TCU baseball provides smiles for kids at Children’s Hospital – KMTV

OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) After a thrilling 10-3 victory against LSU Sunday night, players and coach from TCU spend Monday morning on their new Omaha tradition. The team met with fans who face real challenges who say they help them stay centered on the field.

.@TCU_Baseball visiting kids at .@ChildrensOmaha this morning. 2nd year the Frogs have done this. #CWS pic.twitter.com/pNmUQqpnwg

— Josh Egbert (@JoshEgbertKMTV) June 15, 2015

11-month-old Gavin Norton was all smiles Monday morning. His parents say he smiles when the doctors and nurses come by. Those smiles are a welcomed sight to his parents, who’ve been in and out of the hospital with him since he was diagnosed with leukemia last February.

“It’s been really hard, the hardest thing we’ve had to go through,” said Nate Norton, Gavin’s dad.

But on Monday, it wasn’t doctors or nurses providing those smiles, it was the boys in purple.

“It’s good to merge the two and show you can have fun and it’s good that they’re here to show their support and we really appreciate it,” said Norton.

All 27 members of the TCU baseball team skipped the field Monday morning. Instead, turning their attention to the kids at Omaha’s Children’s Hospital.

“One of the core values of our program is selfless, as a matter of fact it’s number one and basically it’s just this life isn’t about you it’s about what you can do for some else,” said Coach Jim Schlossnagle.

The Horned Frogs visited each room in the hospital. They took pictures and signed autographs. Helping to take away the pain, if even just for a minute.

“I forgot all the pain I had in my stomach,” said RJ Balch, who had surgery last week.

Coach Schlossnagle said baseball and making it to Omaha is only a sliver of these players’ lives. He wants to teach them that life is about more than just playing ball.

“I want them to leave college knowing that, while baseball’s important, their impact on other people in the most important thing,” said Coach Schlossnagle.

For players, like Jeremie Fagnan, it’s something they take to heart each and every time.

“It just puts things into huge perspective on why we play this game and we just need to cherish every single day that we have,” said Fagnan.

At home in Texas, the team is involved with an organization called Team IMPACT. It pairs college athletic teams with a child who has a life-threatening illness.

They were paired with a young man named Micah, who the team has grown so close with. In fact last year, TCU named Micah an honorary members of the TCU baseball team.