WKU will host the Louisville Slugger Warriors, the first competitive baseball team comprised entirely of disabled players, this weekend.
The two-day event, “Heroes On The Hill,” is part of the Mary E. Hensley Lecture Series, in collaboration with WKU Baseball, WKU ROTC and WKU Military Student Services.
Friday evening will feature a 6 p.m. screening of “Curveballs … Secrets to the Game of Life,” the 2025 award-winning documentary that follows the Slugger Warriors, in the Dero Downing Student Union Auditorium, followed by a Q&A. Saturday afternoon, the Hilltoppers Baseball team will play the Slugger Warriors at Nick Denes Field for an exhibition game at 1 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.
“I love telling stories that are true stories about people that are inspirational,” said director John Biffar in an interview with Gulf Coast News. “I think it inspires you to be the best person you can be, with a handicap, or without.”
The documentary premiered at the Fort Myers Film Festival in May and won the award for Best Feature Film.
The team consists of U.S. Military Veterans, Active-Duty personnel, Wounded Warriors and other amputee players.
General Manager David Van Sleet worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a prosthetics expert.
“He (Van Sleet) saw this as an opportunity to help these guys not only from the physical sense of overcoming their injuries, but also the mental health side of this,” said Rick Redman, Louisville Slugger PR chief, in the trailer for the documentary.
Every member of the team suffers some sort of physical disability, many living—and playing—with prostheses.
“I hope we can be a source of inspiration to others who are dealing with challenges in their lives and show them that you really can do anything you set your mind to, even without being ‘normal, ‘” said Colton DeRocher, a member of the Warriors who is missing his left hand.
Head Coach Curtis Pride played 11 seasons of Major League Baseball, is deaf, and was named an “Ambassador for Inclusion” by the MLB in 2015.
The team was honored by the New York Mets in September 2024 with the “Amazin’ Mets Foundation Legacy Award” for driving change on and off the field.
