Connie Freeman never was one to miss any of her son’s sporting events.

Ever since Matthew Freeman started playing sports at Trinity, his mother was always there in the stands cheering him on, whether it was football, basketball or baseball.

Even after being diagnosed with breast cancer and battling the disease for several years, she continued supporting her son by attending his games. He could always look up in the stands and see her cheering him on.

Connie Freeman made it through the football season, but died in December, leaving a huge void in both the home stands and in Matthew’s life.

He wouldn’t have been blamed if he had taken some time off from athletics in the wake of his mother’s death. Instead, he had the best athletic season of his high school career, being named to the All-Metro First Team in both basketball and baseball and being named The Natchez Democrat’s All-Metro Baseball Player of the Year.

“She really enjoyed watching me play and made it to all of my games,” Matthew said of his mother. “She was very strong. She wouldn’t want me lying down and not living my life. I just want to make her proud.”

Trinity baseball coach Matt Mason said it took a special person to be able to battle through such a tough situation with the strength Matthew has.

“Matthew is a kid with a lot of heart and courage,” Mason said. “He has faced adversity a lot of times in his life and has always stepped up to the challenge. He really wanted to have a good baseball season for his mom and he did that.”

And even though Connie Freeman wasn’t physically at any of Trinity’s baseball games this past season, she was there in spirit.

“Everytime I did something well or I felt times were tough, I knew she was there with me,” Matthew said. “I knew she had something to do with it.”

So with the graduation of Matthew Freeman this year, Trinity not only lost a super athlete, the school also lost a very special fan, a fan that will be moving on beside Matthew no matter if he’s up to bat in a baseball game, or going through the everyday challenges of life.

Jeff Edwards is the sports editor of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3633 or jeff.edwards@natchezdemocrat.com.