Josiah Porter’s family sat in the hospital room praying late into the night, huddled around the six-year-old with a bandage over his right eye. Josiah had just undergone emergency surgery after accidently walking into the sharp corner of a toolbox hanging on a pickup truck, but he was far from out of the woods.
Despite doctors already declaring young Josiah legally blind in his right eye, he would undergo four more eye surgeries in the next year in an attempt to save his retina from completely detaching. The seemingly endless road to recovery that ensued sidelined the seven-year-old athlete and forced him to wear dark, thick glasses to protect his sensitive right eye. However, Josiah refused to give up on his athletic dreams as he continued to fight through an additional surgery as a part of his long rehabilitation period.
Before the accident, Josiah was an adept athlete known for his talent on the basketball courts and Little League® diamonds of Nolensville, Tennessee. A show-stopping shortstop, he made the play of a lifetime at just five years old, single-handedly turning a triple-play.
But even after darkness consumed his right eye and forced an athletic hiatus, Josiah kept moving towards the light at the end of the tunnel.
After years of grueling rehab, Josiah’s perseverance paid off this summer as he lived out the dream of every young baseball player, taking the field at the Little League Baseball® World Series. The mighty righty played a key role in Nolensville Little League’s journey to Williamsport, hitting .300 through four Southeast Region Tournament games and striking out only once.
“Josiah can hit. He can really hit. He can hit a 70 mile per hour fastball. Most people with two eyes can’t hit a 70 mile per hour fastball and this kid can,” said Randy Huth, Nolensville Little League Manager. “He’s a very special kid and he’s one of my heroes.”
More impressive than Josiah’s excellence at the plate is his play in the field, where he dazzled as a relief pitcher in Nolensville’s opening round game in the Southeast Region Tournament. He threw just 35 pitchers, 30 of them for strikes, and struck out nine batters while putting together an immaculate inning.
Josiah also learned to play a brand-new position this summer as a part of a stacked Nolensville squad. The former middle infielder transitioned to the outfield, and despite the difficulties that come with only being able to see out of one eye,…
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