‘It meant the world’: Syracuse-Layton first pitch, uniforms boost woman undergoing cancer treatment
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- Jessica Deelstra, left, and Derrick Thomas, right, stand near the mound on Layton High’s baseball stadium. Deelstra threw out the first pitch of a prep baseball game between Syracuse High and Layton, and both teams wore purple jerseys to show support to Deelstra, who was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at Layton High School.
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- Syracuse and Layton High baseball players go through the handshake line after a prep baseball game Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at Layton High School. Both teams wore purple jerseys to show support for Jessica Deelstra, a local woman battling cancer.
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- Syracuse and Layton High baseball players are shown during a prep baseball game Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at Layton High School.
LAYTON — Jessica Deelstra stood on the mound with a ball in hand to throw out the first pitch for Wednesday’s Syracuse-Layton baseball game.
Both baseball teams wore purple jerseys, Deelstra’s favorite color, and they were all there for her. But she needed a little encouragement.
“My body was shaky. Yeah, nervous,” Deelstra said.
So fans and both baseball teams started clapping and cheering her on. Deelstra, in turn, waved her right arm to pump up the crowd, then threw a pitch to her cousin, Derrick Thomas, at home plate to a wave of applause.
Both baseball teams came together Wednesday to show support for Deelstra, who was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in January, giving her the ball for the first pitch and wearing purple jerseys with both teams’ logos and “Together we Fight” written on the front, and “Team Jessica” written on the back.
Deelstra, 42, graduated from Layton High, had LHS baseball head coach Robert Ferneau as a special education teacher — Deelstra has Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome — and is first cousins with Syracuse baseball coaches Trevor and Derrick Thomas, who are brothers.
“My wife (Amy) and I were sitting there talking and we got an update from my mom about what was going on, and my wife just basically said ‘Hey what if we did something before a game?’ And so we just went with it,” Trevor Thomas said.
“(Jessica) was happy, they kept telling me my uncle went out and practiced with her to throw, and she just loves this.”
Thomas reached out to his aunt and uncle, Jessica’s parents, and asked if he could do something to show support for Jessica. Then he got Ferneau on board and Wednesday’s first pitch came together.
“We typically do a first pitch anyway; this meant probably a little bit more,” Ferneau said. “It was something really cool to see.”
To say Jessica was excited about throwing out the first pitch would be an understatement. She kept the ball she threw for the first pitch, which was signed by both Trevor and Derrick Thomas, and Ferneau.
“She’s talked about it since we found out we were going to do this,” said Laurie Deelstra, Jessica’s mother.
Jessica spent a lot of time in the family’s backyard practicing pitches.
“With my dad (Sam), I’ve been practicing throwing the soft balls. My dad’s like, throw it at my head,” she said.
Jessica just started radiation treatments this week and will have that, plus chemotherapy, for the next five weeks.
Laurie Deelstra choked up when talking about what it meant for her to see her daughter recognized like this.
“With what she’s going through, it meant the world. It’s something positive that we need right now,” she said.
Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.