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Auburn Baseball Player Hits Inspiring Home Run Hours After Losing His Mother

An inspiring performance on a sad day.

Stephen Douglas

Cade Belyeu rounds the bases after a home run in the sixth inning against Holy Cross.
Cade Belyeu rounds the bases after a home run in the sixth inning against Holy Cross. / @AuburnBasebal

Cade Belyeu put on an inspiring performance on a very difficult day on Friday as Auburn beat Holy Cross 4-1 in their season opener.

Belyeu lost his mother to cancer on Friday morning. On Friday night he hit a home run.

Belyeu had called his coach Butch Thompson first thing in the morning to tell him the sad news and insisted that his mother would have wanted him to play. Thompson didn't hesitate. Via the Auburn Tigers website:

"One of the most inspiring things I have seen in 32 years,” head coach Butch Thompson said of Belyeu’s performance. “That is the story line of this ball game, regardless of outcome or result. Staci wanted her son to play. I didn’t know how it would go, but he played an amazing game. It was pretty incredible.”

Here's the homer and the reaction from his teammates.

Just about two hours before Belyeu's home run Auburn posted a tribute to Cade's mother Staci Belyeu.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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