HOOVER, Ala. — Eric Stovall remembers the smallest details of the day his son, Hunter, was born.
On Sept. 5, 1996, Eric carried Hunter, seemingly healthy even if six weeks premature, from the delivery room to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Brookwood Hospital. After a few minutes, he went to retrieve his mother-in-law to see Hunter.
Eric turned the corner to see his son being revived.
The premature birth was forced when doctors discovered Hunter’s mother, Selina, was suffering from toxemia, a hypertension that can occur late in pregnancies that can be life-threatening for mothers. There was a fear that Hunter’s lungs might not have fully developed. The first sign came when Eric saw Hunter crying shortly after birth but felt like he was struggling to do so. That’s because Hunter was short on pulmonary surfactant, which aids the lungs in expansion and contraction during breathing.
Hunter began defying odds immediately. He was given a tracheostomy to help breathing, which doctors thought would stay for about a week. He didn’t need the tube after a day. He then was placed under an oxygen hood with plans to be there at least a week. He was out later that afternoon. He was released from the hospital after eight days.
The only thing left to battle was his size.
Fifteen miles south of Brookwood Hospital, Stovall, who had grown to 5-foot-7, showed doubters size didn’t matter as he became one of the state’s premier baseball players at Pelham High School.
At 8 tonight (SEC Network), Stovall will take the next step in his career when the No. 18 and No. 5 seed Mississippi State baseball team (34-22, 17-13 Southeastern Conference) takes on No. 12 seed Georgia (25-31, 11-19) at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The venue is in between Brookwood Hospital and Pelham High, the place where his life was saved and he cemented his status as a Division I baseball player.
“He’s got the desire, the will and the mentality like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Eric Stovall said.
Getting to the Hoover Met, where Hunter grew up idolizing the players in the SEC tournament, has taken an innate desire to fight that started the second he was born and hasn’t stopped since.
Hunter Stovall bears a striking resemblance to Selina, which is most noticeable in the disarming shade of blue in his eyes. Selina jokes she gets blamed for Hunter’s size, too. Blame might not be the right word because Eric is convinced that is what fueled his son.
“His whole life he’s been doubted because he’s been smaller,” Eric said. “His whole life he’s wanted to prove everybody wrong, and to this point, he has.”
Hunter started by setting out to be the best high school player in Alabama. He realized that goal when he was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior. Another goal as a child was to play in the Cape Cod League, one he set after seeing the movie “Summer Catch” and realizing the prestige involved. He’ll accomplish that one, too, when he plays for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks this summer.
Another one was both set and realized at the Hoover Met.
“This is where he grew up,” Eric Stovall said while sitting in the bleachers. He then pointed to a hill beyond the first-base line. “I remember him rolling down that hill, playing wiffle ball with kids.”
Hunter was granted that moment last year, when he returned from a broken leg to single in his first at-bat as a player in the SEC tournament.
In reflecting on his years of attending the tournament, Hunter Stovall knows playing in the event for the second time will be special.
“To be able to live it is an unreal thing,” Hunter said.
Stovall hopes to help MSU bounce back from a series sweep to LSU last weekend. The Bulldogs have lost two of their last three SEC series.
The winner of tonight’s game will take on fourth-seeded Arkansas, which earned a bye after finishing second in the SEC West, at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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