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At Wauconda, there's plenty of Fight in No. 4

If the curveball that life suddenly dealt him means he's behind in the count, Pierson Gibis has yet to flinch.

He remains focused on his at-bat, the one he's thought long and hard about, whenever it comes. There's baseball to be played for the Wauconda senior, and there's baseball to be watched. Like, say, a World Series game at Wrigley Field this year. It might be. ... It could be.

Gibis' Uncle Mike recently played golf with Cubs all-star Ben Zobrist and says Zobrist extended Gibis a standing invitation to tour the Cubs' new state-of-the art clubhouse.

"Just more to look forward to," Gibis said.

The just-turned 17-year-old wears a black baseball lid with a yellow brim that says "FIGHT" on the front. He talks with a perpetual smile. Which isn't surprising if you know Pierson Gibis. His optimism rivals that of even the most die-hard Cubs fan. Which, considering his plight, is actually more staggering than the fact that a baseball team has gone 108 years without winning a World Series.

Last month, Gibis, young, healthy and athletic, was suddenly hurting enough that his parents, Ryan and Jan, took him to the emergency room. Pierson was experiencing pain in his back and legs.

"They did a bunch of tests and found a mass on his pelvis and on his spine and some spots on his lungs," Ryan Gibis said. "Up until that point, we thought all of his bumps and bruises and aches and pains were baseball-related. He was playing up until a week before he went to the emergency room."

Pierson, Ryan and Jan's youngest of two children, was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma. The Gibises were told it's a common form of childhood cancer, but that it is usually seen in younger kids. Rhabdomyosarcoma, or RMS, is an aggressive and highly malignant form of cancer that develops from skeletal muscle cells that have failed to fully differentiate.

Talk about a knee-buckler.

"He's a 17-year-old kid and he's scared, but he's as tough as they come," Ryan said. "He's ready to beat this and get back out on the baseball field."

When told he had cancer, just days before the start of his senior year, Pierson had an important question for his doctor:

"Can I play baseball again?"

When Gabby Fugle found out her boyfriend had cancer, she asked herself a question:

"How can I help?"

So the senior, who plays volleyball for Wauconda, talked to Bulldogs varsity head coach Alison Williams and came up with the idea of a fundraiser. Fugle, borrowing a suggestion from Pierson's aunt, decided on "Fighting For 4" and slapped the slogan on purple T-shirts. The number 4 is Pierson's baseball number.

The fundraiser, which took place at Wauconda on Tuesday night as the volleyball team hosted West Chicago, was supposed to be a surprise for Pierson. Alas for Gabby, he found out about it when he saw pictures of the T-shirt on her phone.

"I'm not going to lie," Pierson said. "I might have cried a little bit when she told me."

Then came the night of the event. Fans, a majority wearing "Fighting For 4" T-shirts and rubber bracelets, packed the gym.

The support from the Wauconda community was enough to make one cry. Ryan Gibis used the words "unbelievable" and "overwhelming" to describe it all.

Ryan's boy just soaked it all up and smiled.

"I thought I had like 10 friends," Pierson joked. "(The turnout) was pretty insane. It was fun to see everyone here. It means a lot."

Anyone who calls Pierson Gibis a friend is one lucky person.

"He's the most positive person I know," Fugle said of her boyfriend of 1 year and 4 months. "It just shines through, especially right now. He's all, 'Watch me fight this. Watch how good I am.' He's amazing."

Baseball helps keep Gabby's boyfriend amazingly focused. Despite wearing a surgical mask for precautionary reasons Tuesday night, he couldn't have been more articulate and more clear in stating his frame of mind.

"I just picture in my head the next time I get to play baseball," Pierson said. "I think about it, playing in college, or wherever I'm playing. I just picture myself walking up to the plate. That's what I look forward to."

In the meantime, he fights without a bat in his hands. Five weeks of a 54-week treatment plan are in the books. Chemotherapy is on tap for now, with radiation possibly being introduced in another few months.

"We count the weeks," his mom said.

The weeks are tough. The days are tougher. But there's little time, if any, to pout. Besides, that wouldn't be Pierson.

"My body hurts," he said. "I don't feel good sometimes. But I try to take my mind off it with video games, family, TV, sleeping. Honestly, anything that works really.

"I don't really have anyone to leave me alone," he added, smiling. "People are over every day."

Monday night, Pierson had the chance to go to the Cubs game at Wrigley Field. His illness benched him, though, so big brother Brandon, who plays baseball for UIC and who even shaved his head in honor of his bald brother, took his ticket.

"(Monday) I was up and moving," Pierson said. "I was like, 'I can totally go to this game today.' My mom was like, 'Too late for that.' "

No worries. There will another Cubs game, another ballgame for Pierson.

Like his new favorite baseball cap says, he will "FIGHT" to make sure of it.

Pierson will you that. He loves to chat, after all.

"All he does is talk," said Gabby, laughing. "I love him to pieces."

She's not alone.

jaguilar@dailyherald.com

• Follow Joe on Twitter: @JoeAguilar64

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