By John Orrell
Landmark Correspondent
RUTLAND — They say it’s hard to keep a good man down, and for sure the same can be said of 12-year-old Petey Sinclair of Rutland.
Petey was in a near tragic dirt bike accident last October and sustained three broken vertebrae and a broken shoulder bone. He suffered other ancillary injuries and wound up in a battle to regain his health with dozens at his side lending a helping hand. It was long recovery, but grit and determination pulled him through.
Earlier this summer, he was named to Rutland’s all-star Little League team which advanced to the State finals, with Petey playing a pivotal role. More recently, his 12U elite travel team, Evolution, made it to the gold bracket for playoffs played in Cooperstown’s All Star Village tournament, where they placed 17th out of 72 teams.
Petey’s friends and family started fundraising to help him go to Cooperstown even before he had assurance that he could play. This faith translated to increased motivation for him, say moms Patty and LeeAnn Sinclair.
“There are many battles he has had to face that are not known to the public, but we are grateful every day that he is alive and to see him out there (playing baseball),” said Patty Sinclair. “We hope his story can help inspire some other child who may feel like they’re up against a significant setback, maybe the end of a dream. Petey is an example of strength, passion and determination, and we couldn’t be more proud of him.”
“It means a lot to me that I could get through my injuries and get back on the field. I think that this whole thing taught me a lesson in a way,” Petey said. “I learned to never give up, stay strong and keep going. It makes me feel proud of myself that I was able to work hard enough to get to this spot.”
“We tried to get him back in school pretty quickly,” LeeAnn said. “When he was injured, he had to wear a back brace. He was on crutches and had an arm sling and couldn’t carry anything. At first we thought the injuries were all physical, but the concussion came on more strongly and he could only last an hour or two, but it became more clear that he could only do one class at that time. The cognitive mode was too heavy for him, so we stopped and did some home tutoring. That lasted three months, which was longer than we expected.
“What stands out the most about him is his determination and that he initiated all that extra work. He was the one who wanted to spend hours in practice. I was so happy to see that all that hard work and conquering his fears had a tangible result for him. When he first crashed, I had no idea what was going to happen to him. Now, to have my son with us, first and foremost, and see him play the game he loves is indescribable.”
Out of a devastating experience can come unknown virtues that change one’s outlook on life, say experts. This would come into play for Petey, whose positive attitude and thirst to learn were embedded in the recovery process.
“Petey’s someone who’s very determined and will take his time to overcome his fears. He hasn’t gone back to riding,” said Patty. “We’ll leave that to him. But if he continues, he can choose what pace he goes at.
“One other key thing that helped him recover was that he leaned into other things that would pique his interest and distract him from things that were going on, so he developed talent where we didn’t know he had it. In terms of advice that we would give other kids that may be going through things like this, (we’d say) try to do your best and see this as an opportunity to find something unique about yourself that you would not have known otherwise.”
They also say it takes a village to reach goals, and in that respect, Petey was blessed with a host of supporters, just some of whom are named here, who contributed to his recovery. Among them is Phil Price, the owner of EVO (Evolution Baseball Program) and one of his pitching/hitting coaches who called to have a pep talk with him. This meant a lot, because Petey looks at Phil as one of his all-time favorites for helping him grow on and off the field.
Evolution coach Mike Cormier, now the District 4 Baseball and Softball administrator, took the time to video his Evolution team giving Petey a message of care, while Evolution coach John O’Neill was in contact multiple times from where he helps players recover from injury, prevent injury and strengthen.
Nancy Bates, assistant principal at Central Tree Middle School, has gone above and beyond to support Petey at school and at home, says the family. Mrs. Gadha Bitar and Mrs. Valley tutored him, and the team at Boston Children’s Hospital was phenomenal in helping with orthopedics and ongoing concussion symptoms. He had superb therapists for ocular vestibular at Greendale Physical Therapy.
In the Rutland All-Stars competition, coaches Brain Ferguson, Tom Rosoff and Tim O’Connor saw Petey’s contribution and moved him up in the batting order from eighth to fourth.
Finally, there was much love and support from family members including grandmother (Bubba) Mary who stayed with him for weeks, and other family who helped any way that they could, as well as moms Patty and LeeAnn, who worked hard to help Petey regain his baseball confidence while coaching him during the regular season and as a coach for Cooperstown. His intense desire to improve meant putting in extra hours pitching to him.
