THSB Feature: New Braunfels High Baseball Players United in Their Fight Against Cancer

By: Len Hayward

Carter Ragsdale and Nolan Cernosek are more than teammates on the New Braunfels High School baseball team — they are bound together by a battle greater than any they’ve faced on the field.

Ragsdale, a senior, was diagnosed with a form of leukemia when he was 14 years old and after multiple years of treatment “rang the bell” as cancer free in January of 2024.

Cernosek, a junior, is currently fighting a form of bone cancer that was found in the aftermath of a severely broken right leg during a summer game in Houston nearly two years ago.

Their journeys have been different, but they have a shared resilience that is defined by strength, perseverance, and the unwavering support of their team, school, and community.

“I think it definitely has shaped both of us,” Ragsdale said. “We talk about our situation, and everything is different with what we go through but it’s nice to have somebody to be able to talk about it that’s in a similar situation … that understands what you are going through.”

Recovering from the shock

Ragsdale, who is a multi-position player for the Unicorns as an infielder, outfielder, and pitcher, said at 14 years old his body was just not feeling right. He was an all-around athlete, playing football, basketball, baseball and running track in junior high.

A fateful trip to the doctor revealed he had T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of leukemia that affects a certain white blood cell that is essential for immune function. It was a shocking moment for a young athlete with the dream of one day playing beyond high school.

“Hearing that as a 14-year-old was definitely a shock,” Ragsdale said.

Ragsdale began treatment shortly after the diagnosis and spent nearly three-and-half years going through different forms, including chemotherapy and he also had a port inserted into his chest.

Ragsdale was determined to play baseball even while fighting cancer and tried out for the team. Despite the energy-draining treatments he made the team and has been playing ever since.

“I was just trying to get back and do what I love and being able to be with my boys,” Ragsdale said. “On the mental side, which was the biggest help, just being able to be a normal kid and be able to play with my peers and my teammates.”

Ragsdale said he was designated cancer free in January of 2024 after his treatments at Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, and even pitched the same day he had his port removed a little over a year ago. As his senior season is in its early stages, Ragsdale is as healthy as he’s been in high school putting on between 30 and 40 pounds and is a key senior for the Unicorns lineup in 2025 with hopes of playing in college. Alford noticed this season that Ragsdale is catching up from his four years of battling cancer, and said “the best is yet to come.”

“When Carter was a sophomore, he was trying so hard and wanted to do so much, and he wouldn’t tell anybody (how he was feeling),” Alford said. “We said, ‘You’ve got to let us know.’ They just want to prove to people, ‘I can do this.’”

‘You have to take it day by day’

Cernosek may never have found out he had cancer if it was not for a catastrophic leg injury. During a summer game in Houston in between his freshman and sophomore season with the Unicorns, Cernosek, now a 17-year-old junior, said his “femur snapped in half.”

In assessing that injury when he was 15 years old at the time, doctors did more scans and determined he had a form of osteosarcoma, which is a type of bone cancer. Cernosek said he is in ongoing recovery of the leg injury as he fights cancer.

He said he had muscle atrophy and could not use his leg for nearly 10 months and spent another four months trying to build up muscle control. He currently travels to MD Anderson in Houston for treatments every Monday, and in between those treatments, Cernosek is continuing to practice with the team as a pitcher and even threw in an early season intrasquad game a few weeks ago.

“It’s challenging but you just have to go 100% and just try to be as competitive as you can be,” Cernosek said. “I feel like I already went through the worst.”

Next steps

Cernosek said when he was diagnosed, he knew he needed to reach out to Ragsdale, and it’s a decision that gave him guidance and strength from someone who understood what he was battling.

“When I was starting to come back in and go to practices again, if something on my body hurt because of the chemo I would ask (Ragsdale),’” Cernosek said. “He would say, ‘Oh that’s normal,’ and say he felt the same thing when he was coming back.”

Alford described the two as “warriors” and said they will give him everything they’ve got when they are on the field, and have shown to be an inspiration to him, the team, and the community.

“They are going through something none of us can even fathom,” Alford said. “I use that example that there’s bigger things in life than a baseball game. These guys have done something far greater than we can ever imagine.”

No matter what challenges lie ahead, one thing is certain: both players have proven they can overcome adversity with the same grit and heart that define them on and off the field.