Sports Persons of the Week - Sam Houston Baseball

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - Teams are like families, and at Sam Houston High School their team is like a brotherhood. This past week manager of the Broncos Baseball team Zander Gray was officially introduced as a Broncos Teammate.

Head coach of the Broncos Chad Hebert has spent the past four seasons with Zander, and he emphasized just how special it was to see him get recognized as a member of the team.

“He’s just been a big part of the team, and for his senior year we gave him a jersey well, when we gave him the jersey, the kids on the team kind of ran with it and they ran, got him a belt and pants, and he ran out of the tunnel and everything, so he really felt like he was just part of the team, almost a coach, but it makes me feel good because I know all the lessons that were trying to teach went falling on deaf ears, that they got to do that and did those things for him,” said coach Hebert.

Zander hasn’t let Down Syndrome get in the way of the goals and dreams that he has set for himself, and his Sam Houston teammates believe his impact on this team goes beyond just baseball.

“Just to see Zander see us and his face light up like that, it meant the world to us,” said senior infielder Sam Ardoin. “Zander has been with us for the past four years, and four years ago, we were all freshmen, so we’ve created a relationship with him and he comes in there and he really just lets us be loose and he’s always joking around with us and stuff, and he brings some energy as well, he’s just a great guy to be around.”

Earlier in the afternoon of Friday, March 31st, Zander competed in the Special Olympics, and his Broncos teammates came to support him, as they saw Zander win first place in a couple of events.

“He’s a special person to them, a matter of fact, the majority of our team today went to and worked the Special Olympics while he competed, and he ended up getting first place in the softball throw, the team went crazy for him,” said coach Hebert.

Zander and the Broncos will be back in action on April 1st, as they will take on the Southside Sharks at home.

Copyright 2023 KPLC. All rights reserved.