As Lafortune battles cancer, he pitches for Vista del Lago

As Ryan Lafortune walked to the mound and bent down and picked up the baseball prior to his start against West Park on Saturday, his teammates gave him a loud and extended cheer that had to make him feel good. Lafortune, a senior, was making his first start of the season. He had pitched two perfect innings in relief in the opening game of the season against Stagg on Feb. 12, striking out two. Then a little over a week later, Lafortune had to have his third surgery on his neck since being diagnosed in August with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Doctors had thought they had got all the cancer out in two previous surgeries, but they did not and had to go deeper and higher into Lafortune's neck to get all of it. It's been a long road for Lafortune. "It was on the left side of my thyroid and then it progressed to the right side and then it went further up my neck," Lafortunate said. "I had my third surgery in February. "I feel great. I'm surprised I'm here. This is four weeks post-op. I'm shocked." Lafortune has had great support from his teammates. Senior catcher Asher Taylor called Lafortunate a trouper. "Ryan is incredible," Taylor said. "We found out about his diagnosis last fall and we knew his future playing baseball was in jeopardy. We didn't know if he'd be able to come back at all. When we found out he needed more surgeries, that was like a dagger because he had fought so hard multiple times to get back for the season. We were expecting him to be back for the playoffs. "It's halfway through the season and he's making his first start. That's incredible. Nobody expected him back at all, let alone halfway through the season." Lafortune only pitched one inning against a hard-hitting West Park team that's 12-1 on the season, giving up four earned runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batter, but his statistics didn't matter. He was back with the team and on the field playing the game he's loved since he was playing tee-ball. "I've played baseball all of my life," Lafortune said. "It's taken up most of my time. It's just great to be out here. It's great to be with this team. They're the reason why I'm out here. They're the reason I came back so quickly. I couldn't have done it without them. They've shown me support all along the way." Lafortune's diagnosis hits home with the Vista baseball team. The team's coach, Jim Bazor, knows a thing or two about cancer, as the disease took his son Bryce's life as an 18-year-old in 2022 after a 15-month battle with chondroblastic osterosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. "This team has had a couple of families go through this; my kid has been through it and a couple other families," Bazor said. "It hit home with us. The boys support him and the family. It's been a good thing for all the boys to fight with him. "Ryan has worked hard to get himself strong and ready to pitch again. We'll let him throw hard today in this good event and let him have his moment. The doctors think they got everything. All we can do is hope for the best and help get him through his treatments." The event that Bazor mentioned was Saturday's game against West Park, which was the fifth annual Strikeout Cancer fundraiser, which raises funds and awareness for all cancers, but specifically ovarian cancer. "With Coach Jim's background with his son, cancer has been in the background with this team," Taylor said. "It's been a big motivator for us and for one of our guys to have this it hurts. The team rallied around him as much as we could. One time he couldn't go to a team dinner and we surprised him by showing up at his house with a milkshake." With his teammates' support, Lafortune is ready to beat his diagnosis and help the Eagles fight for a league championship.