- April 19, 2024
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He rides bikes. He wrestles all day. He plays baseball, and he’s planning on competing in a 5K. Cerebral palsy isn’t beating Brian Castillo; he’s winning the match.
Since joining Palm Coast Little League last year, Castillo has hit seven infield homeruns. Castillo, wearing his black team shirt and matching helmet, gasses up his scooter with bat in hand to the plate, and after the ball is set on a tee, he connects with it and releases the bat like a Major Leaguer. After popping the ball a few feet away from the pitcher’s mound, he begins to round the bases, as the other team throws the ball around, creating extra excitement. Rounding third base, everyone in the stands begins to applaud, and there’s Castillo, with the smile that will light up any room, raising his hands, after another infield home run.
“It is so unbelievable because things are very difficult for him,” said Dawn Castillo, his mother. “Just to have that normalcy where he gets to play with other kids and doesn’t have to be on a team with a bunch of other handicapped kids is cool.”
Dawn Castillo admits that she was afraid to let him go out for baseball, but after talking with another coach who had an amputee child, she went along.
“The first time he hit a home run, I cried as he went around, and so did all the other parents,” she said. “I was just so happy for him; I had never seen a bigger smile on his face. He was completely glowing.”
His coach, Ed Foley, said it never gets old for him to see that wheelchair round the bases.
“Everybody in this league is great about it, he said. “What I like even better is when he’s coming home and the crowd is clapping. That’s when I get warm about it. That’s what makes me enjoy this league and age group.”
In the dugout, cheering him on was Sabastian Bradford, 10, Castillo’s best friend of six years.
“I don’t see anything different about him,” Bradford said. “He’s just my best friend. What I like most about him is that we wrestle all the time, and he’s not a wuss. He’s a lot tougher than the other kids.”
While sitting in Castillo’s house, the two took their wrestling positions and began rolling on the floor. While Bradford overpowered the smaller Castillo, he exclaimed, “I will never give up.”
“He often drags and carries Castillo around the house,” Dawn Castillo said. “Sometimes, it’s nerve-wracking, but I have to let them go. When they wrestle, I’m a lot more fearful than Brian. He’s not scared of anything.”
Castillo’s WWE knowledge goes well beyond his years. Though he is only 7, he knows all about the Attitude Era (1996-2002), including the wrestlers’ finishing moves. His favorite is John Cena, the U.S. champ.
Two weeks ago, Castillo went to see the Washington Nationals with Wheels4Kids. After meeting all the players, they promised Castillo that he would get to throw out the first pitch next year.
“What I didn’t like about it was the Nationals losing, but I did like that I got 15 autographs,” Castillo said.
“Brian always says that one day he’s going to be a pro,” his mother said. “He doesn’t feel like he can’t do anything; he thinks he can do everything, so it’s pretty cool.”
Castillo plans to participate in Belle Terre Elementary 5K run at the end of the month. He’s been training on a weekly basis, and according to his mother, he plans to win.
“He always thinks he’s going to win at everything,” she said. “He’s such a warrior.”
