LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- One Little League team took the field shorthanded for their game on Friday night to honor their beloved teammate.
Fifth grader Jake Luxemburger was killed when police said a man speeding from them on Interstate 71 hit the car he was riding in last week.
On Thursday, his Lyndon Bananas teammates went to his funeral. The next night, the team pushed through grief to play for Jake.
Before the game, they unveiled a banner dedicated to Jake on the centerfield wall. Jake was the Bananas' centerfielder.
"That's gonna be Jake Luxemburger Center Field for as long as Lyndon Recreation is around," his coach, Jonathan Moore, said.
Moore used one word to describe Friday's game.
"It's therapy," Moore said. "Therapeutic would be the word."
After he heard Jake had died, Moore wasn't sure if his team would be able to play this week. That was before he visited Jake's dad, Trey, who is the team's first base coach.
"Sunday when I was at his house with his family, he said, 'John you gotta play,'" Moore said. "'Jake would want you to play, so you have to get out there to play.'"
Before the game, Jake's favorite college team showed up to present the grieving family with a jersey and UofL coach Dan McDonnell talked about his own link to Jake.
"I'm gonna smile every time I put my jersey on now because I also know that I share the number with Jake," McDonnell said.
The number three was everywhere in the standing-room only crowd. Jake's teammates wore the number on face paint, jerseys, and hats.
"We have '3' out there right behind the pitcher's mound," one player said. "Gonna play the best we can."
Before the game, Trey reminded Jake's teammates one more time to play aggressive.
"Get in the box and be ready to swing," Trey said. "Alright. I can promise you, Jake's not up there watching wanting to watch you all walk."
Jake Luxemburger, a fifth grader who was killed in a stolen car crash, was honored by his Little League teammates on Sept. 22, 2023. (WDRB photo)
One-by-one the Bananas got on base.
"He would always Gritty whenever he got home, and we will definitely see a lot of that today," one teammate said.
Once they took the field, you could only count eight yellow players, instead of nine.
"Jake's gonna be in centerfield all game, as long as we play," Moore said. "But he's gonna be looking down on us."
The players chased the ball faster and swung harder, just as Jake would have.
The man police arrested in the crash, Tymetrius Walter, is charged with murder and is currently in the Oldham County Jail.
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