Smart Woman: Young Baseball Player's Disability Doesn't Stop Him
By: Victor Sotelo
Updated: March 27, 2012
He can hit, field the ball, even slide into home plate.
Six-year-old Reece Holloway wants to play in the big leagues some day, just like his favorite player Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves.
But when Reece was born, his parents were shocked to discover that he didn't have a left hand and baseball was the furthest thing from their minds.
"50,000 things going through me like you know how's he going to tie his shoe, how's he going to do this, how's he going to do everything," said father Bryan Holloway.
They weren't sure if he'd learn to crawl without a second hand so they got him a prosthesis.But little Reece didn't want it.
He did manage to crawl and learned to walk and then something remarkable happened. Reece taught himself how to hit a ball when he was just two.
"He got plastic balls and he would hold them under his chin and drop them and swing the bat and he would hit the ball, no problem," said mother Malou Holloway.
He was a natural, and he's been playing on a team since he was just 3 years old. As far as the Holloway's are concerned Reece doesn't have a disability. They try to never hold him back. So far, they say, the only thing he can't do is tie his shoes.
Six-year-old Reece Holloway wants to play in the big leagues some day, just like his favorite player Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves.
But when Reece was born, his parents were shocked to discover that he didn't have a left hand and baseball was the furthest thing from their minds.
"50,000 things going through me like you know how's he going to tie his shoe, how's he going to do this, how's he going to do everything," said father Bryan Holloway.
They weren't sure if he'd learn to crawl without a second hand so they got him a prosthesis.But little Reece didn't want it.
He did manage to crawl and learned to walk and then something remarkable happened. Reece taught himself how to hit a ball when he was just two.
"He got plastic balls and he would hold them under his chin and drop them and swing the bat and he would hit the ball, no problem," said mother Malou Holloway.
He was a natural, and he's been playing on a team since he was just 3 years old. As far as the Holloway's are concerned Reece doesn't have a disability. They try to never hold him back. So far, they say, the only thing he can't do is tie his shoes.
