AUBURN — "Amazing things happen through this game," said Auburn head baseball coach Butch Thompson after the Tigers opening day win over Holy Cross.
And truer words have never been spoken.
At 7:16 a.m. on Friday, Thompson received a call from sophomore center fielder Cade Belyeu—a call no coach wants to get from one of his players.
Belyeu informed Thompson that his mother, Staci Belyeu, had lost her battle with cancer that morning. Belyeu told Thompson he wanted to play, it's what his mother would have wanted.
"About 10:30 I was wrestling, sitting here trying to figure out, 'He wants to play. Is he really going to play?' So I called his dad and said, 'I'm the coach and you're the father. What do you want? I yield to you.' And he said Staci wanted him to play," Thompson said.
When Belyeu walked up to the plate for his first at-bat in front of a record-breaking crowd at Plainsman Park, the Auburn beloved showed its respect with a moment of silence. Belyue recorded his first hit with a single to left field.
But the real fireworks began when Belyeu sent one over the wall in center field for the Tigers' first home run of the season.
"I think it was the most inspiring thing we've ever seen. The crowd, our crowd is just amazing. They absolutely sensed what was going on with him and the ovation for him," Thompson said. "The home run, that's just how amazing things happen through this game. We want to honor her and I know Cade played for his mom today. That was the number one thing that happened tonight. Some things are bigger than ball. This was one of those moments."
Everyone in the ballpark will remember it as a special moment, and it fed into the Tigers' dugout. Belyeu's teammates, Eric Snow and Carson Myers, said the moment was surreal, or better yet, the greatest thing they had ever seen in baseball.
"I think I've said it a thousand times," Snow said. "That was literally the best thing I've ever seen in baseball. It means more when the kids love him. He's caring in the locker room and works his butt off every day. That was literally the best thing I've ever seen."
Belyeu finished his night with two hits, knocking in a run and securing the Tigers' lone home run on the night. Myers, who finished the night off on the mound for the Tigers, felt the trickling effect while working his way through the Crusaders lineup.
"Cade is an awesome human being," Myers said. "To be able to do that tonight for his mom, that's just something you don't see."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email logan.fowler@1819News.com.
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