An outfielder for the Auburn Tigers bravely hit the team’s first home run of the season just hours after his mother died.
Auburn University Sophomore Cade Belyeu was informed that his mom Staci had passed on the morning of Feb. 14, months after a cancer diagnosis, according to the Auburn Tigers website. Head coach Butch Thompson contacted Cade’s father Roger as he was unsure if the student would want to go ahead with the game later that day at Plainsman Park, Alabama.
“About 10:30 I was wrestling, sitting here trying to figure out,” Thompson told local publication 1819 News.
“‘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 told the outlet.
When Cade took to the field that evening in front of a record-breaking crowd of 5,718, he hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to give the Auburns an advantage, according to the team’s website.
A young fan caught the ball after it was hit into the right-centerfield deck, the Montgomery Advertiser reported. The team went on to achieve a 4-1 win at the newly renovated stadium.
“One of the most inspiring things I have seen in 32 years,” Thompson said of Cade’s performance per the Auburn website. “That is the storyline of this ball game, regardless of outcome or result.”
“Staci wanted her son to play,” he added. “I didn’t know how it would go, but he played an amazing game. It was pretty incredible.”
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AP Photo/Stew Milne
Cade’s teammates joined him in showing respect for his mom with a moment of silence before they kicked off the game, according to 1819 News. When the team shared the moving moment via Instagram, it was captioned, “Some things just transcend sports.”
“He’s caring in the locker room and works his butt off every day,” teammate and junior second baseman Eric Snow told the outlet of Cade. “That was literally the best thing I’ve ever seen.”
As a freshman, Cade made waves with a series of home runs in the Tigers’ final seven games of 2024, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
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