Nicholas Duval had everyone’s full attention Wednesday afternoon at Disharoon Park.
Dozens of Virginia baseball players and coaches looked on as the nine-year-old Duval, a Charlottesville resident who lives with a genetic mutation of the TAF-1 gene, signed his National Letter of Intent with the Cavaliers. The youngster has spent much of the last month around the team thanks to Team IMPACT, a non-profit organization that matches children facing serious illness and disability with college sports programs.
Well, Duval and Virginia baseball are certainly a match. One by one, players filed into the Field Club Level at Disharoon, exchanging high fives and fist bumps with their soon-to-be teammate. Some Cavaliers stopped to chat with him, including sophomore pitcher Matt Augustin, who Duval has gotten particularly close with since joining the team in early October.
Augustin is part of a five-player leadership group that is going the extra mile to help Duval settle in. Junior infielder Luke Hanson, junior outfielder Harrison Didawick, sophomore first baseman Antonio Perrotta and freshman infielder Aidan Harris make up the rest of the group.
All five players donned Team IMPACT t-shirts and addressed Duval at his press conference Wednesday. Hanson and Didawick commended the energy he brings to the team, while others shared their excitement to have him officially join it.
“You’re an absolute joy to be around,” Augustin said to Duval. “You bring so much positivity to the group, and I know for the next two years … you’re gonna be the best player on the team.”
Since 2013, Team IMPACT and Virginia Athletics have partnered for 20 matches across the University’s varsity sports teams. 10 Cavalier programs are currently connected with children from the organization, and the most recent match was made public Wednesday when Duval signed with the baseball team.
In the last month, Duval has attended a few practices and was also on hand for each of Virginia’s two fall scrimmages against Maryland and UNC Wilmington. He has built close bonds with several Cavaliers, who have been presented an opportunity to be leaders and role models.
Augustin jumped at that opportunity. During both scrimmages, he approached Duval at the side of the dugout and struck up a conversation. They played with LEGOs together and even traded mini-figures. The two also discussed their favorite Halloween candies — Augustin revealed that he liked Kit Kats, so Wednesday, Duval brought him a few leftover ones from his trick-or-treating stash.
Duval, to put it mildly, is a Cavalier baseball superfan. Last spring, before he was matched with Virginia, his family made several trips from Forest Lakes to Disharoon to watch them play. This year, he even dressed up as a Cavalier baseball player for Halloween.
Jeanne and Paul Duval, Nicholas’s parents, are thrilled about their son’s relationship with Virginia. Among the symptoms of his condition are physical ailments like muscle weakness and short stature, but most prominently, he struggles socially because of his cognitive disabilities. The Cavaliers have created a welcoming space for him to interact in.
“Having these guys who are so excited to see him without any strings attached, without him having to understand the dynamics, and he just gets to go and have fun … it’s a game-changer,” Jeanne said.
The time Nicholas spends with the team also helps him fit in at home, according to his father. Sports play a big role within the Duval family, but it is unsafe for Nicholas, the second-youngest of seven siblings, to participate in many of their activities. Virginia baseball represents the perfect “athletically-oriented” environment to make up for that.
On the players’ side, the partnership has been just as influential. Hanson called Nicholas “a friend.” Didawick said he “can’t wait” to be his teammate. All five speakers beamed while delivering their messages to him before he signed. The hoots, hollers and applause after he inked pen to paper were deafening.
Operations and recruiting assistant Kraigen Rasalla, who helps manage the relationship between Nicholas and Virginia, has been impressed with the players’ commitment.
“Every turn of the way, you know, if I’ve asked them anything… they’ve went above and beyond,” Rasalla said. “So really, all the credit goes to those guys.”
Nicholas’s signing day figures to be the most momentous occasion of his time with the Cavaliers, but they intend to keep him involved when the season comes around in the spring. Rasalla wants to get him on the field to throw out the first pitch or simply hang around the dugout before games.
Whether or not Nicholas makes a public appearance at Disharoon next year, Jeanne and Paul Duval know that the heart of his relationship with Virginia baseball comes in the ordinary, day-to-day interactions with the team. The Cavaliers have become one big friend for him. He needed it.
“They just take time for him,” Jeanne said. “That’s the biggest thing with Nick… not a lot of people stop to take time, and they take time.”
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