BRANDON — Dan Jons is the 2025 Mark Mehlhaf Comeback Player of the Year.

The Burke Bomber made his second comeback to amateur baseball after suffering a complete distal bicep tendon tear in just his third game playing for the Pony Hills member in 2024.

Jons, 37, swung at pitch during his first at-bat against the Plankinton F&M Bankers on June 9, 2024, when he felt a shooting pain to his right arm.

“It was a ripping sensation in my arm,” Jons said. “I have a pretty high pain tolerance so I didn’t look at it and I stayed in there. I swung at the next pitch and I hit it and it was a slow roller to second and I usually hit the ball hard. It hurt every step I took to first base. I got to first base and I pulled up the sleeve on my jersey and my bicep was clear up by my shoulder.”

Jons exited the game and was checked out by a doctor in attendance and got an MRI confirmation two days later. Due to the nature of the injury, it was important he get it worked on as soon as possible.

“They got me in for surgery right away because with that injury it’s kind of unique, you have to get that tendon pulled right back down within a few weeks or you cannot do the surgery, it’ll heal up inside your bicep,” said Jons. “So they had me in surgery within four days.”

Rehab started months after the surgery in which he was only allowed to lift 2-5 pounds with his right arm. A tough ask for the full-time rancher, but Jons took his rehab seriously to get back to as full strength as possible.

“I took my rehab fairly seriously,” said Jons. “I lifted a lot in the offseason. My right arm is still not as strong as my left arm but they said I should get within 10% of my other arm’s strength. I should only lose 10% of my strength from the injury.”

It’s the second time Jons has returned to amateur baseball, with the first coming after a 15-year hiatus. Spending five seasons with the South Central 9 in the mid-2000s, work and family caught up to Jons, forcing him to step away until last season.

“Last year I heard that they were having a team again in Burke cause they hadn’t had a team for quite a few years,” said Jons. “I just thought man I would love to play one more year with the guys, I knew some of the guys on the team. So I came back and I was playing good ball, I only made it three games though.”

Jons just wanted to get back out and enjoy the game he loved for years growing up, but the goal changed once he suffered the devastating injury.

“At that time I really wasn’t sure, I just wanted to go play ball again and I was having a ton of fun,” Jons said when returning in 2024. “But when I got hurt, I did not want to end like that. I told my wife I got to go back one more year and I’m glad I did, it’s been a lot of fun.”

When Jons returned to the field this season, he was forced to change his hitting style. The usual long-ball hitter says he doesn’t have the pop he did prior, forcing him to focus on more line drives, singles and doubles.

“I used to hit the longball a lot, that was my game,” Jons said. “I always batted in the four hole, I hit the ball hard. I’m kind of reduced now, I’m a singles and doubles guy. I actually changed my game and look to hit singles now.”

But still, Jons has been an effective piece to the Bombers lineup with a .432 average, good for the second best on the team. Those stats have also helped Jons complete another goal of his, making the state amateur baseball tournament for the first time in his career.

“I’ve never made the state tournament,” said Jons. “Last year, I was hurt so I don’t feel like I made it and all the years I’ve played amateurs I never made it. It was pretty cool for me to actually make it and be a part of it.”

And when it was announced that Jons would be the 2025 Comeback Player of the Year, it only made this weekend that much more rewarding in his return back to baseball.

“I’ve been humbled so many times in my life. It was just another humbling moment,” Jons said. “I’m a really faith-based person and I was just thankful that I was able to make a recovery and come back. Part of me doesn’t feel like I deserve something like that but looking back, it was a battle. Just to come back and be able to swing a bat again.”

Jons and the Burke Bombers open the 2025 state tournament against the Freeman Blacksox Sunday at 11 a.m.