Bigger than baseball

PIKEVILLE — Moments after he steps out of the dugout, Adam Brodgen pauses.

He takes a deep breath, adjusts his cap and crouches over a pitcher’s mound he has stood on hundreds of times since his Charles B. Aycock baseball career began as a freshman.

He runs his fingers along the dirt, carving the number 69 behind the rubber.

“That’s the year she was born,” the 17-year-old said. “That’s the year my mom was born. It was for her.”

Adam Brogden writes a tribute to his late mother on the CBA pitcher’s mound.

It’s the top of the sixth inning. The home team is trailing county rival Rosewood 3-2.

It hasn’t been a great season. There will be no conference or state championship this year.

But head coach Allen Thomas knows that tonight is about more than baseball. He calls Adam’s number and sends him out to temper Rosewood’s bats.

Adam gives up a run. But in the bottom of the inning, his teammates rally to give their pitcher a chance to seal an Aycock victory on Senior Night.

Just three more outs.

Adam throws a pitch for the first time since his mother’s death.

It’s April 4 and Adam is at school — sitting in a classroom — when the call comes. His mother, Angela, has died.

He wouldn’t step back on campus for 11 days.

What Adam didn’t know was that his story had touched his “brothers” on the Aycock baseball team.

They heard the news at a special-called team meeting.

“We just looked at each other and were like, ‘There’s no way that’s real,’” Adam’s best friend, Noah Overton, said. “The first thing I did was text him. I was just like, ‘Hey man, I just heard. Let me know if you need anything.’ Ever since, I’ve been there for him — making sure he’s OK.”

His other teammates were there for him, too. They quietly raised money — to date, more than $300 — to ensure Adam could fulfill his mother’s wish to be buried in her family plot in Louisiana.

And they left school early one day the following week, as a team, to attend the visitation.

“We told each other, ‘We’re going. It’s not an option. He’s a family member,’” Noah said. “We’re there for each other. Always. This is beyond baseball. We’re going to be there after we get out of high school. We were there before we got to high school. We’re a family.”

Thomas understood that he was witnessing something special — something that, despite his team’s tough season, was just as worthy of noting in the Aycock baseball history books as a championship.

“We have great kids with great hearts and what they were able to do for Adam, you know, it just goes to show you how real-life situations are a lot more important than what happens out here on this field,” he said. “It makes you feel good as a coach to see that your kids understand this whole life thing.”

Adam and his “brothers” watch as the CBA bats wake up in the sixth inning.

It’s the top of the seventh inning and Aycock is clinging to a 6-4 lead. Adam knows that his teammates have had his back since that call came in on April 4. And he knows his mother is with him — like she has been “every game” since she signed him up for tee ball at 4 years old.

So, he digs deep.

“That was the hardest I’ve seen him throw all year,” Thomas said. “Something was definitely going on out there.”

It was special because, until Monday, Adam hadn’t even been back to school. His teammates had no expectation that the pitcher would take the mound again this season — much less be called upon to ensure the Golden Falcons’ senior class went out as winners.

So, as he faced what would be the final batter of the evening, they shouted his name from the dugout — urging him to seal the deal. They could never have imagined just how at peace he was out there on that mound, his mother’s number guiding him from the dirt below.

“Coming back after a week — with as much stress as I’ve had and the depression — I got my mind right and got back in my groove. I prayed. I thought about Mom all day and I came out here and played for her,” Adam said. “I knew she loved me, so it put motivation into me to just come out here and play baseball for her. To get the W, it was really big. It was something special.”

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As the sun went down, Aycock’s seniors walked off their home field as winners one final time Wednesday evening.

In their hearts, they knew something happened inside that fence that can’t be measured in runs scored. So they jumped on Adam’s shoulders after the final out was logged. They high-fived their teammate and embraced him.

This was their championship moment — even if they are likely still too young to fully understand all they have done to lift their brother out of his darkest hour.

“We’re going to pick each other up,” Adam said. “No matter what. We’re going to take the negatives and make them positives — in baseball and in life. You throw a ball, you pick yourself up and throw a strike.”

It is a metaphor for his new normal, the life he will lead now, and the memories that will always be with him.

“You know, losing my mom, it hurts, obviously, and they knew. And they came together and have really helped me out with it. It’s been a dream to play here since I was, God knows, 5 years old. I just wanted to come here and do what I always dreamed of doing — play baseball with my brothers. And tonight, my mom helped me do that. She helped me get the win.”