ROSS TWP. — Nik Scheffler has taken down some mighty big hitters during his brief career as a pitcher in the Morgan Ross Athletic Association.
Now, the 9-year-old is going after his biggest opponent yet — brain cancer.
“I’m on the disabled list,” Nik said with a chuckle that’s both innocent and defiant. “But they’re keeping my seat warm.”
They’re keeping some hearts warm as well with a seasonlong show of support that will culminate Aug. 29 when the team parents put on a “Strike Out Brain Cancer” fundraising benefit at the Pier 27 Beer Garden and Grill in Ross Twp.
“It’s a very family-oriented team with great parents,” said Andy Scheffler, Nik’s dad. “They were sending cards and keeping in touch with us since December, even before we got into baseball season. It’s meant a lot to us.”
A fourth-grader at Morgan Elementary, Nik started showing signs that something was wrong in November when he was unusually short of breath while playing soccer. He also had frequent 
stomachaches and nausea, prompting several trips to the doctor.
But each time they were told it was just viral.
Then on Dec. 8, while resting on the couch, Nik told his mom, Janie, he couldn’t control what his right arm was doing. The arm was moving by itself, and there were facial contortions as well.
“Needless to say, we were really worried and called 911,” Janie recalled. “A couple hours later they came in and told us they found an abnormal mass in his brain.”
It turned out to be a racquetball-sized tumor at the base of his brain, and by 7 a.m. the next day, Nik was in surgery.
“When he woke up, he asked if they found out what was wrong with him,” Janie said. “Then he didn’t talk again for three weeks.”
Nik spent the next 15 weeks — including Christmas — in the hospital, re-learning basic skills such as walking and talking.
As motivation to get better, Andy and Janie kept showing Nik pictures of his Christmas presents to let him know what was waiting for him at home.
Finally, on Feb. 10, he got to rip into them.
In the months since, Nik has stayed strong and brave in the face of frequent chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
When asked if he’s made friends with the doctors and nurses, he said, “They all know me, but I wouldn’t call them my friends.”
Which is OK, because Nik has plenty of friends, many he doesn’t even know yet.
But he’ll get to meet all of them on Aug. 29.
And, more importantly, they’ll get to meet the special little inspiration that is Nik Scheffler.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.
