Batts defies odds, earns spot on Fayetteville Tech baseball team
Posted July 23, 2019 5:51 p.m. EDT
Updated July 24, 2019 8:42 a.m. EDT
Fayetteville, N.C. — We first met Dawson Batts when he was a 12-year-old on the Sampson County All-Star team.
Dawson said, "Baseball is life. Baseball is everything to me."
His mom Erica Batts added, "He had this dream since he was a little boy."
Every time Dawson steps on the diamond, he turns heads.
His former teammate, Justin Clark, explained, "He inspires me the way he plays baseball. The way he just picks up a glove and goes out there on the field."
"A lot of people say I motivate people," said Dawson. "But I just feel like another teammate."
Fast forward six years, and baseball is still the love of his life.
No one will tell him otherwise.
Dawson smiled, "There's no such thing as 'I can't.' There's no such thing."
Erica added, "It's always, 'I can!'"
Dawson was born without his left arm, but it hasn't slowed him down one bit. In fact, Dawson led his conference in hitting for a majority of the season.
Billy Gaskins, the head coach of the Fayetteville Tech baseball team said, "Normally when I get a recruit in, I probably have him hit about 15-20 balls, but I was so amazed with him I made him hit the whole bucket, probably 50 balls."
Dawson's childhood dream came true this year when Coach Gaskins offered him a scholarship.
"There are no words that me or his father could say." said Erica. "It's indescribable – our emotions and how proud we are of him."
Dawson has stood out his entire life and has proven he can handle the pressure.
"Never give up and work hard," said Dawson. "Don't stop dreaming. Nothing's impossible."
