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'It's Been Hard But You Have to Keep Going.' Tyler Bova is Back On the Pitcher's Mound

Randolph County teen Tyler Bova is striking out players and odds in his return to baseball. Bova was the only survivor in a crash that killed his parents and brother.

TRINITY, N.C. — It's the moment we've all been waiting for. 

But no one has waited longer – fought harder – or trained with more perseverance than Tyler Bova.

"It took months, almost a year," Bova said. Longer than I expected when it first happened but at least I’m here and I’m glad to be here."

Tyler Bova is the lone survivor of a car crash that killed his mom, dad and brother while vacationing in Utah last summer. 

RELATED: Tyler Bova Makes Strides to a Full Recovery

"It's been hard but you have to keep going," Tyler said.

"His mom and dad would want him to keep going," grandmother Kathy Durnell said. 

Ten months after the accident, Tyler played in his first baseball game for the Trinity High Bulldogs. He pitched!


"He has been at every practice, at every game on the sidelines wanting to play but not being able to so this is pretty darn special," Durnell said. 

A special moment that Tyler did not take for granted.

RELATED: 'I'll Look Out On The Stands and Picture Them There' Tyler Bova Practices For First Game Since Crash That Killed His Family, Severely Injured Him

"I’m just going to give it my all," Tyler said. "This is a once in a lifetime thing for me so I’m super excited and the amount of people going to be here it's going to be crazy, it’s just going to light my world up."

And it sure did. He got three strikeouts in the first three innings. He even caught an out! The crowd was going wild. 

"He’s worked really hard to get to this point and I’m so proud of him I really am," Durnell said.

He was hospitalized for months, has had more than a dozen surgeries and is still in physical therapy. Tyler can't run but he can walk without any sort of support.

"It was really hard obviously being in Utah and watching him go through everything he had to go through, it was awful," girlfriend Caroline Strickland said. "But I always knew he was going to be able to come back and play."

Tyler said he could feel his family watching his first pitch. 

"They have smiles like up to their ears right now I know it, I can see it."

The Trinity High Bulldogs won 13-0 for Tyler's first game back. 

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