kept him hospitalized for four months.

“There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t think about it,” admits New Prairie head coach Mark Schellinger. “We’re extremely excited to have Lucas with us every day. It’s a bright spot for us, being able to see him and talk to him. He brings a little levity to us, perspective too. At the end of the day, it’s more than just baseball.”

The teammates of the injured suffered with them, but they also felt the embrace of the community.

“Obviously, that was a horrible, horrible day,” laments Cougar infielder Reed Robinson. “It changed a lot of people for life and we’ll always remember that. There’s a lot of lessons to be learned from that and one of them is you always have to be strong with the community. Our community has supported us all the way, thick and thin, and we can’t express how thankful we are for that. It just shows how much your high school and your community mean to you.”

“It definitely helped us grow together as a team, but I think we grew more together as a community,” echoes New Prairie senior Sully Kress. “I’ve heard people I’ve never even met before asking how we are. I’m just really proud to be a part of that.”

Schellinger adds the baseball community has also been supportive.

“Coaches ask constantly how our guys are doing,” notes the New Prairie head coach. “That part of it really puts things in perspective and makes it easy to enjoy the game.”

New Prairie visits 3A #6 Hanover Central for a doubleheader Saturday and then has a big two-game series with 4A #4 Penn next week. Sports Michiana will cover the first game of the series Tuesday night at Greg Dikos Field, with first pitch at 5:30 p.m.