From the operating table to hitting a grand slam in the Little League Baseball World Series, 12-year-old Kole Newson is no stranger to adversity and triumph.
Last week, Newson stepped up to the plate as the Boerne all-star baseball team made its debut in the LLWS. He blew the game open with a four-run shot.
“I was just looking for a pitch I could hit hard and do damage with, and he just hung a curveball, and I just hit it really hard,” said Newson.
“You see the pitch, you get contact. Did you know it was gone?” asked KSAT John Paul Barajas.
“Yeah, immediately,” said Newson.
12-year-old Kole is healthy and certainly strong enough to go yard on the national stage. So it’s hard to imagine that he was on an operating table four years ago.
“At 8 years old, his first day of school going to the third grade, he spent getting heart surgery, so it’s kind of one of those things that you don’t prepare for as a parent, but he handled it like a champion,” said Justin Newson, Kole’s dad and coach.
Team manager, but dad first, Justin Newson, explained a routine doctor visit revealed a heart murmur; it was later found that Kole had a growth that was starting to block one of the valves in his heart.
“A very serious surgery taking out someone’s heart cutting something out of it, and putting it back in, and an 8-year-old is your child, it takes you to another level as a parent,”
For Kole, it turns out he’s calm, cool, and collected on and off the baseball diamond.
“I wasn’t really down because I knew at the end of it, I was going to get a lot of presents, and that just made me happy,” said Kole.
“Did you get a lot of presents?” asked Barajas.
“A lot!” said Kole.
Six weeks after surgery, Kole was back doing what he loves playing baseball with the boys. Now, they’re showcasing their talents for the entire country to see.
“Take me through that moment from the surgery table to a grand slam on the national stage; what’s dad thinking, not coach, but what is dad thinking in that moment?” asked Barajas
“Amazing, I mean he works hard, he’s a great kid, like seeing how hard he works, seeing him do it on that stage, his first ever grand slam, it was a lot of fun rewatching,” said Justin. Kole added, “It was amazing because I saw all the other people do it last year, and just to see myself do it, it was like really cool,”
