'We're blessed to be out here': Liberty baseball playing for something bigger than wins

When senior Sebastian Galvez steps into the batter's box, he takes his bat and writes the number 27 into the dirt.

That was the number Charlie Ortiz wore three years ago as a freshman at Peoria Liberty High School. He died from a heart ailment at the age of 15 just before the start of the season.

Galvez, who was Ortiz's best friend since they were five, was fortunate to be added to the varsity roster in the playoffs as a freshman that year, as the Lions made an emotional run to the 6A state championship.

Traig Oughton, then a sophomore, got the last five outs in relief in that 10-0, run-rule title win over Phoenix Alhambra.

"After we won state, me and my friend Traig got together and started praying in the middle of the diamond," Galvez said. "It was, 'We did this for Charlie.'"

These current seniors, who grew up with Charlie, have led a resurgence after two down seasons by Liberty standards, going on a seven-game winning streak before rival Glendale Mountain Ridge walked off a win over the Lions on Wednesday.

"My senior class grew up with Charlie," coach Chris Raymond said. "His brother is a freshman in the program. But for a lot of us, Charlie is near and dear to our hearts still."

This team also is fueled by the fight in current freshman player Trey Cuevas, 14, who goes through physical therapy three times a week after undergoing surgery for medulloblastoma, a cancerous brain cancer, on Oct. 6. He hasn't been able to go to school since as he still is recovering, but he's always there among friends, especially the freshman baseball players, led by Kenny Raymond, Chris' son.

"Always reppin' for him"

Kenny Raymond, a promising baseball player, wears a gray band around his wrist that says, "FIGHT LIKE TREY #3." After Trey was first diagnosed with brain cancer, Raymond shaved his head in support of his friend, knowing he would have a long battle with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

"I'm always reppin' him," Kenny said. "I have a wristband of him, and I write his name on my cleats, because I know he wants to be here."

What Trey is going through — he spent six weeks in the hospital following surgery for recovery and rehab — drives everybody at Liberty and lets them know how grateful they are to be playing.

"It's a brotherhood out there, it's like a family," Kenny said. "We're blessed to be out here every day. It's a blessing."

It's hard for Trey to attend games. He still is working his way back, relearning motor skills. On Wednesday, Trey, who plays outfield, came out for part of his team's game.

Since removing the whole tumor, his mom, Corinne Cuevas, said her son went through 30 days of radiation at Mayo Clinic. He's currently undergoing chemotherapy once every four to six weeks.

Last week, he got to meet his baseball idol, Aaron Judge, when the New York Yankees were in Phoenix to play the Diamondbacks.

"He's my favorite player," Trey said. "I'm getting around good."

Corinne said that the outpouring of support and love from the Liberty baseball community has been big for Trey.

"The community has been so good to us," Corinne said. "I can't say enough about them. Small world, when Trey was playing for his (youth team) the Blue Jays, Charlie's little brother was also on the team. It comes full circle."

Riding Charlie Ortiz's spirit

These seniors are all connected through Charlie Ortiz and the impact he left them when they started playing together at Liberty as freshman.

Senior pitcher Gerardo Gonzalez, who was close to Charlie, improved to 6-0 with a win over Mountain Ridge to start the week.

Ortiz would have turned 18 on Tuesday, a day after Gonzalez got his sixth win.

"It's closely tied to the game I play," Gonzalez said about Ortiz's memory. "Whenever I take the field, especially when I take the mound, I know he's always looking over me. It's hard talking about this because his birthday was yesterday.

"He was a baseball fanatic. Anything from 2000 up, he could tell you any stat you wanted to know. He loved the game."

Coming off successive 13-15 and 11-17 seasons, these Lions, led by eight seniors, are driven to go all the way in honor of one player lost and another hanging on. They are 13-7 with a makeup game coming up Saturday against top-ranked Chandler Hamilton.

First, on Friday, they'll be part of a carwash to raise money for the American Heart Association in honor of Charlie Ortiz.

"When you talk about both families, they're just incredible people," Chris Raymond said. "What they've had to go through is difficult as a parent. As a parent myself, it's whatever you can do to help them out, because it's got to be painstaking."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Liberty baseball program playing for something bigger than wins