Baseball is a passion for 10-year-old Elijah Belden, who is going into the 5th grade of the iShine program.
The Temecula resident played on the Temecula Valley National Little League (TVNLL) Washington Nationals. The team won the Tournament of Champions for their division (District 28 AAA). Elijah was also selected to play on the Temecula Nationals All Stars team. His team, TVNLL Angels, also won the TOC last year for District 28 AA.
Elijah began with Springs as a homeschool student in kindergarten. His favorite subjects are math, writing and social studies. The program is a good fit for him: “I like learning. I like that I get to choose what I want to do for many of my school projects.”
Elijah hopes one day to play professional baseball. His favorite player is Chase Headley of the New York Yankees. Elijah explained, “We share the same number, 7, on our uniforms. He was also on the San Diego Padres, and when I went to my first Padres game, he was the only one who hit it out of the park!”
Elijah’s family had a scare last October. During his birthday party, he received an electric shock that put him in a coma for eight days, and in the hospital 16 days total. He said, “It was a challenge to come back to school after being out for three weeks. My school and friends helped me get caught right back up.”
