LUMBERTON — The throw came home, but baserunner Leea Wilkins got there first; Lumberton had earned a dramatic victory and the Pirates celebrated.

But instead of mobbing the player who struck the walk-off hit, as often is the case, the garnet-and-gold-clad group all gently jogged to the third-base bag, where Aniya Merritt stood, and one by one joined in on what can best be described as a group hug.

“I was just proud to have something great happen, especially after all that we had been through,” Merritt said.

That relief in the triumph was warranted after some of the hardest days of her young life.

Lumberton’s 2-1 victory over North Brunswick in the quarterfinals of the Robeson County Slugfest, won when Merritt’s triple to the right-center field wall brought home Wilkins from first base, came just five days after her brother, Jacoby, died. His funeral was the day before the Slugfest opener.

“I can’t imagine what all she’s had to go through, and it’s been going on for a couple years,” Lumberton coach Mackie Register said. “She’s been having to deal with that, and no kid should have to do that, or parent should have to go through what they’ve been going through. … I wasn’t expecting her to play last Saturday, and to come out and go 4-for-4 and get the game-winning hit, that’s something you write storybooks about.”

‘He was just a really good kid’

Jacoby Merritt, 16, died March 25 after battling desmoplastic round cell cancer, a rare form of stomach cancer.

He was diagnosed two years ago with the disease, which had already progressed to Stage 4. Jacoby underwent a surgery in Washington, D.C. that “helped for a little bit,” Aniya said, but eventually the cancer returned, leaving Jacoby in a fight for his life.

“We found out it came back, we told Jacoby; it was very emotional, but we reassured him about everything and told him we’d help him along the way, no matter what happens,” Merritt said. “He didn’t cry for the whole time, he didn’t complain once at all. He was just a really good kid.”

His faith-driven family remained hopeful throughout, even as the odds were never particularly favorable.

“But we just kept praying and everything, and he just kept pushing through, changing his eating habits and exercising and everything,” Merritt said. “And then it just got to a point, with his last chemo, when he relapsed from his surgery, and things just went downhill from then, but we still kept faith and held faith until the end.”

With just over a year separating the two in age, Aniya was very close to her younger brother.

“We grew up, since babies, we did everything together,” she said. “We were kind of like twins; we had the twin bond. … My brother was a big factor in my life, and with him being gone and everything, it’s a big adjustment, getting used to going home and not having him there, it’s kind of different for everybody but we’re trying to get used to it and adjusted to it and everything.”

From an athletic family that includes two parents and an older brother who were college athletes, with Aniya also signed to play softball next year at North Carolina A&T, Jacoby was a talented young athlete too before his illness, particularly on the diamond.

“He was fast just like me too,” Merritt said — high praise from the Pirates’ single-season steals leader, on pace to break her own record this season.

Jacoby also loved anime and video games.

“Jacoby was a good, good boy,” said Tiara Stueck, a close friend and longtime teammate of Merritt. “He liked to play his video games; every time I walked in there, I said ‘hey Coby,’ he’d be on that video game with that headset talking away. He was a very talented boy, very good athlete, basketball, baseball, soccer, but he loved his video games.”

Away from the games, both indoors and out, those who knew Jacoby describe a caring, smart, humble young man.

“He didn’t complain at all, he was very humble,” Aniya said. “He was very quiet also, and conservative; he didn’t speak much, but when he had to he would. But he was a great kid. … He just loved his video games and the things that made him happy; it didn’t take much to make him happy. That was what was so good about Jacoby.”

Playing for Jacoby

The family and friends of Jacoby Merritt gathered on Friday, March 29, for his funeral, one day before the Robeson County Slugfest was to begin.

The tournament opener for the host Pirates was set for 7 p.m. Saturday. Merritt, a senior outfielder, came to campus early that afternoon to hit in the batting cage, making sure that her mind was right to return to the field later that day with the wounds of family loss still so fresh.

“I was kind of emotional and everything,” she said. “But I thought and said, my brother would want me to be on the field and I would do it for him, and that life does have to continue to go on regardless of what happens, and I had to be here for my team. So then I came out here, and it didn’t feel so alone because I had my teammates around me and they were very welcoming, my coaches and everyone, and it just felt natural for me to come out here and play.”

The game against North Brunswick arrived, under the bright lights of the Slugfest as the sun set over the Lumberton campus. Merritt led off the game with a hit, then got another, then another; she stole three bases and scored the Pirates’ first run in the third inning of a tight pitcher’s duel.

Then came the seventh, when the lineup came back around to the top, with Wilkins on base ahead of Merritt in a game tied at 1-1.

“That walkoff couldn’t have been in a better place, a better position than Aniya up to bat,” Stueck said. “That was her brother there at the plate; to get around and hit it almost to the fence, two bounces to the fence, and to score the winning run on a walkoff — that was Coby, that wasn’t Aniya, that was Coby.”

Merritt completed a 4-for-4 night, helping the Pirates advance in the tournament, believing she had an angel firmly on her shoulders.

“I honestly felt like my brother was hitting with me that night; I felt so successful at the plate,” she said.

“I wasn’t expecting her to be here, but she hit (that afternoon), she seemed to be ready to go, so we didn’t really talk much about it, we just let her do her thing,” Register said. “And obviously, her brother was looking down on her — she was 4-for-4 with a game-winning hit, you couldn’t script that any better.”

After an off day on Easter Sunday, Aniya picked up where she left off in the tournament’s semifinal game against St. Pauls on Monday, with a 3-for-4 night with two runs and two steals in a 13-0 Pirates win. A night later, she was 3-for-4 again with three runs and four steals in a 13-3 win over East Columbus, leading the Pirates to their third Slugfest title. Merritt was named the tournament MVP, going 10-for-12 with nine steals and six runs in three tournament games; Wednesday she was named as National High School Player of the Week by Extra Inning Softball.

She found meaning in the tournament title, beyond just the recent difficult weeks, as part of a strong senior core leading the way for the Pirates.

“Me, Halona (Sampson), Alyssa (Stone), Carlee (Register), Tiara, Alona (Hanna), we’re all seniors this year and it’s our last year on the field playing together before we all go to college ball and the next level, if we decided to,” she said. “It means a lot sharing these last moments with them knowing that one day might be our last game together in high school.”

Continued support

As the Pirates moved back into conference play Tuesday with a 10-0 win at Jack Britt behind two more Merritt hits, she is happy to be back on the field, with the game allowing her an outlet through her time of family grief.

“On the field, I’m just happy to be back on the field with my teammates,” she said. “Softball means everything. Even dealing with my brother, it’s kind of like an escape of reality, so when I come out here all that’s scratched off and that gives me a chance to play and find myself.”

The support she’s gotten within the softball community, among the Lumberton team and beyond, has helped ease in Merritt’s transition back to the field. The Pirates team is wearing ribbon helmet stickers in Jacoby’s honor, and plans to add wristbands soon.

“I’m very grateful for my teammates and coaches, everyone has been there,” Merritt said. “Even people I haven’t even really talked to that I used to play softball with have contacted me, even on my travel ball teams. My coaches have been very supportive, and everyone that’s been involved, but yeah, my softball family has been a big part in everything since my brother passing.”

“Aniya is very well thought of, not only as a softball player but in the classroom, and she’s a good leader for us, and all the kids, all the team and coaches,” Register said. “The families of our players and everything have shown a lot of support for her and been there for her and really tried to support her the best we could.”

Those around the team marvel at how well Merritt has played through dealing with the family tragedy, particularly in the games since Jacoby’s death.

“She’s very strong; I couldn’t imagine what she’s going through, to come in here and smile and take the pain away to play ball and then go back home and not have a sibling,” Stueck said.

“She’s a tough girl, she really is,” Register said. “She doesn’t show a lot of emotion one way or the other, she just kind of always is all business all the time — but I’m sure (the Slugfest) was very tough, I can’t imagine doing it.”

For Merritt, who set school single-season records last season for hits, runs and stolen bases, that on-field excellence is simply step towards returning to normal. Entering play Tuesday, Merritt is hitting .571 in her senior season with 21 runs and 26 steals.

“Hitting, just placing the ball like I usually do, playing my game, using my speed, obviously that really helped me in the Slugfest,” Merritt said.

That play has helped propel a 13-game winning streak by the Pirates, who lead the United-8 Conference, seeking to repeat as regular-season conference champions.

As Merritt prepares to play next season at North Carolina A&T, where she signed in November, she hopes she can continue her recent on-field momentum — even as she continues to take Jacoby’s memory with her, on and off the field, for the rest of her life.

“I’m going to continue to carry it with me as long as I can,” she said.