Justin Livengood had given up on the game of baseball. A promising high school player out of the small town of Wallburg, N.C., Livengood was what they call “burned out.” He had had enough of baseball, and was ready to move on with his life. Ready to start fresh, Livengood enrolled at UNC Wilmington, spending his first three years fishing and playing city-league softball.

Not playing baseball took a toll on Livengood physically, and his weight eventually climbed to around 250 pounds. It wasn’t until January 2011 when Livengood decided to get his life back on track. He started running every day, eating healthy and drinking water.

“I would run four or five times a week,” Livengood said, “eventually running for around an hour each time.” As the weight started coming off, he started to find a love for baseball again.

“If I could get back to playing weight, I’m going to try-out, regardless of whether I could play or not,” he added.”It was that inspiration that helped me get up and run on the days I didn’t really want to.” So Livengood kept running, kept losing weight and kept getting closer to getting back to the sport he loved.

In any inspirational story, there is always a point where one’s dreams become a reality. That point came to Livengood on a random spring day. While out on one of his runs, Livengood found a brand-new baseball glove lying on the side of the road. Tempted, he picked it up, and slipped the leather over his hand. “When I put that glove on my hand, I thought to myself, I can definitely play again,” he said.

He started throwing again over the summer, hoping to work his way back to a pitching mound. Later that summer, he threw his first bullpen session in over three years, not knowing what to expect. The first pitch he threw was clocked at 89 miles per hour.

Soon after that, Livengood got in contact with the coaches of the UNCW baseball team, in hopes of walking on. He threw for them, calling the bullpen session “the best 25 pitches I’d ever thrown, and definitely the 25 pitches I’d want to be judged on.”

Seahawk skipper Mark Scalf told Livengood that he would be in contact shortly after about whether the team would keep him or not. Almost two weeks later, Scalf told Livengood that while he hadn’t made the team, they would be keeping him on the roster for fall baseball, basically for a longer, ongoing tryout.

Livengood worked hard all season, and when spring rolled around, he saw his name on the final roster. He had gotten off the couch, lost 50 pounds, found a baseball glove on the side of the road, started throwing and was now back playing baseball for a Division I school.

When asked what he thinks was the biggest factor in his success, Livengood gives credit to his work ethic. “Other guys may hate the day-to-day stuff we have to do, but I love it,” he said. “I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

UNCW leftfielder Sean Buchanan, a friend of Livengood, as well as a walk-on himself, had high praise for the new Seahawk relief pitcher. “I love it, I love it all,” he said. “I was basically in the same position. I felt like I had to help him and (another walk-on) Matt Keeler.”

Livengood, Buchanan and Keeler refer to themselves jokingly as the “Blue-Collar Crew.” When explaining the name, Livengood slowly put down his Island’s Taco and took a deep breath. “We may not have the best tools in the shed,” he said, his smile growing bigger with each passing second, “but we made it dammit. We made it.”