One-armed Little League pitcher hurls inspiring no-hitter, delivers key hits at the plate
It's not particularly uncommon for a dominant Little League pitcher to hurl a no-hitter. What is remarkable is when a one-armed Little League pitcher accomplishes that feat.
According to South Carolina Now -- and as brought to Prep Rally's attention by 'Duk of Big League Stew fame -- that's precisely what happened in late April, when 14-year-old Coleman Shannon, who was born without any part of his right arm below the elbow, pitched all seven innings of his Johnsonville (S.C.) team's victory against Timmonsville (S.C.). The dominant left-hander mowed through the Lake City lineup, which was no surprise to those who have seen the middle schooler thrive in sports despite his physical impairment.
[Related: Nick Newell is a partial amputee, yet he's an unbeaten MMA fighter]
"I can say that probably 999 out of 1,000 that have a physical impairment like he does would have never even given themselves a chance and continued to go out there and play," Shannon's Johnsonville coach, Kyle Daniel, told SCNow. "But he's that exception."
Shannon is the exception at the plate as much as he is on the mound. In a game on Monday, Shannon was 2 for 2 at the dish and delivered one of the game's most important hits in a late-inning comeback.
None of these accomplishments surprise Shannon's parents, who knew he was different from a young age. When the Shannons first tried to get him to use a prosthetic arm at age 2, the toddler hid the artificial limb and refused to use it because he didn't think he needed another arm.
[Related: Ex-MLB pitcher Jim Abbott faces tough questions about his birth defect]
Based on the 6-foot wonder's success on the baseball diamond -- not to mention his budding talent for the guitar -- he appears to be right about that assessment.
"I'm the leader of the game," Shannon told SCNow. "I've got a bunch of people to back me up and that's the way the game is supposed to be played."
His coach certainly agrees with him.
"The other night, when he pitched the no-hitter, that was a tearful moment," Daniel said. "When you think about what he's been through and how much it's taken him just to get to this point, when he went out and threw the no-hitter, it was just a cheerful time for everyone."
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