TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — The Dust Devils are a youth baseball team that plays Little League at Chaires in Tallahassee.
This year, a special addition to their team has everyone inspired. It's a story of just friends being friends, enjoying the game they all love, because at the end of the day, that's what really matters.
At a ballpark in Tallahassee, the familiar sounds of a little league game fill the summer air, and perhaps the loudest cheers of all, come from Sawyer Moore.
"He came to a game just as a fan, and just to see how excited all the kids in his class got, forget the baseball game," said Dust Devils head coach Erick Casto.
It's a story of friendship, of acceptance, and it all started in a classroom at Buck Lake Elementary in Tallahassee.
"My son would always come home and talk about Sawyer and what they did that day and how he was always hanging out with him and doing whatever Sawyer would want," said Casto. "We had no idea Sawyer was in a wheelchair or anything of that nature."
Moore has a rare, inoperable tumor on his brain stem. As a result, he's in a wheelchair.
"They don't see any limitations that he has."
Moore is just their friend who loves baseball --
"He was just our friend, and we hang out with him a lot," said classmate and teammate Mason Casto.
"We tried to just get him on a team," added Hunter Boylan.
Now, he's their teammate.
"When we told him they asked him to be on the team, he just kept repeating, I can't believe I'm going to be part of a team!" said Moore's mom Amanda.
"I was so excited. That was awesome!" smiled Moore.
A chance to be a Dust Devil, to play with his friends, is all he wanted.
"Probably one of his biggest dreams come true," added dad Joey.
"I like sitting in the dugout with my friends," said Moore.
"They treat him like a normal kid and that's how we see him," added mom. "It's awesome they see him for him and the kid that he is."
The kid that he is, because it's really just that simple.
"Something so little or something we take for granted can mean so much to be a part of something," said Casto. "It really warms your heart to see it."
"You need to get to know him, because if you go over and talk to him, you will immediately become best friends," added teammate Graeme Wilder.
Acceptance. A lesson learned.
"It's the best baseball team I've ever been on."
