Tyler Traasdahl was finishing up a three-sport, sophomore season at Mesa Mountain View in April  2010. Tangling with Skyline High at HoHoKam Park, Traasdahl got an opportunity to play for the varsity for the first time.

He made good use of it in his first at-bat. Traasdahl launched a long home run to right field at the spring home of the Chicago Cubs. It easily cleared 350 feet -- the distance down the foul-line at HoHoKam -- and probably was closer to 390 feet when it landed. An exclamation point to a season that saw perform as a starter at the  junior varsity level in football, basketball and baseball.

Toro varsity coaches were anxious to have Traasdahl play for them the next two years after watching him excel at the lower level. Other than a broken pinky finger suffered in football, that required insertion of a pin and several missed games, his first year of high school athletics was what he envisioned.

But circumstances have not been on the positive side since Traasdahl ripped that long homer. Rather than hopping from one sport to the next with ample playing time in the offing, Traasdahl spent nearly all his junior year on the sidelines.

"It certainly wasn't what I expected," Traasdahl said Monday, his left shoulder wrapped in a sling.

That's because the bit of misfortune Traasdahl thought he conquered with the broken finger in the fall of 2009 re-emerged. In Mountain View's fourth game of the  2010 football season, Traasdahl suffered a broken fibula against Corona del Sol. The tight end-defensive end missed the final seven games. That injury also cost him the basketball season. He was planning on playing basketball even though he spent his junior summer working with football and baseball.

"I  would have tried to play basketball," Traasdahl said. "When I got to high school, I wanted to play all three sports every year. It didn't work out.....

"I got cleared to play baseball (last spring) right when tryouts started. I was excited to get back out there."

Pretty much healed from the broken leg when February arrived, Traasdahl would have started in the outfield for coach Mike Thiel. However, a few days before the season-opening tournament at Desert Vista, Traasdahl and three football-baseball teamates were injured in a car accident just blocks from Mountain View. Traasdahl was the most seriously hurt.  He suffered a ruptured spleen, internal bleeding and a badly bruised shoulder.

The accident and injuries cost him the 2011 baseball season. With the spleen healed by late May, Traasdahl figured he was back on track. But when he began throwing in June,  his left shoulder ached and was swollen. The post-accident exam  in Februrary showed no broken bones.

Further examination after the soreness surfaced in the summer revealed labrum damage and a bicep-tendon tear. He had surgery to repair both in July. Football and basketball for 2011-2012 are out of the question. Baseball is his last shot at high school athletics. He's intent on not missing it.

"I don't feel like I was robbed, really," Traasdahl said. "I knew from the broken finger in football that kept me out, I had to stay positive. That experience wasn't enjoyable, but it was doable. That' was the only way to go about it. There were times I thought all the time and work I had put in were just a waste. But I still have a goal. It's just not the same one I had my sophmore year."

Traasdahl, who started on the junior varsity basketball team once he got on the floor after his broken finger healded, was part of an undefeated team that year. Though not a prolific scorer, he brought many of the qualities that Toros varsity coach Gary Ernst craves.

"He fit in great in basketball," Ernst said. "He is a tough, hard-nosed kid. A very good defender....We would have loved to have him back in basketball.......

"There's not a nicer, hard-working kid around than Tyler. If he can make it back to playing and get a sport in before the year is over, it would be great. If anyone can do it, it would be Tyler."

Traasdahl will have his sling removed on Wednesday and is prepared to kick his most current rehab in high gear. He said he is ahead of schedule on what doctors told him would be seven to eight months.

"Im doing rehab two hours a day twice a week with a physical therapist and have stuff I work on at home to help with range of motion," Traasdahl said.

Traasdahl believes he'll be able to hit for for sure come spring. Thnks he can handle throws of a first baseman when baseball season arrives.. At worst, he thinks he can be a designated hitter role. At this point, he's not picky.

"I've already had the opportunity to play three sports," Traasdahl said. "It's been limited because of the things that have happened, but I reallize there are kids that never have had the chance(s) I've had. Some to play even one sport. If baseball is my last shot, I'm doing everything I can to make that happen."