CAMERON, Texas — As Yovanni Cerros prepared to enter second grade, his mother, Gracie Alonzo, issued him a challenge: learn how to tie your shoes, no more Velcro.
"He was like, 'How can I do that with one hand?'" Alonzo recalled.
She encouraged Yovanni, telling him he'd have the whole summer to practice. Through that experience, there was a bigger lesson being taught.
"I'm not always going to be there to tie it. Your teacher's not always going to be there to tie it. You're going to have to figure it out," she said.
Despite the difficulty, Yovanni found a way.
"It just taught me that I need to learn how to adapt to how I am," he said.
Gracie said her doctors had no indication Yovanni would be born with a limb difference while she was pregnant. Her mother provided encouragement along the way.
"She told me, 'God gives you want he thinks you can handle. This is a gift,'" Alonzo said.
After further testing, the medical staff determined Yovanni was a perfectly healthy baby boy otherwise. One of those doctors even went as far to make what proved to be a rather prophetic statement.
"The Houston Astros will be looking for that left-handed pitcher one day."
Once Yovanni started attending school, he struggled to acclimate at first.
"I noticed he was hiding his hand," Gracie said. "I said - why are you doing that? He said, 'Because the kids look at me funny.'"
"It took me a while, it did," Yovanni said. "Kindergarten through second grade, I didn't talk to anybody. I was really shy."
When Gracie noticed Yovanni's timidness, she pulled aside his teachers and asked them for help. Soon after that, his class read a story that encouraged the students to celebrate their differences.
Heading into third grade, Gracie bought Yovanni a shirt through the Lucky Fin Project Facebook page which read: Ten fingers are overrated.
His favorite sport eventually provided a huge boost of confidence - one that his family has gravitated towards for generations.
"The baseball part is eventually what turned me around and made me realize I'm just as normal as everybody else," Yovanni said. "I didn't like to be told that I couldn't do it or I'm not good enough so that was how my mindset was."
However, the learning process was difficult, to say the least.
"It was all just improvising," Yovanni laughed. "When I was really young, four or five, I'd catch the ball, I'd put the glove down, take the ball out and throw it."
Eventually, he found an even better method of success.
"I want to say like seven or eight is when I tried the glove where I'd pull it off and grab the ball and it just got faster as I got older. I just kind of figured it out on my own."
Initially, Vanni spent time at first base and in the outfield. One day, he took up a new position.
"One of the coaches was like, 'Does he pitch?' and I was like, 'You can try,'" Gracie said.
"I thought the pitcher was the best position when I was younger. I thought you run the game and you determine how the game goes," said Yovanni.
Cerros has been a weapon for Cameron Yoe on the mound. Last year, he earned All-District Second Team honors.
Vanni frequently attracts outside admirers while he pitches for the Yoemen. Earlier this year, Gracie connected with a former co-worker and told her to come watch Yovanni play.
Gracie's friend also had a son born with an arm that never fully developed. The two connected after a game in Lexington with both teams looking on. Vanni put on a clinic in pitching and leadership.
"I just showed him - he plays baseball too, so he wanted to see how I was able to play," he said. "He was having doubts about himself too that he couldn't play very well but I just told him if you keep practicing and don't let anyone tell you (that) you can't play, you'll be all right."
"That was a very special moment, not just for me," said Cameron Yoe's first-year head coach Michael Koehl. "I think it was for every team, player that was out there to see that this kid has something special to give to other kids to show that it doesn't matter your own condition or anything like that. You can take it on and still do whatever you want to do."
"I'm just proud that he's given 100 percent in school, 100 percent in sports, and never gave up," said Gracie. "That's what I've always told him - don't ever give up on anything. You try until you master it. Don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't do something."
"Just try it," Yovanni said. "If you think you can't do it, just go ahead and try it. The worst you can do is fail, fail again - just keep going until you achieve it."
Cerros is set to graduate in the top ten of his class at Cameron Yoe and plans to attend Baylor University to study business. Yovanni and the Yoemen will play at Rockdale in their final regular season game on Friday.