KUTZTOWN, Pa. - Every kid who has ever played baseball dreams of having the big hit in the biggest situation of the season. Corey Buletza (St. Clair, PA/Pottsville) (St. Clair, Pa./Pottsville) lived out that dream in 2010 as a member of the Kutztown University baseball team in the Atlantic Regional Championship.
 
Buletza stepped into the batter's box against rival West Chester with the bases loaded.  He worked the count before finally jumping on a fastball and sending it well beyond the left field wall for a grand slam.  It launched the Golden Bears into the lead that would eventually send them to the NCAA Division II College World Series in Cary, N.C.
 
Buletza wasn't finished though; he would go on to contribute to Kutztown's 2-1 victory over Franklin Pierce in the opening game of the national tournament, where Kutztown finished fifth overall. The experience was one that Buletza will never forget, but he was ready to go back and win it all this time.
 
“My goal was to get back to the World Series and improve on the year before,” Buletza said.  “It was all of our (KU seniors) goals to be back in Cary.”
 
The 2011 season was built around getting back to Cary and finishing what the team had started the year before.  Buletza was entering his senior season and with high expectations.  He had been preparing harder than he ever had and his progress was beginning to show in the weeks leading up to the season.
 
In the third game of the 2011 series-opener against Barton College, Buletza wasted no time at the plate as he ripped a ball into the outfield as he used his above-average speed to reach second base safely. Unfortunately, this time it wasn't quite like the rest of the doubles he had hit in his life.
 
“Once I hit second base I could feel a pop,” Buletza said. “I wasn't sure what it was and it really didn't bother me the rest of the game.”
 
Buletza shook off the pop in his knee and played the entirety of the three-game series. You have to know Buletza to understand that even if his leg had fallen off, he would have found a way to trot out to center field and help the Golden Bears win. He puts the team first, and this mindset is what makes him one of the most respected players to dawn the Kutztown uniform.
 
The next day Buletza would do nothing out of the ordinary except for talking about the Super Bowl he had missed due to the 12-hour drive from Barton to Kutztown.  Then suddenly out of nowhere, it happened.  His knee locked up and sent an immediate pain through his body. He went right to KU Athletic Trainer Jack Entriken for guidance.
 
A day later, the rest of team returned to practice while Buletza took a trip for an MRI on his right knee.  Things were looking good as he had only torn his meniscus, requiring him to have surgery that would put him out of commission for about a month.  
 
However, Buletza found out during his surgery that he had also torn his posterior cruciate ligament (PCL).  This would require a second surgery that would sideline the St. Clair native for the rest of the season.
 
“My first concern was getting him healthy and getting him through that initial shock,” mentioned KU head coach Chris Blum on the outcome.  “I had to ensure him that everything would be ok.”
 
Buletza had a very important decision to make shortly after his surgery.  He had to decide if he wanted to return to KU the following year and play a fifth season.  Buletza's parents had a lot of influence on him, but they never pressured him into a decision.  After weighing his options, the senior decided his time in the maroon and gold wasn't quite over.
 
“I worked too hard, I wasn't ready to go out like that,” Buletza said.
 
He would have to begin preparing for a second senior season.  Buletza spent most of the fall season working with Entriken rehabbing for his comeback.  It was an offseason he had never experienced before.  For the first time in his career, he would be forced to deal with the struggles of getting healthy and preparing to play again.
 
The 2012 season started in Barton and exactly one year later, Buletza would be standing at the exact field he had played his last game at the season before.  He was nervous, and had to adjust to a knee brace he was forced to play with.
 
It took him some time to get his full swing and timing back.  In the seventh inning of KU's third game, Buletza tallied the first hit in his comeback.  This wasn't just any ordinary hit; Buletza sent his first of the season over the scoreboard and into the woods beyond the left field wall that would remind baseball fans of Kirk Gibson's historic home run in the 1988 MLB World Series.  Buletza was back.
 
“It felt great; I really wanted to help the team,” Buletza said.  “It was a great feeling to have my first hit back, be a home run.  I really didn't know what to think rounding the bases, I was just happy that I was putting the team in a position to win.”
 
As Buletza rounded the bases, Coach Blum was smiling ear to ear as he was able to congratulate Buletza on his big accomplishment.
 
“I've been proud of Corey since the second he stepped on campus,” Blum commented on Buletza's comeback.
 
Never did Buletza sit back and worry about what he couldn't do; he only fought his way back to what he could do.  Buletza is hitting .304 this season, which is 22 points higher then he was in 2010, along with two home runs and 23 RBI's. The Golden Bears still have 11 games left in the regular season and Buletza is on pace to surpass almost all off his hitting stats from his junior year.
 
“It is such a relief to have the knee brace off, I feel myself getting back to the things I was able to do before my injury, and it is making me a stronger player and teammate,” noted Buletza.  “The goal is still the same and that is to get back to the College World Series.”
 
Fans can witness Buletza's amazing comeback this weekend as the Golden Bears enter their Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup with West Chester this Friday at West Chester.  KU will host the Golden Rams at North Campus Field on Saturday.  Both days are doubleheaders and will begin at 1 p.m.