Life threw her a curve, but young athlete now safe at home_82304

Posted: 8/20/04

Life threw her a curve, but young athlete now safe at home

By Miranda Bradley

Texas Baptist Children's Home & Family Services

ROUND ROCK–Eighteen-year-old Patricia Gutierrez has been thrown curve balls her entire life. But this summer she threw a pitch of her own–at a Round Rock Express baseball game.

Gutierrez placed herself in Texas Baptist Children's Home after years of heavy responsibility took their toll.

At age 14, she held down a job, helped her father raise two of her six siblings, assisted with homework, cooked meals and managed the household, all before doing her own school work.

“I called TBCH because one of my sisters had lived there for a while, and I knew it was a good place,” she said.

Throughout her life, she sought distractions from her grown-up reality. She turned to drugs and alcohol.

“I was doing things a kid shouldn't be doing,” she said. “And I knew it was wrong.”

At one level, Gutierrez craved stability and rules, and she found them at the children's home.

“But when I got them, I didn't want them,” she said. “So it was a hard transition.”

Even harder was the shift she had to make from being a tiny adult to learning how to be a youngster.

But her love of sports, learned in a household where she was raised as a tomboy, helped.

“I've always loved athletics–football, baseball, softball, you name it,” she said.

She channeled her frustrations into her athletic talent and emerged as a star on the Stony Point Lady Tigers softball team at her high school. Becoming a sports star quickly became Patricia's one goal.

That all changed in 2002.

During that summer, Gutierrez came to faith in Christ at a summer youth camp. She soon realized sports were not all there was to life, and her relationship with Jesus took precedence.

She quit the school team when she felt adult leaders were not setting a good example for young players. Since then, she has played on community teams.

The chances for her to show her skill on the pitcher's mound seemed bleak until Kip Osbourne, Texas Baptist Children's Home campus life supervisor, pulled her aside and asked if she would like to throw out the first pitch at a Round Rock Express game.

“I'd love to do it,” she told Osbourne. “But if someone else on campus needs it more, let them do it.”

Her answer convinced Osbourne he had the right girl.

After throwing an impressive fastball, several of the Express players complimented her on her talent.

Watching from his skybox was Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. During the game, he met with Patricia and signed her ball.

“This was so exciting,” she said. “I'm just thrilled I got the opportunity.”

Sunset Press, a Round Rock-based printing company, sponsored the night.

“We've always been aware of the good work Texas Baptist Children's Home was doing in the lives of kids,” said Charlie Ayres, vice president of marketing at the printing company.

“Instead of offering this chance to a CEO or someone like that, we felt it would be better to give it to a child who would cherish the memory for the rest of their lives.”

And they succeeded. While Patricia still hopes to receive a sports scholarship to college, she is aware her chances are slim because she isn't playing on her high school team.

But even if she never sets foot on another field, she said the memory of one night was one she could live on forever.

“It's been so much fun,” she said. “I don't know what to say but thank you. God is very good.”