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St. Jude's patient to join teammates at Memphis tournament
McCOOK, Neb. — Before every game, the McCook Cardinals 11 & Under traveling baseball team prays for absent team mate Calvin Corbett. Calvin missed most of last summer's baseball season, and probably won't be able to play this summer.
"Calvin plays second base and outfield, and he does some pitching," says Coach Chad Graham. "He's super fast."
The Cardinals will say their prayers before tournament games this weekend on baseball fields in a community near St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., where Calvin is being treated for cancer — quite possibly the only reason 11-year-old, baseball-loving Calvin Corbett would miss playing baseball.
Tournament director Thomas Martin changed the name of his tournament to "The 'Play for Calvin' One-Day Egg-stravaganza," after he found out that Calvin's team mates were coming from 12 hours away to see Calvin at St. Jude's and to play in Calvin's honor in his tournament in West Memphis, Ark., 10 miles west of St. Jude's.
All proceeds from the 60-team tournament will be donated to Calvin and to St. Jude's in Calvin's honor.
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Calvin's 2018 season took a major hit when he was diagnosed last spring with Stage 4/Group IV/high-risk rhabdomyosarcoma ("RMS"), a cancer of the soft tissue, connective tissue or bone. It is relatively rare, but it's the most common type of soft tissue cancer in kids 15 and younger, with approximately 250-350 new cases per year in the U.S.
Calvin's parents, Chris and Tiffany (Jones) Corbett had taken Calvin to the hospital for what they thought was an allergic reaction of some sort. From Community Hospital, Calvin was sent to Children's Hospital in Omaha, where doctors determined the diagnosis of cancer.
In July, Calvin was transferred to St. Jude's where treatment to shrink tumors (before surgery) includes chemotherapy and radiation.
The Corbetts, with Calvin's siblings, Oliver, Finnegan and Mariah, split their time between McCook and Memphis, and have rented an apartment in Memphis to stay close to Calvin. Chris works for the railroad; Tiffany is a stay-at-home mom.
Calvin's grandparents are Bob and Rita Waltemath of McCook, Lee and Terry Hendrickson of Greeley, Colo., and Mike and Christina Corbett of Highland, Calif.
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Calvin's team mates had hoped that Calvin would be able to suit up and play with them in the Easter weekend tournament in West Memphis. "Calvin will be able to come hang out with the team," Coach Graham said Tuesday morning. "They're all super excited about it. They've missed him."
It was his players' missing Calvin that inspired Coach Graham to start looking for a tournament somewhere close to St. Jude's hospital.
He found the nearby, one-day tournament in West Memphis scheduled for the Saturday before Easter Sunday, and his players and their families started planning for the trip over a long, four-day weekend for many of the railroad families. "Everyone wanted to go see Calvin," the coach said.
Players sold doughnuts — Krispy Kreme doughnuts — and accepted donations and sponsorships. "And lots of the families are making vacations out of the trip," Coach Graham said.'
When Thomas Martin heard about the 12-hour distance for the McCook players, and that they were coming to Memphis to see and to play for Calvin, his tournament morphed into so much more … something very special.
Coach Graham said, "Thomas Martin really blew this thing up and made the tournament all about Calvin." When Martin shared with USSSA ("U-Triple S-A," United States Specialty Sports Association, which includes boys youth baseball) teams that the games would be all about Calvin and St. Jude's, registrations exploded to more than 60 teams. "If the games hadn't been on Easter weekend, Martin thinks he would have gotten 100 or more teams," Graham said.
Martin sought out registrations to play in the tournament and ended up with teams representing six states — Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Texas and, of course, Nebraska.
Martin encourages all of those teams who couldn't come and play and their families and friend to "Please, come and support Calvin and St. Jude. Let’s show all these (Nebraska) Cornhuskers that baseball in the Mid-South is a great big family."
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On Friday evening, the McCook Cardinal players will attend a Memphis Redbirds (a St. Louis Cardinals farm team) baseball game and stand at their respective positions with Redbird players during "The National Anthem." Coach Graham said that donations to the McCook Cardinals paid for the boys' tickets into the game.
On Saturday, the McCook Cardinals will share a prayer for Calvin before games against DB Elite of Mississippi at 9:20 a.m. CT and Batters Box Gray from Tennessee at 1:05 p.m. CT. Fans can follow the games on the "Game Changer" app or on the USSSA web site.
On Sunday, team members and their families will tour St. Jude's, visit with Calvin again and meet his nurses.
Sponsorships are paying for the boys' Easter dinner on Sunday.
Coach Graham said he and his team's parents are very appreciative of support from the community for their trip to support Calvin, for sponsorships like the one for Easter dinner, and for donations, which have helped pay for a couple nights' motel rooms for players.
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Coach Chad Graham has a particularly close tie to Calvin, aside from being his coach and Calvin being his son Body's friend. Graham, too, is a cancer warrior.
As a freshman in high school, Graham underwent treatment for lymphoma, and even wrestled and played baseball while wearing a port (a small disc implanted under the skin through which doctors can take blood or inject chemotherapy, blood transfusions, intravenous fluids or meds throughout treatment).
Chad's wife, Katie, said, "When Chad took his baseball cap off, his hair was falling out. So his team mates all shaved their heads bald."
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Families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food from St. Jude. If the family of a patient has health insurance, as the Corbetts do, St. Jude bills the insurance plan.
However, the Corbetts are still dealing with what insurance doesn't cover and all the very unexpected expenses of a major medical crisis as they split their time between a home and family in McCook and Calvin in Memphis.
There is an account for Calvin at McCook National Bank for those who would like to make donations to help the young family concentrate on helping their son fight this cancer, rather than worrying about how to pay bills.
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Calvin's and his brother Oliver's team mates are: Trenton and Tripp Raile, Brody Graham, Trey Tiller, Brody Anthony, Kooper Rakes, Simon Garcia, Cason Waugh, Noah Mashek, Aiden Lauer and Ty Junker. Vince Mashek is the bat boy.
Their coaches are: Dave Anthony, Matt Tiller, Travis Raile, Lance Rakes and Chad Graham.
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Calvin's team mates, led by their starting pitcher, say a team prayer before every one of their games. Each prayer is different, but they all lift up Calvin, and now also team mate Simon Garcia, a first and second baseman and outfielder who's out for the season with a broken leg.
Trenton Raile prayed for his team, and for his bother Tripp (who feels better now) as well as Calvin and Simon: "God, thank you for giving us a great day to play baseball. Please watch over our team, especially Simon, who has a broken leg, and my brother, who is sick. Please help Calvin to get strong enough to see us in Memphis. Amen."
Team members and coaches bowed their heads as Brody Graham prayed before another game: "God, please be with my team and me, and help us to play our best. Please watch over Calvin and Simon and help them to get healed up so they can play with us next season. Amen."