Most experts agree that hitting a pitched baseball is one of the most difficult things to do in all of sports. The pitcher does everything in his power to make the batter miss, and the hitter does all he can to hit the ball and reach base safely.

It’s a challenge for all players and for Steve Trudeau of the new Kato Cubs amateur baseball team, the challenge is multiplied. Diagnosed four months ago with Hodgkins lymphoma, Trudeau has been playing this season while undergoing chemotherapy.

The treatments sap his energy and make him nauseous yet Trudeau, 19, has managed to play baseball’s most demanding position — catcher — in all four of the Cubs’ games this season.

“There have been times when I didn’t feel my best out there,” Trudeau said. “You feel tired but you kind of will yourself to keep going.

“Coach Westphal has taken me out in the later innings of a couple of games but, otherwise, I’ve been able to get through it.”

Trudeau’s odyssey began last December when he discovered a lump near his collarbone. He went to the doctor and, after some tests, was told that the lump was a mutated lymph node and was diagnosed with Hodgkins on Jan. 22. Apparently males in the 15-24 age group are the ones most susceptible to the disease. The second most prone group is 65-over males.

“It was a shock,” Trudeau said. “I was sad and depressed for a little while, but then I got angry. I said I’m going to do everything I can to beat this.”

Getting cancer is never a good thing, but Hodgkins lymphoma is considered one of the most treatable kinds. With proper chemotherapy and radiation treatments, patients have about a 90 percent cure rate.

“Halfway through my chemo I had another CAT scan of my chest and neck area and they compared it to the scan I had before the treatments started,” Trudeau said. “All the little tumors you could see on the first one were undetectable on the second so that’s an encouraging sign.”

The full-time college student at Minnesota State has two more chemotherapy treatments left and will then begin a 4-6 week round of radiation treatments. After that, he’s hoping for a clean bill of health.

The young catcher has so far managed to keep his hair and says he never really went through the “why me” phase that many cancer patients do. He believes part of the reason for that is because he’s had a lot of support from family and friends.

One thing that has changed is he now puts things into proper perspective.

“I stop and smell the roses a lot more,” he said. “I don’t sweat the little things as much as I used to.

“I’m just glad to be in school and out playing baseball. I played with a lot of these guys growing up and we’re having a lot of fun.”

Jim Rueda is the Free Press sports editor. To contact him, call 344-6381 or e-mail him at jrueda@mankatofreepress.com.