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It led him down a road of multiple surgeries and more than nine months in a cervical collar. The varsity coach at his alma mater since 2018 was forced to miss the 2025 season, but, throughout the process, he was determined to limit that absence to one season.<\/p>\n
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This spring, with a scar that runs down the back of his neck serving as the reminder of his fusion surgery, he\u2019s back in Amsterdam purple and gold, hitting fungoes and throwing batting practice.<\/p>\n
Bob Noto, one of Hisert\u2019s biggest mentors, has seen Hisert\u2019s determination firsthand. Noto, a retired former Amsterdam baseball coach and athletic director, is Hisert\u2019s assistant coach and right-hand man in the dugout.<\/p>\n
\u201cI give him a lot of credit, because he had a pretty serious operation, and this was always his goal, to get back here,\u201d Noto said.<\/p>\n
Nobody\u2019s seen the fight from closer up than Hisert\u2019s wife, Sara. A fellow Amsterdam High graduate and former softball standout who serves as a volunteer assistant at\u00a0Broadalbin-Perth, she called her husband \u201cmy\u00a0superhero\u201d for his perseverance.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt was a very long recovery road for him,\u201d Sara Hisert said. \u201cHe\u2019s my Iron Man. I don\u2019t know how he did it without breaking his spirit, because it was baseball season, and baseball is his life.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Amsterdam baseball coach Robby Hisert during warmup before a game against Scotia-Glenville on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 in Scotia, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Lori Van Buren\/Times Union<\/p>\n
\u2018Luck of the Irish\u2019<\/p>\n
On Oct. 26, 2024, the Hiserts\u00a0\u2014 Robby, Sara, daughter Emilia, now 11, and son Cole, now 9\u00a0\u2014 headed down to East Rutherford, N.J. to watch their beloved Notre Dame football team take on Navy.<\/p>\n
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At one point in the game, Robby Hisert said, his son needed to use the bathroom. A few people in their row had been showing frustration at the constant ups and downs that came with a couple of kids seated near them, so Hisert decided to circumvent it by hopping down to the aisle.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where it all started.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hopped over the wall, and I\u2019m expecting it to be where I see the ground about 3 feet down behind the seat\u00a0\u2014 (but) it was about an 8-to-10-foot drop,\u201d he said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t ready for it. Luckily, I landed flat on my feet, but when I hit the ground, it was a jolt all the way up. I felt it all over. I kind of fell over. I think everyone else was more concerned than I was. \u2026 It hurt, but I was good. I\u2019ve kinked my neck before, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Hisert, a 2003 Amsterdam graduate and member of the Amsterdam Baseball Hall of Fame, initially didn\u2019t make much of it. The next day, he recalled, the family played Wiffle Ball at home, and he gritted through the pain.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe all kind of brushed it off,\u201d Sara Hisert said.<\/p>\n
But the pain didn\u2019t go away. So, on the Monday after hurting his neck, he went in for a doctor\u2019s appointment. To cover all his bases, and on Sara\u2019s insistence, he had an X-ray done as well, to check if he had a fracture in his neck.<\/p>\n
A few hours later, he got the life-changing news.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey called me pretty much right away that afternoon and they said I had what looked to be a tumor in my vertebrae,\u201d he said. \u201cI did have a fracture, but it was really because (my neck) was so weak.\u201d<\/p>\n
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X-rays turned to MRIs, CAT scans and PET scans. On Nov. 11, 2024\u00a0\u2014 the Hiserts\u2019 13th wedding anniversary\u00a0\u2014 Robby\u00a0Hisert underwent his first surgery at Albany Medical Center.<\/p>\n
That eventually revealed the full extent of the ordeal he was facing\u00a0\u2014 a giant cell tumor on his cervical spine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt escalated from zero to 100,\u201d Sara Hisert said. \u201cWe had no idea what we were dealing with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giant cell tumors are rare, fast-growing and usually non-cancerous tumors that most often grow in adults between the ages of 20 and 40. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, they occur most often in the long bones of the legs and arms.<\/p>\n
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The path forward at that point was littered with questions, but catching it when they did turned out to be an enormous stroke of luck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hisert was told that anything more jarring than what he\u2019d experienced at MetLife, like riding a roller coaster, could have led to paralysis\u00a0\u2014 or worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a Disney trip planned for that January,\u201d he said. \u201cThis was October. If it doesn\u2019t happen, who knows?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe keep joking, because we\u2019re Notre Dame fans, ‘Luck of the Irish, yeah? ‘\u201d<\/p>\n
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Amsterdam baseball coach Robby Hisert, center. is seen during a game against Scotia-Glenville on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 in Scotia, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Lori Van Buren\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Planning and waiting<\/p>\n
Hisert spent the winter of 2025 in a hard cervical collar, alternating between being stuck at home and making trips to see specialists in New York City to determine steps moving forward. The tumor was too gelatinous to be able to conduct fusion surgery, so he was subjected to injections in the hope they would harden the tumor.<\/p>\n
Coaching baseball was out of the question. It was a devastating reality for Hisert, who played baseball professionally in Italy, and spent time as a college and pro coach \u2014 including a stint in the St. Louis Cardinals\u2019 minor-league system \u2014 before becoming Amsterdam\u2019s head coach in 2018.<\/p>\n
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He entrusted the 2025 Rams to Brian Spagnola, Hisert\u2019s predecessor as head coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was happy to know that I had somebody in there that was a baseball guy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hisert\u2019s absence was tough to swallow for players like AJ Lopez, who had come up to the varsity level under the coach in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we first found out, we kept saying, \u2018Keep sending checkups, get well,\u2019\u201d said Lopez, a current Amsterdam senior. \u201cUpdating him on the season was a big thing, because we know how much he loves it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Family and friends, \u201cpretty much anyone we have ever known,\u201d pitched in to help, whether it was helping to take the\u00a0Hisert kids to a practice or a game while Robby had a doctor\u2019s appointment, food deliveries or messages of encouragement. Sara\u00a0Hisert\u2019s sisters and cousins pooled together to purchase a PlayStation 5 and some games, and long sessions of \u201cMLB: The Show\u201d helped keep Robby\u2019s mind occupied.<\/p>\n
Eventually, the tumor hardened enough that surgery could be scheduled for May 6 at New York\u2019s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went in for surgery at 7:30 a.m.,\u201d Hisert said, \u201cand I didn\u2019t come out until 6:30 the next morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Amsterdam baseball coach Robby Hisert during warmup before a game against Scotia-Glenville on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 in Scotia, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Lori Van Buren\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The longest day<\/p>\n
In 2016, when Robby Hisert got his job with the Cardinals organization, he and Sara \u2014 who grew up across the street from one another \u2014 got matching tattoos with the mantra, \u201cWe Got This.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cAt the time it was more about being apart for long stretches because of baseball, but knowing that we could do it because we have always supported each other,\u201d Robby said. \u201cThis time it was just a reminder that together and with the support of everyone around us and beyond, really, we would get through this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through all the hours her husband was in surgery, Sara clung to that belief, and to her faith.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe longest 24 hours of my life. A lot of praying,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just stuck on faith so much, and it was very nerve-wracking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife, she went through it,\u201d Robby Hisert said. \u201cI was sleeping. That\u2019s kind of the joke I make.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Early in the morning of May 7, the three-surgeon team \u2014 one of whom was on duty for the entire 23-hour procedure \u2014 completed their work.<\/p>\n
Once he was brought out of anesthesia, Robby Hisert said the initial plan was that he would remain in the hospital for about two weeks. He had a different goal in mind. Emilia\u2019s 11th birthday was coming up on May 20, and he would do whatever he could to get back to Amsterdam in time for that.<\/p>\n
In the first few days following the surgery, Robby Hisert didn\u2019t see his kids at all, not wanting to worry them too much, considering his post-surgery state.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt got to a point where they were like, \u2018You\u2019re lying. He\u2019s not OK,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cSo, we called (on FaceTime) one night, and they were good.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Robby Hisert said he took every chance to speed up his discharge as a challenge to be conquered, whether it was getting back to eating solid food or walking on his own again.<\/p>\n
After 10 days, Hisert was discharged. His father-in-law came down to New York to drive Robby and Sara back home, but the news of Robby\u2019s return had been kept a surprise for the kids.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents picked them up from school that day, and when they came in (the house), we were there. It was a happy day,\u201d Robby said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat feeling, just the relief of being all together, the four of us again,\u201d Sara said. \u201cIt was the longest year of my life; it was definitely a challenge, but it was life-changing in a positive way for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Amsterdam baseball coach Robby Hisert during warmup before a game against Scotia-Glenville on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 in Scotia, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Lori Van Buren\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The road back<\/p>\n
In the months following his surgery, Robby Hisert was determined to push the envelope in his physical therapy and rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe took it slow, but as quick as I could,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Hisert said his physical therapist marveled at his progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me a couple times, \u2018I\u2019ve never seen someone in the collar like that doing what you\u2019re doing,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI said, \u2018Good, let\u2019s go,\u2019 because now I\u2019m starting to get to the point where he told me, flat out, mobility is probably going to be a limitation, but outside of that, he didn\u2019t expect other limitations.\u201d<\/p>\n
This past August, Hisert hit a milestone when he shed the hard cervical collar that had been a constant part of his life.<\/p>\n
A bigger milestone came in the fall.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI finally reached a point through physical therapy and rehab this fall where I was able to pick up my kids,\u201d he said. \u201cIt had been a year since I was able to pick them up and hug them. I did it and Sara looked at me like, \u2018What just happened? \u2019 I knew I could do it, I could feel that I could handle it \u2014 but until it happened it was still a wait and see.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter that, the floodgates opened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wiffle Ball and basketball returned to his life. He helped out at Emilia\u2019s fall softball practices, hitting light grounders that helped pave the way for the full-impact fungoes that would come with baseball season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The titanium rods inserted during the fusion surgery restricted Hisert\u2019s range of motion, which forced a change in his batting stance and throwing motion. Sara helped her husband get his arm ready for his return to coaching.<\/p>\n
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A recent checkup revealed just how well his recovery\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey check the hardware, they check to make sure there\u2019s no regrowth and all that,\u201d Robby Hisert said. \u201cEverything\u2019s been great. (My doctor) actually told me, \u2018It\u2019s crazy to say, but you\u2019re probably one of my easiest patients.\u2019 Going in, everything was a big question mark every time, and now we\u2019re at a stage where he\u2019s excited to see me. It\u2019s a testament to them and what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Missing just one year had been Robby Hisert\u2019s goal from the moment he stepped away from coaching. That he accomplished that comeback is deeply meaningful to his players.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to have him back, because of that relationship we developed that first year,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n
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When Amsterdam played its season opener on April 3 against Broadalbin-Perth, Sara\u00a0Hisert couldn\u2019t be in attendance because she had to take her son to a doctor\u2019s appointment. She spent the day on pins and needles in excitement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kept texting my mother and father, \u2018Send me a picture of him. I want to see him in the uniform again,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIt was such a good feeling to see him back out there, because it\u2019s what he loves to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt meant a lot to see him back on the field and be able to share the field with him again,\u201d said Broadalbin-Perth coach RJ Pingitore, who played college baseball at Southern Vermont when Hisert was an assistant coach, \u201cbecause I know how much of a baseball junkie he is, and how much it killed him not to be out there with his team last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Even with his determination to get back, Robby Hisert knew a second chance wasn\u2019t guaranteed. He\u2019s eternally grateful, he said, for the support system that made it possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I say we have never felt so loved and supported,\u201d he said, \u201cIt would be an understatement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amsterdam baseball coach Robby Hisert is seen during a game against Scotia-Glenville on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[23,6046,585,136,6047,366],"class_list":["post-6847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-amsterdam","tag-amsterdam","tag-hs-baseball","tag-latestnews","tag-local","tag-montco","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}