Batter Up

So in February, I had asked Keelan if he wanted to play soccer in the spring. His response was “I play baseball.” Now if you know my family, baseball is not something that is played in our household. Zach and Brooke play soccer, basketball, volleyball, and Zachary has participated in track & field. They both played baseball/softball back in fall of 2020 but otherwise it’s not a sport we talk about or have equipment laying around. So I responded back to him and asked “You mean basketball?” He said “No, Baseball.” So I pulled up some videos and photos of baseball and asked again. He responded as if I was losing my mind and said, “Yes, Baseball.” LOL – Like come on mom, I’m speaking English. So I searched online at our two options for baseball for his age in our area. One option was T-Ball for ages 5 to 8 years old and the other option was Coach Pitch for ages 8 and 9 years old. We chose the Coach Pitch so we can give him the best option to succeed. I personally was afraid that if we put him in the broader age group with much younger players, that he would pick-up bad habits instead of learning and being pushed. I still stand by our decision to push him. It has been amazing. Keelan was placed on the Pirates team and to say that it was a blessing to be with them, would be a complete understatement. The entire team and families are the embodiment of inclusion.

So as with anything that Keelan is involved in, when the coach reached out to introduce himself to the team and notify of the first practice, I sent him a separate message introducing myself and sharing that Keelan has autism. I also shared that I would help and answer any questions to help the team and Keelan succeed with him on their team. He said thank you and I didn’t think much more about it. As many know, when walking into a first of anything you can walk in and they will just appease him on the sidelines or they will give him the same attention as everyone else. Let’s just say that it was the latter. Now let me start off by saying that any volunteer coaches that rent out indoor facilities before the weather begins to get better to work with the kids are already great coaches in my eyes. They want the kids to get better and putting in extra effort to achieve it. Keelan had no idea how to throw a ball regularly at the first couple practices but all of the volunteer coaches of dads didn’t give up on him. They kept directing and redirecting him. They also kept encouraging him. That was step one. The next step was catching a ground ball and throwing it quickly. It wasn’t an easy concept but he is getting better each practice and game.

When the weather finally got better, we got to start practicing outside. Practices are typically around 90 minutes or so (sometimes longer) and Keelan gets bored around the end of those practice times. It is a long time with his short attention span but each practice and now games his duration of time gets longer. Now the coaches had been practicing as could off and on with Keelan on batting but it wasn’t a high importance. The assistant coach had approached me after practice one night and said that he had talked to the other coaches and officials of the league to let them know about Keelan and including him. He noted that if they had to bring out the “tee” for Keelan, they would and that everyone was on board. However, he also said we are going to get him to hit. I absolutely loved that note because it showed me that the coach was working hard on inclusion but also wasn’t giving up on Keelan and giving him the easy way out. I told him I appreciated it and again moved on. Until that one special night at practice, Keelan was last to bat at practice (which is typical) and they were actively working with him to hit it. They had told Keelan that if he hits it, to run to first base. That night at practice, Keelan made contact with the ball (it went foul but no one cared). Keelan ran to first base, the teammates and coaches followed him there and the whole team and parents were cheering on Keelan. It was a beautiful moment. (I only captured portions on video) I can not even put into words how grateful at that moment I was for the team we were placed on. It was exactly what Keelan needed to do a sport that he wanted to do.

The story doesn’t end there though. Games have begun the last couple weeks. The first WIN in our books was the first game. Keelan showed us that he is responsible by going in and out the dug-out with the correct equipment and placing the non-used equipment back in his bag. So when they are outfield he has his hat and glove with his batting helmet in his baseball bag and bat next to it. Then when they are batting, he switches his hat and places his hat and glove in the bag. This was HUGE for us. He was doing it all on his own.

So back to the game, The way that coach pitch works is that the player only gets 3 swings from the coach and then they are out unless the foul it. Keelan has had quite a few strikeouts obviously but there were foul ball contacts made in there. However he has hit the ball now TWICE out of the air from the coach in fair territory and just let me tell you, the whole team and parents again erupt in excitement for Keelan. Now both times he has gotten out at 1st base, but it is progress. It again has been a beautiful season to watch him play and we are just about 1/2 through the season. Additionally the team is undefeated which is fun to watch these little gentlemen play.

So after all that, I have a couple takeaways. I’m so grateful that we chose to push the limits instead of placing limitations on Keelan. It’s not impossible. He is capable. He just needs direction, patience, and encouragement. I also want to note that these volunteer coaches are unconsciously teaching inclusion to the players and the parents. They are seeing that just because Keelan is neurodiverse, doesn’t mean that he isn’t teachable or capable. The players treat Keelan with extra care but they assist and include him. This team will dismantle at the end of the season because players will age out of this division and move up along with coaches of the team, and that will truly be hard because without their support and leadership, Keelan wouldn’t have been this successful at this point of the season. However, for now we are going to keep enjoying the moments and watching our little man play a sport he chose all on his own. Good Luck Keelan and Pirates!

UPDATE 5-30-24

So tonight I’d like to update this post because Keelan got his first single plus a RBI this past Monday evening. Additionally, he ran all the way around the bases and made it home. For the Pirates families and coaches, I’m not sure there were very many dry eyes. What’s the saying? “There’s no crying in baseball.” Tell that to a team of players, coaches, and parents who are fully embodying inclusion and a little boy with autism who wanted to learn to play baseball. Tell that to the little boy’s family is just so touched that everyone cares so much. Tell that to the little boy’s mom (me) who put on brave face to place him in a slow-paced sport and a small ball that can come quickly towards him, struggles with insecurities that maybe Keelan is a burden to the team and that maybe the coaches are frustrated that they got stuck with a kid like Keelan. A mom that struggles sometimes to get Keelan even dressed to go to practice or a game because he is overloaded. A mom that sits on the sidelines of everything he is involved and prays that he doesn’t feel alone. The coaches/team could have easily gave him a high-five and said good job and then moved on. They could have easily just assumed he’s going to be an “out” every time he gets up to bat. They could have easily just let him sit on the sideline and not work with him. They didn’t do any of that. They are pushing him every practice and every game. The team and parents showed him so much love that words can’t even express how grateful he landed on this team. I was speaking with one of my closest friends the other evening, and they said a statement that felt so assuring. “God placed him on that team, it wasn’t random.” They were so correct. It is a truly blessing. This team was exactly what Keelan needed to be able to learn, be pushed, and achieve so much in a short baseball season. It was exactly what I needed, because as a special needs mom you sometimes just see the extra steps, therapy services, frustration, etc. But he is a little boy, just like other little boys, who just wants to play baseball. He is an amazing, strong, determined little man, that is going to overcome so much in this world even with, not despite, his neurodiversity.

The Pirates also won the game. They gave him the ball from his first single, we had the coaches sign it (mom also ordered a stand for it), and we celebrated with chocolate ice cream of course. We are all so proud of you Keelan and can’t wait to finish watching the rest of the Coach Pitch Pirates Season.