St. Francis graduate Nash Horton suffered a devastating and potential career-ending injury after he tore his right shoulder labrum at the beginning of the 2023 baseball season.
After doing some extensive research, he discovered a high percentage of professional athletes who had trouble with that particular injury never returned to playing at the same level.
“The history of that injury is so tough, and it’s such a tough recovery,” Horton said. “You have so many growing pains. You’ll get to a point where my arm feels good, and then the next week it hurts so bad.”
Fast forward to his senior year, a fully healed and competitive Horton decided to get back into both basketball and baseball.
“I hate losing, just the adrenaline you get from sports, all that kind of stuff,” he said. “There’s nothing like it.”
That and the fact that his mom, Shauna, really pushed her son to become a two-sport athlete in Horton’s final year donning St. Francis’ deep crimson red and silver uniforms.
“It’s that kind of stuff that drives me to be better, especially [mom],” Horton said. “She’s been a great motivator, and I think that’s what kind of drives me every day, at least competitive wise.”
And it was wise of Horton to take mom’s advice. Not only did he return to playing two of his all-time favorite sports, Horton straight-up dominated in them.
In the 2024-25 winter campaign, he was recognized as the top boys’ basketball player in the Pacific Coast Athletic Cypress Division. In the process, he helped lead the Sharks to an undefeated season in league play.
Then with little to no break, Horton jumped right into the spring season with the baseball team in a special campaign that featured both a perfect game and magical postseason run.
Horton’s final year at St. Francis also included some major academic achievements, such as straight A’s on his report cards and a score of five on two AP exams.
He was also the class president and part of the Project Lead the Way program for human science with an interest in biology.
“You’re a student first, and then you’re an athlete,” Horton said. “You have to get good grades. It makes your life so much easier. Even for athletes, grades matter and they could get you so much more than you would ever think.”
Horton will attend Pepperdine University with an undeclared major, yet he’s likely leaning toward something in the sports medicine field. But one thing for certain is he’ll be joining the baseball team in the spring of 2026.
A majority of his former coaches and teachers would go as far as to say Horton was just one of those unique student-athletes that rarely comes around, which is why The Pajaronian named him the Male Athlete of the Year for the 2024-25 school year.
“It means a lot more than people would think,” said Horton about receiving the award. “The most amazing part about it is all the hard work, all the hours, academically and on the training side of things. People don’t know how much time I’ve spent.”
Horton added, “I’ve dedicated my life to baseball and dedicated my life to basketball, and it’s such an insane grind that I went through, and I’m still going through, and I can’t wait to keep going through. It’s amazing how much that stuff can push me through all this. It gets me emotional when I think about it.”
Road to recovery
Horton went back-and-forth on his decision to get back on the hardwood court for basketball. And who wouldn’t? Especially after tearing his shoulder labrum—a thick piece of tissue attached to the rim of the shoulder socket that helps keep the ball of the joint in place.
Yet, he opted to play his senior year upon receiving a scholarship offer from Pepperdine.
During the rehab process, Horton developed faith in both himself and Jesus Christ, diving into the Bible each night for prayers and asking for guidance.
Even if he didn’t make a full recovery, Horton said there was so much more to life than baseball and basketball.
“The main thing that pushed me through was my faith in Jesus Christ and that’s important to me,” he said. “That’s the most important thing to me to this day.”
Horton also reflected on all the people who helped him along this roller coaster of a journey, including St. Francis basketball coach Robert Gomez and baseball coach Ken Nakagawa.
Nakagawa, who brought in Horton as a freshman, was especially there in the midst of a difficult time for the youngster.
“[Nakagawa] has a lot of faith in me, a lot of trust in me,” Horton said. “It’s amazing to see that, and how our relationship has grown over the years.”
Nakagawa recalls when his star player was sidelined for that junior season, and how much Horton had to work to get back on the field stronger and better.
“[Horton] has done everything we’ve asked him to do and more. Not only on the court or on the baseball field, but as an ambassador for our school, as well,” Nakagawa said. “I think people don’t understand what it takes not just to be a student-athlete. He embodied what student-athlete means.”
Horton didn’t forget to mention the numerous teammates who were there for him as he slowly got back into action. Rossy’s Training in Scotts Valley also played a major role in helping shape the athlete and person that he turned out to be.
“Without Matt Rossy I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Horton said.
But all of those car rides to rehab, practice, tournaments and games wouldn’t have been possible without his parents, Shauna and John, who have been his rock since Day 1, Horton said.
“They’ve been the best, and they’ve put so much time and effort into me, I can’t even explain it,” Horton said. “Sometimes it slips your mind, but it’s so amazing that I am able to wake up and know that those two people are my ride or die no matter what.”
King of the Court
Horton could hardly contain his excitement prior to his return on the court after forgoing his junior year. He said they had one goal in mind: win a league title and qualify for the Central Coast Section playoffs, which they did.
The Cypress Division champion Sharks finished with a 12-0 record in league play, and earned an automatic postseason berth.
“I’m so glad I played,” Horton said. “Looking back on that team, it was so much fun. The practices towards the end of the year, our team chemistry, we all loved each other and we had some good fun.”
Gomez said Horton is a different type of gifted athlete with a motor that never stops and leads by example.
“Just the maturity level, his defense, his knowledge of the game,” Gomez said. “Kind of playing at a different speed and going 100 miles an hour.”
Gomez mentioned how NCAA Division I athletes dedicate themselves to not just sports, but their performance in the classroom remains at an all-time high, as well.
“He’s gonna do great things in college and beyond, I think, just with his work ethic and his attitude,” Gomez said.
On top of a league title, Horton was named the PCAL Cypress Division’s Most Valuable Player, and earned all-league first team honors after he was snubbed in his sophomore season.
Horton finished with an average of 21.1 points per game and tallied 19 double-doubles. He recorded a quadruple-double with 29 points, 18 rebounds, 12 steals and 10 assists against Pajaro Valley on Dec. 23.
“I don’t know if it was necessarily my goal, but I’m glad it happened,” said Horton of his MVP honors. “It just ended up being that I had a good enough year to win MVP. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and my coaches. It was just an amazing opportunity to go out there and play the game.”
Back to perfection
The final curtain came in the spring when Horton helped lead St. Francis’ baseball team to the CCS D-IV title game against Santa Clara.
He earned All-PCAL Gabilan First Team honors after batting a .368 average (35-for-95) with six home runs, three triples, seven doubles, 18 walks, 14 RBIs, 35 runs scored and 21 stolen bases.
On the mound, he went 5-2 with a 1.62 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 11 appearances. His biggest moment came when he tossed the program’s first-ever perfect game in a 1-0 win against Salinas on April 5.
The interesting part about the perfect game is it officially didn’t happen until Horton also scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Teammate Noah Magana came through with a clutch hit, sending Horton home and then immediately realizing he had just thrown a perfect game.
“It’s hard to describe just because you aren’t really feeling anything, you’re so laser focused in the moment,” Horton said. “It was really just a surreal feeling.”
Nakagawa said it all goes back to when Horton was a freshman, and how he never stopped working to improve. Even after the shoulder injury.
“You have those guys come in as a freshman or sophomore, have really great years and give in, stop working,” Nakagawa said. “[Horton] continued to work and work, it’s crazy. He was driving all the way to Scotts Valley to work out at 6 o’clock in the morning and then come all the way back to school…He’s a goal setter, and he’s obtained all the goals. I’m just extremely happy for him.”
The Pajaronian Male Athlete of the Year nominees
Logan Brantley, Aptos
- Football: All-Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan Division Second Team offense honors as a lineman; helped lead Mariners to Central Coast Section D-III title game
- Track and field: Santa Cruz County record holder in discus throw (175’-10”), Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League champion in discus and shot put; California Interscholastic Federation State qualifier in shot put; CCS finalist in discus and shot put; Nike Outdoor Nationals participate
Nico Downie, Monte Vista Christian
- Football: PCAL Mission-North Division Offensive Player of the Year with 1,619 receiving yards (fifth best in the nation) and 14 TDs on 87 receptions; set Santa Cruz County record with 193 receptions for 3,332 receiving yards and 32 touchdowns in 30 career games played for MVC
- Boys basketball: All-PCAL Mission Division Second Team honors; finished with averages of 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists per game
Izaak Ocampo, Pajaro Valley
- Football: All-PCAL Santa Lucia Division First Team defense honors as a special teams returner and second team offense honors as a receiver; statistics unavailable
- Track and field: Set school record in four events (long jump, triple jump, 100-meters, 4×100-meter relay); CCS finalist in long jump, PCAL Masters Meet champion in long jump; Nike Outdoor Nationals participate
Patrick Miller-Brown, Watsonville (fan vote winner with 52 percent)
- Football: All-PCAL Mission-North Division Second Team offense honors as a receiver; statistics unavailable
- Baseball: PCAL Cypress Division’s co-Offensive Player of the Year and all-league first team honors; finished batting a .477 average (31-for-65) with seven doubles, three home runs, one triple, 15 RBIs, 33 runs scored, 17 walks and 20 stolen bases
