Incoming Allen Community College freshman Theo Church, 18, will begin class following a whirlwind summer taking him from competing for a national championship to sharing the same field with the Kansas City Royals.
Church, who is the son of LeAnn and Travis Church of rural Colony, graduated from Crest High School last May — soon after receiving some hardware after he was recognized on the Three Rivers League Facebook page as its team manager of the year.
“It’s fun because you get to see them progress, develop skills and get better,” Church said of his role as a team manager for the Crest Lancers.
“We’ve had a pretty good baseball team the past four years, so it’s been good. It was cool (winning All-TRL manager). I don’t know how many votes I got, but it was cool seeing the community support me.”
Church’s recognition is a long time coming. Born with Caudal Regression Syndrome — a spinal disorder preventing development of the lower half of the body — Church never let the physical impairment impact his love of sports. If he couldn’t take the field, then he could still contribute to the Crest Lancers’ success as a team manager.
“I love being part of the team, and baseball is one of my favorite sports to watch,” Church said. “I love keeping the morale up in the dugout, helping out at practice and doing whatever I can.”
From preparing the equipment to signaling all-state pitcher Drake Weir — Church’s cousin — to step off the rubber and prevent a stolen base, Church was a part of some of the most dominant Lancer teams in recent memory.
“It’s just fun to hang out with the guys and help with practice and be someone to throw balls to when they’re playing catch or warming up,” said Church of his time with the Lancers. “I help them stretch and do whatever they need. I started my seventh-grade year.”
A definite highlight of Church’s summer was throwing out the first pitch at a Kansas City Royals game at the June 18 contest against the St. Louis Cardinals. With no experience on the mound, Church said he practiced pitching leading up to the opening game of the I-70 Series.
“I threw it. I had never done that,” Church said. “It was different and there were a lot of people. I tried to (focus) but it was hard.”
The Royals went on to win the game 14-6, then the next game 6-5. As a lifelong Royals fan, Church said being on the field with some of the players he watched on television seemed surreal. Maybe it was just a coincidence the Royals took the first two games of the series, or maybe Church gave the Royals the proverbial rub as he would go on to win the wheelchair nationals in dramatic fashion.
“Bobby Witt Jr. came by and said ‘Hi’ and one of the coaches talked to me,” said Church. Witt also gave Church a fist-bump. “It was cool. And they look a lot bigger down there — up close. Especially Jac Caglianone. He is huge.”
Church said it was through his participation with the Junior Kansas City Royals softball team that led to the honor of throwing the first pitch at the MLB game.
On Aug. 5, Church and the Junior Kansas City Royals competed in the Chicago suburb of Romeoville, Ill., for the 18U National Wheelchair Softball Tournament.
The team worked their way into the championship game through the consolation bracket after falling to the Nebraska Barons in a third-round blowout. Church said avenging their previous loss against the Barons in the championship game made winning the national title much sweeter.
“It was pretty amazing because we won the first two games, then lost the third game by about six runs,” Church said. “We played the team we lost to in the championship, so it was good when we came back and beat them when it mattered. It was 7-2.”
