Grayson Stewart wants to try everything, says his mom, Bea. He’s never let a little thing like spina bifida stop him.

Born with the debilitating condition that deforms the spinal column and affects the nervous system, walking has always been a struggle. He wears a brace on one leg, and the other leg is also difficult to move, his mother says.

The eighth-grader at Willow Creek Middle School in Lehi plays saxophone in the marching band and walks for miles in parades. Acquaintances say he inspires pride in everyone who sees him, and crowds always cheer for him.

He stays involved in all sorts of other school activities and tries to do what every other kid his age does, no matter what.

And then there is baseball, which he loves.

Grayson has played for years in little league and now in the Pony League for the Lehi Yankees. Despite never getting a hit, his coach, Sean Andrus, always inserted him as the second batter in the lineup. The league made a special rule that if Grayson got on base — and he was walked a few times during the season — he could have a pinch runner but stay in the game.

Andrus was touched by the young man’s tenacity, even letting him pitch sometimes. He usually played him at second or third base and says, “He fielded pretty well.”

But things got serious when Lehi made it into the finals of the City League tournament in Utah County last month. The Yankees won their first two games and faced the Spanish Fork Phillies in the qualifying pool for the championship round.

Grayson, like always, was in the lineup, and Andrus asked Phillies coach Corey Shipman if Grayson could have a pinch runner but stay in the game if he happened to get a walk. He explained that Grayson rarely swings. With his legs, it’s hard to turn his body around.

When Shipman saw Grayson move on the field and noticed his desire, he told the Yankees coach to have him swing away, “and we’ll see what happens.”

Grayson struck out each time, while fans from both teams roared encouragement every time he got up to bat. The game was contentious and dramatic, and Spanish Fork finally won in extra innings. But, the Phillies lost their next game and ended up matched with Lehi again the next day for third place in the tourney.

Again, Shipman told Andrus to have Grayson swing away and again, when Grayson got up, the entire crowd when wild for him.

Then …

Whack!

The ball bounded to third while Grayson strained mightily to run to first. The brace was heavy, the body contorted, but third baseman Kayden Hopkins decided he didn’t have a play at first, so he threw the ball back to the pitcher, James Meservey.

Grayson had a single.