JACKSONVILLE - Ridgeview High graduate (2011) Dillon Wells was a standout baseball player for the Panthers, graduated and, one morning in 2012, woke and found he couldn’t move his body.

“I just woke up and couldn’t move,” said Wells. “I went from being a first baseman, outfielder to not moving.”

Wells was diagnosed with transverse Myelitis, an inflammation of both sides of the spinal cord, according to a Mayo Clinic information website, that damages the insulating material covering nerve cell fibers (myelin).

Monday, at the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimps baseball field, Wells was honored to throw the first pitch of a game between his Panthers and the Baker County High School Wildcats.

“It felt good being out there,” said Wells, after tossing to Panther catcher T.J. Olivares with a straight strike.

Wells was with Ridgeview High algebra teacher Susan McInarnay, who has been by Wells’ side since high school and beyond.

“He’s worked hard to overcome what has happened,” said McInarnay. “He’s part of the Brooks Ballers, a wheelchair basketball team at Brooks Rehab in Jacksonville. He’s finishing his A.A. degree and we are trying to find a four year school with wheelchair sports.”

Against Baker County, with senior Tyler Robison on the mound, Ridgeview scored early behind an RBI-double from Brandon Dumas in the first inning that scored Garrett Barfield from first base. In the third inning, Barfield socked his own two-RBI-double to score two more with Robison nailing and RBI single as Ridgeview went up 5-0.

Baker County scored a run off a bases-loaded single on Robison, but Robison ended the threat with an inning-ending strikeout.

In the fourth, a string of singles after a walk to Yamil Tosado; Barfield, Dumas and Tyler Thomas landed one more run and a 6-1 lead.