The sights and sounds of high school baseball have arrived.
The pings of the bats, the pops of the gloves.
Players packing their bags, lacing up their cleats.
Warm breezes blow while sprouting daffodils surround the ballparks.
Grayson Pope can't get enough of baseball.
A Tennessee commit from Hewitt-Trussville High School (AL), Grayson lives for the sport.
That's why this season is so sad, yet so hopeful.
Maybe, God willing, Grayson can play baseball next spring.
It's been 9 months since the tree fell.
The roof of the cart caved in while Gray was golfing with friends.
A traumatic brain injury changed Grayson's life.
Now it's baseball season, and Gray is surrounded by the sights and sounds he lives for.
"I liken my son to a baby doe," Grayson's father David told me as I asked him how Gray is doing.
"He's walking, but he's a bit wobbly. He has some vision issues, and he speaks in a low tone," David added.
I could hear David's love and pride for his son as he spoke with me from his car, his wife Jamie alongside him.
"He's halfway up the mountain," said David, sounding steady but melancholy.
Grayson Pope is surrounding himself with great doctors, therapists, family members and friends.
He's been joining the Huskies baseball team for practice- he dons his uniform for games.
Just the other day, Grayson helped exchange line-up cards before a game.
He stood tall at home plate while doing so.
As the Huskies dig into another baseball season, Grayson Pope is his team's biggest cheerleader.
He takes pride in seeing "No Fly Zone" painted in left field where he used to roam.
"Coach Mauldin had that put on the fence in honor of Gray," said David.
"Gray used to call left field the "No Fly Zone" because he seldom allowed a baseball to drop there."
The Pope family is relying on community support and their faith to help Grayson improve.
"Gray has come so far, and the Lord has led the way," David told me.
One a scale of one to ten, he's about a five, but he's getting there," he added.
"The goal is to get him back to 100 percent."
Grayson Pope can't get enough of baseball.
The sights and sounds of the sport he loves surround him.
Grayson will continue to work and rehab and hope and pray.
"I have seen how far Grayson has come," said David. "It's a miracle."
David and Jamie are staying positive, doing all they can while looking forward to the big day.
The day when warm breezes blow and daffodils surrounds them.
The day when God willing, their son steps into the batter's box bringing with him his sheepish grin.
The day when Grayson Pope reaches the mountaintop.
*Be sure to tell Grayson how proud you are of him.
#pray4gray Prayers for Grayson Pope #pray4gray
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