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Boy’s Love for Baseball, Daily Struggles Wins Naturals’ Video Contest

10-year-old Austin Byrom threw the first pitch at the natural’s baseball game Thursday night.  Austin and his family won a contest by Arvest Ballpark, foc...

10-year-old Austin Byrom threw the first pitch at the natural's baseball game Thursday night.  Austin and his family won a contest by Arvest Ballpark, focusing on Arvest's fifth anniversary.

“The first time I came here was five years and I started playing baseball when I was in kindergarten," says Austin Byrom.

The film featured his love for baseball and his daily struggles. 

“He has cystic fibrosis so he deals with a lot of medications, a lot of breathing treatments, therapy, he does speech therapy, he has Tourette’s and epilepsy that he has to deal with and he's just been through a lot," says Lana Byrom, Austin’s mother.

And Austin's video stole the hearts of many.

“It's really taken a special turn, it's really gotten a lot more emotional than any of us had anticipated,” says Eric Edelstein, Northwest Arkansas Naturals’ General Manager.

Starting five years ago Austin and his family came to Arvest Ballpark watch a baseball game and over the years it's become a place where they can take their minds off of all of his treatments.

 “We just feel like it's good to have a lot of positive memories for him and it really helps him get through all the rough days, the hard times,” adds Lana.

Thursday night Austin and his family sat back and enjoyed the game as he watched his favorite player #16 Paulo Orlando.

“I think on the first game he hit the first one and he got on first base first,” says Austin.

The Byrom family also took home a $1,000 check for winning the competition.

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