Despite cancer concerns, a Concord woman steps up as baseball host mom

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — In baseball, the concept of home means a lot to players, no matter where they are.

“Look, it’s our guys,” says Heather Hatcher, approaching the Mooresville Spinners players with her family before their regular season finale last week. “Hi guys!”

She’s a mother of two, and a bonus for the players.

“It’s like another mother while we’re playing baseball down here,” says centerfielder Ethan Dillon.

This summer, Dillon and third baseman and pitcher Baxter Tedesco of Louisville, Kentucky, compete for the Spinners in the Southern Collegiate Baseball League.

The league includes local talent as well as ballplayers from out of town.  

Not long ago, their home away from home was a hotel room.

“We had a host family set up, it kind of fell through,” says Dillon. “We were in a hotel for about two weeks, and then we got a hold of Heather and Thomas [Hatcher].”

“I’m a huge family guy, and so when I’m with the Hatchers, it’s just awesome,” Tedesco says.

“We’ll be here cheering you guys on,” Heather told them.

She roots for the Spinners with her husband, Thomas. Conversely, they cheer her on, too.

“You know there’s days we can see that she’s struggling, but she’s there for us,” says Baxter.

In December, Heather was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“Stage 0 cancer, so they had caught it early,” Heather says. “I had a few weeks to decide what I wanted to do, and I decided to have a double mastectomy.”

“Just her resilience, she had a good attitude through the whole thing,” Thomas says.

She was still game to be a host family for the third year.

“’Even with all your health stuff going on?’” she was asked. “I’m like ‘Yeah, we’ll make room for them.’”

“The more people that would know to do this, can host, just like the blessing that you feel,” she says, describing why hosting is gratifying. “Your heart just satisfies you in a way that you can’t describe it.”

In the playoffs Monday night, Mooresville beat the Statesville Owls 13-6 to advance to the SCBL championship game against the Regulators Baseball Club.

That game is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Mooresville High School.

Along with the two Spinners, the Hatchers have a third house guest, Hunter McSweeney of the Lake Norman Copperheads.

“We’ll come down in the morning, have long conversations with her, and just talk about our days,” Dillon says.

“It’s nice to be able to focus on something else other than doctor’s appointments,” Heather says.

There’s no better distraction than baseball. The Hatchers need that.

Even though Heather is in remission, she worries.

“The hardest thing is that’s always in the back of your head that something’s going on, or something is going to come back,” she says.

Through it all, opening their home to the players is a win for everyone.

“She battles through it every day,” says Tedesco. “I think it shows a lot not only about her but a lot about her family, too.”

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