BOISE, Idaho (CBS 2) — The Mountain View Mavericks defeated Rexburg's Madison High School in the state baseball tournament Thursday, the first game the Mavericks have played since pitcher Riley Harrison was hit in the head by a ball, fracturing his temporal bone eight days ago.
"This group is resilient," said Mountain View coach Matt Rasmussen. "Even though Riley couldn't be here today, he was weighing heavy on our hearts for sure."
Riley's doing well, and so are his teammates.
"It lit a fire under all of us," said Nick Bateman, one of Riley's teammates. "It made our team come together, made us have something to play for."
Players wore Riley's #9 on their caps while in the stands supporters sold t-shirts ("Play for Riley") as part of a fundraiser to help the Harrison family.
"They're going to miss work," said Danna Douglas, mother of one of Riley's friends and teammates. "They've got bills coming in. We're a baseball family, so we wanted to do whatever we could. The proceeds will go to the family."
One of the best things about sports is what it teaches about life and one hard lesson is: things don't always go as planned.
"There's a lot of emotion right now," said Cody Decker, Riley's teammate. "I've never had to deal with a situation where my best friend's been hurt, and put in the hospital. So there's a lot going on, a lot for me to work for, and play for."
And in life as in sports, the true victory comes when you don't give up.
"It's good to get this first game out of the way," said Rasmussen. "Everybody can take a deep breath now as we move forward."
Mountain View and Eagle will meet in the 5A state semifinals Friday, weather-permitting, at 4:30 p.m. at Hawks Memorial Stadium.
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