Little Leaguer with one hand relishes first HR

Briggs' mom catches moment on film at District 1 tournament

August 18th, 2017

The video is there, in case you want to see it again with your own two eyes, but Keenan Briggs doesn't need it to remember.
"I got up there, and he threw me the perfect pitch," Keenan recalls. "It was a 3-2 count, he threw me a perfect pitch. And once I hit it, it felt amazing."
The 11-year-old can narrate his home run, from beginning to end, without the footage -- shot by his mom, Crista. The camera is steady as the pitch comes in and the bat meets the ball and the ball flies out toward left field. Then, as the ball clears the fence, the camera bounces wildly up and down as she and the rest of the fans begin to celebrate.
"I just started yelling and jumping up and down and going crazy -- as you can see from the video that I took," Crista said.
Keenan was born without a left forearm or hand. That's never kept him off the baseball diamond. And on July 1, playing for the Warren County South All-Star team at the District 1 Little League tournament in Franklin, Kentucky, he hit his first home run, over the fence at Jim Roberts Community Park.
It makes Keenan's instructor, Todd Stinson, choke up thinking about it. It makes Keenan's dad, Kevin, beam with pride.
"I never looked directly at the ball," Kevin said. "I just looked at the outfielder. And when he turned and then stopped running, that moment hit me that that ball just went over the fence."
Keenan circled the bases. His first-base coach gave him the first high five. The Bowling Green East second baseman gave him the next, their third baseman one more. When he reached home, just like a Major Leaguer hitting a walk-off, he was instantly engulfed by a mob of elated teammates. It's all on film. It doesn't need to be.
"I got to jump on home plate," Keenan said. "It's something, I wanted to know what it felt like."