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MCWS 2024: How Kirby Connell became beloved in Tennessee

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OMAHA, Nebraska -- Jesse James Pulley started his first round of chemotherapy the day the ballplayers visited. The 9-year-old had just been diagnosed with Stage III Burkitt lymphoma, and everything was new and terrifying. Upon hearing the news of her son's cancer a week earlier, Leann Pulley blacked out.

June 4 was the day Jesse met Kirby Connell and Zander Sechrist at the East Tennessee Children's Hospital, three days before the Tennessee Volunteers played in super regionals. Sechrist is a starting pitcher on the No.