On Feb. 16, 2020, then ASU redshirt junior catcher Sam Ferri took his usual spot behind the dish at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in an early-season contest against Villanova. Through seven innings of play, the Sun Devils led 5-4 over the Wildcats before retaking the field in the eighth. With runners in scoring position, a wild pitch from junior closer RJ Dabovich put ASU’s one-run lead in jeopardy. However, Ferri chased down pitch gone awry and flipped it to his Dabovich for the out.

For Ferri, though, something didn’t feel right. The catcher took an awkward step on his dash to save the Sun Devil lead, and although the redshirt junior remained in the game – the damage had already been done.

Ferri was ruled out with a season-ending knee injury just a few days later – a torn ACL. His fourth year in maroon and gold was finished only eight games into the year. No stranger to injuries, Ferri played a mere 18 games in his freshman season after a wrist injury kept him away from the diamond. Ahead of his sophomore season, the Norridge, Illinois native received Tommy John surgery, ruling him out of all activities in 2018.

With Ferri bitten by the injury bug again, catching duties fell to redshirt junior Nick Cheema. The Weatherford, Texas native began his collegiate career at ASU before moving away from the program to traverse the likes of Weatherford Community College, Central Arizona Community College and St. Mary’s College all before his junior year. In an astonishing development, Cheema was brought back to ASU as a backup catcher for 2019.

With Ferri out, Cheema got his shot to be a true catcher at a Division I program that valued him in the shortened 2020 campaign. Cheema hit for a .255 average in 51 at-bats with 13 hits and 2 RBI before COVID-19 halted all team activities.

In 2021 though, the situation isn’t so fluid.

Ferri spoke to the media on Tuesday afternoon’s Media Day festivities about his recovery process and getting back into the mix as ASU’s field general behind the plate.

“I feel good; my knee is almost at 100%,” Ferri said. “It’s just (important) to maintain that and keep it strong to where it’s at now…If it’s up to me; I’m not going to let an injury stop my career.”

With Ferri on the road to full recovery, Cheema’s job is at risk, but for the pair of veteran catchers, it’s an opportunity to build their friendship, which dates back to high school, over all else.

“We played against each other one time after we both committed; I think it was our junior year of high school,” Ferri explained. “My team was playing his team out here in Arizona at one of the Perfect Game tournaments, and he came up to the box, and he was hitting, and I was like, ‘Are you, Nick Cheema?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, are you, Sam?’ So that was the first time we met.”

Ferri and Cheema were roommates on their official visit to ASU and remained very close during their time together in the Valley of the Sun.

“We are really close, especially being catchers,” Ferri mentioned. “We are there together every day…we’re both fans of the same sports team, so that also helps we have that connection, and it just kind of grew from there.”

Regardless of the players’ relationship, at the end of the day, only one will stand behind home plate to catch the members of the Sun Devil pitching staff. Cheema brings power and force behind the plate playing off of one knee. Ferri, on the other hand, is more technical and was once called a “comfortable” resource for ASU’s pitchers and coaching staff. The redshirt senior also has a specific knack for receiving the ball, particularly in lower portions of the zone.

“Nick is on a knee; if he’s catching for us, he is going to be on one knee every single pitch, and he’s got incredible arm strength,” assistant coach Ben Greenspan said. “Sam is maybe a tick more polished on the receiving side of things. Blocking-wise I think they’re both comparable; offensive-wise, they both bring some different things.”

However, the differences stop when you look at the pair’s presence behind the plate and their ability to direct a gameplan with the pitching staff.

“The similarity is that I think you have experience, you have age, you have guys commanding and catching the pitching staff,” Greenspan listed. “I think who they’re catching will come into play a lot. Sam, as polished as he is on the receiving side of things, he handles some arms better than others. Nick really, really throws well, and it just kind of depends on the matchup of who they’re catching, who we’re playing in terms of who has the best opportunity to go out there to win.”

It’s been a long journey for Ferri and Cheema. The former has battled consistent injuries across the majority of his college career, while the latter adventured out into the great unknown on a baseball odyssey, which miraculously led him back to where he started. No matter who gets the nod on gameday, the Sun Devil veteran catchers insist on maintaining a friendly yet competitive relationship to push each other to be the best players they can. They’ve been through too much to settle for anything else.

“It’s awesome (competing with Cheema),” Ferri stated. “We’ve done it back and forth over the years; we live together, we’ve been roommates for the last three years. I think it just makes us more competitive because it’s not even just playing time that we are competitive about. It’s who makes the better meals, who makes the better smoothies…. It kind of drives us even more off the field too.”