BOONE, N.C. — Sports fans love comeback stories, and App State Softball has its own inspiring comeback story in junior pitcher
Sejal Neas, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at a young age.
Now in her third year at App State, a healthy Neas continues to excel as a top pitcher for the Mountaineers, competing with a battle-tested mentality shaped by the difficult challenges she faced early in her life.
Neas
was diagnosed when she was two and a half years old and would fight her cancer until she was about 5, when her fight resulted in her being declared cancer-free.
Neas went to St. Judes Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., for treatments, but being from Johnson City, Tenn., which is at the opposite end of the large state, traveling early on was difficult.
"When I was originally diagnosed, we drove a lot, like 9 or 10 hours," Neas said. "Sometimes, I would get airlifted depending on what my condition was."
Getting diagnosed at a young age leaves Neas with gaps in her memory of specifics from the journey, but the struggles of the time remain familiar.
Neas struggled with missing school early on, with having long stints at the hospital and being away from her family. She remembers frequenting a room, which she called the
"sleepy room," where she would go under anesthesia for bone marrow transplants from her spine and wake up disoriented, with machines hooked up to her body.
Despite those challenges, Neas had a good support system around her, with her parents, nurses and her faith there to assist her in the fight.
Some memories of her fight with leukemia are uplifting, especially when she found out when she was in remission.
When she originally found out that news, doctors ran more tests and discovered that the cancer was still present, but after more treatments, she was officially declared cancer-free a week after her original test results.
The nurses at St. Judes Hospital threw her a "NO-MO Chemo" party to celebrate her winning her fight against cancer. After that, Neas could participate in more activities that are staples of growing up, and she began playing sports.
Neas tried different sports, playing basketball, soccer and softball before deciding that softball was her sport of choice. Neas loved pitching, attributing some of that love to her early fight with cancer.
"I love the mental battle and all of the pressure, and I guess that's where my journey with A.L.L. comes from because it was a battle from day one," Neas said. "I feel like every time I go on the field it's a battle with my girls."
Neas continued with softball and attended Science Hill High School, where she earned all-conference honors during her freshman and sophomore seasons. She was named Pitcher of the Year in 2019 and played travel softball with the Carolina Elite 18U National team.
When choosing where she would continue her education in college, App State was not originally on her list, but with her family being relatively close to Boone and having the ability to watch her games, she made the decision to attend App State.
It's a decision she doesn't regret in any way.
Neas is currently living her life as a student-athlete who is cancer-free, and she faces no long-term effects from her childhood cancer. She gets check-ups every couple of years to make sure no cancer has come back.
To this point in her career at App State, going into a weekend home series against James Madison, Neas has totaled 183 strikeouts in nearly 300 innings. She has appeared in 71 games, making 43 starts, and earned a win on the mound 24 times.
This season, Neas has struck out 84 batters, including a season high of nine when she was on the brink of a no-hitter in a return to her hometown of Johnson City on Feb. 27. She was one out away in the seventh inning when ETSU recorded its only hit in a 1-0 victory by the Mountaineers.
From adversity at an early age to Division I softball success, Neas' comeback story is something that has impacted her life, and she also hopes it inspires others to believe in themselves.
"I'm not going to let it define me as a person or athlete," she said. "I was super sick then, but you wouldn't know that now."
