The Louisville Slugger Warriors baseball team visited WKU this weekend, sharing a story bigger than baseball.
Heroes on the Hill featured a Friday night screening of the award-winning documentary about the team, “Curveballs… Secrets to the Game of Life,” and the team played an exhibition game against the Hilltoppers baseball team Saturday afternoon.
“Here on the hill, we talk about growth, we celebrate the climb,” said Corinne Murphy, dean of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. “Tonight, we learn a bit about the climb of each Warrior and how they serve to mentor and motivate each other.”
The documentary tells the story of the team, which was first conceived by veteran and prosthetics professional David Van Sleet, as he neared retirement from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Van Sleet was tasked with creating an initiative to support wounded veterans, and when the VA didn’t pick up his idea, he took it to Louisville Slugger, which became the team’s first sponsor in 2010.
Players on the team all have a disability; six members of the team are Wounded Warrior veterans, others were involved in accidents and several were born with congenital birth defects.
Carlo Adame, a 21-year Army veteran, said the team means more to him than just playing baseball. After serving three tours in Iraq, Adame lost his leg in a motorcycle accident while still on active duty.
“Going to rehab and overcoming the disability, I wanted to give my soldiers somebody to look up to,” Adame said.
Members of the team have a variety of stories, but they all share a common quality: None of them wanted to be limited by their disabilities.
“We’re not good disabled ball players, we’re good ball players,” Derek Holcomb said in the documentary. Holcomb lost his right leg below the knee as a result of a hunting accident.
“I’ve been so fortunate to be a part of this team and have so many opportunities along the way,” Holcomb said after the screening.
Outfielder Colton DeRocher, who was born without his left hand, belted a home run in the sixth inning.
Despite a congenital birth defect, DeRocher played collegiate baseball at Central College in his home state of Iowa. He still holds the school record for most home runs, with 25 across his three seasons with the team.
DeRocher told a story in the documentary about attending a basketball practice when he was in third grade, where instructions to dribble with his left hand discouraged him from continuing.
“If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else will,” DeRocher recounted his dad telling him. “You’ve got to prove it to yourself first, and then everybody else will follow.”
Head coach Curtis Pride was born 95% deaf as a result of Rubella, but he overcame his disability to play 11 seasons of Major League Baseball.
“The guys are an inspiration, not only for me but for other people,” Pride said on the team’s website. “To overcome their disabilities to play baseball, the game that they truly love.”
Derrick Victor, who was in Explosive Ordinance Disposal for the Air Force, narrowly survived an Improvised Explosive Device in Afghanistan, but still feels fortunate for his opportunities.
“Whatever you’re passionate about, wake up every day in honor of doing that for some purpose,” Victor said.
