An Iowa teen battling cancer made a dramatic return to her high school softball team on Senior Night, going 3-for-3 and hitting her first career home run, WHO-TV reported.
Ashlyn Clark, a senior for Humboldt High School, has stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma. She returned from her chemotherapy at the Mayo Clinic to lead the Wildcats to a victory against Clear Lake, clinching the North Central Conference title, the television station reported.
Clark's two-run homer to right field helped clinch the team's fourth straight conference title and 13th overall, according to the school's website.
"I have no idea what the next batter did, since I had so many tears in my eyes," Humboldt coach Doug Van Pelt told KCCI. "Just a special, special moment for everyone involved."
"The funny thing is, I was saying to myself all day, 'I've got to hit well tonight,'" Clark told WHO-TV. During batting practice "I felt like, I'm going to hit a home run tonight, I just know it. I just felt it.
"After I hit the ball and saw the right fielder turn around and look at the signs, I just threw my hands up in the air. I mean, it was pretty great."
Clark, who turned 18 on Tuesday, returned to the Mayo Clinic on her birthday for the third of five chemotherapy treatments, KCCI reported.
Clark said if she feels well enough, she will be in the lineup when Humboldt opens postseason play.
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