Last December, Bonny Eagle senior Casey McKague was preparing for his final season of high school basketball. But one day just before the season started, McKague experienced some swelling in his shoulder. A trip to the doctor revealed a condition known as thoracic outlet syndrome, otherwise known as TOS.

“My arm started to swell up and get all red and I had to go to the hospital,” McKague said. “I had multiple tests and they found out it was a clot.”

According to the Mayo Clinic’s Web site, TOS is a group of disorders that occur when the blood vessels or nerves in the thoracic outlet, the space between the collarbone and the first rib, become compressed.

“It happened because all the muscles in that area got developed through sports and it just pinched the vein and eventually blood couldn’t flow through the vein and it clotted up,” McKague said.

McKague was treated for TOS, but the clots kept returning. That led doctors to perform surgery.

“At first at Maine Med they tried to dissolve the clot and they dissolved it, but it kept coming back because the vein couldn’t stay open,” McKague recalls. “So what they had to do was they had to take out the first rib up near my shoulder. And then they took a vein from my leg and replaced the vein in my chest. Then they had to put a stent in to keep it open. Then they found more clots in my arm and they had to open up my arm and dissolve those clots. It was a big ordeal.”

The condition forced McKague to stay on the sidelines for all of the basketball season. After playing in just one preseason game, all he could do was sit on the bench and cheer on his teammates. During McKague’s junior year, the Scots had a successful basketball season with a 14-6 record, advancing to the semifinals of the Western Maine tournament. Sitting out his senior season was difficult for the very competitive McKague.

“It was hard because you wait your whole life for your senior year then you find out you can’t play; it was tough, it was a hard thing,” he said. “I would go to the games and support everyone. I would go to practice sometimes. I made sure I was there for everyone because they were still my teammates.”

This year, without McKague, it was a different Bonny Eagle team. The Scots, while competitive, were not consistent. They managed to qualify for the playoffs with an 8-10 record before bowing out in the preliminary round against Westbrook.

“It was hard because there was the ‘what if’ factor,” said McKague’s teammate on both the baseball and basketball teams, Joe Marro. “We had a pretty good season. We played well for what we had. But if we had him, you never know how much better we might have done or how much further we could have gone.”

Despite not playing, McKague was named the Gary Randall Award winner as the top sportsman in the SMAA.

“The Gary Randall Award is the most prestigious honor given by our conference and a wonderful honor for a special young man,” said Bonny Eagle coach Rick Simonds. “To go through what Casey went through was so devastating. But he remained a terrific teammate and captain regardless of his frustrations.”

As the spring season approached, McKague eyed a return for his final season of baseball. He started going to the gym in February and in mid-March received the news he had been waiting for.

“I was really getting sick of not being able to do much,” McKague said. “I started going to the gym in February, but just finally in the middle of March they said I could do everything except pitch and slide head first. So I’m pretty much cleared to do everything.”

Last year, the Scots’ baseball team finished the season at 1-14. McKague was an integral part of the team last year on the mound, in the field and at the plate. He hit .209 with four RBIs and was the only member of the team to homer. He had an on base percentage of .358.

In the field, McKague had a fielding percentage of .955. He had 76 put outs in 89 chances. On the mound, he struck out seven batters on two occasions. He started four games for the Scots and pitched 19.2 innings. He finished with an ERA of 4.98.

McKague and the rest of the Bonny Eagle baseball team are working to improve on last year’s record. Marro is glad to have him back.

“It’s a lift not just because of his baseball skills, but because of what he brings to the team,” he said. “He just keeps us laughing and he’s always nice to everyone. He has a great personality. It definitely helps to have him back. Casey brings leadership and a lot of qualities that are great for a team. He’s really an inspiration after basketball.”

The Bonny Eagle baseball team kicks off their season April 24 against Kennebunk. Reflecting on what he went through this winter; McKague is now ready to step between the lines again.

“It puts things in perspective,” he said. “I didn’t realize how hard it would be to watch everyone else play and know that I should be out there but to know that I’m physically unable to. And now I’m just really happy to be able to play.”