SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – Come to any American International College softball game, and you will see them; the giveaway is the purple of an Anaheim Ducks hat and the red of a Los Angeles Angels sweatshirt amongst the black and yellow.

At Judy Groff Field, they are inevitably next to home plate on the first base side between the field's dedication rock and the AIC dugout. When the team is on the road, they find whatever spot allows them to watch the game from the best angle.

They are the Trejo family: Lizdebeth, Joseph, and Elijah. They are there for Nevaeh, a sophomore third baseman, at every game. 

"Softball's a huge part of our family. It encompasses our whole family. It's what we live for, basically," said Lizdebeth, Nevaeh's mother.

"Being able to be at her games and support her, that was huge," said Joseph, Nevaeh's brother adding "Wherever we've had to travel, we've figured out how to get there…watch her play, and support her."

Elijah, in particular, is there for his older sister Nevaeh, and the reverse is true as well. Elijah has a learning disability and is mostly non-verbal. That presents a unique set of challenges, but Lizdebeth and Joseph have always poured everything into ensuring that both of their children were supported in every way to achieve their maximum potential; Lizdebeth noted that family vacations were always to Nevaeh's travel games as she was growing up.

But as taxing as travel ball in high school can be for any family, the dynamic faced a new challenge when Nevaeh was looking at colleges. The native of Garden Grove, California wanted to play on the East Coast and turned away coaches in the Golden State. "I always knew that I didn't want to stay in California. That was the biggest recruitment thing I was stuck on," she said.

But Elijah needed Nevaeh. Nevaeh needed Elijah. They both needed their parents.

"I love seeing him come to my games, I love seeing him come support, even when he's telling me to hit the ball," she said with a laugh. "I believe he's a real key to my success," she added.

AIC's Head Coach, Shalise Tolentino, saw it the first time she met them. "I remember her official visit, they all came and you could just tell how close they were. You could tell how close she was with her brother," she said.

So when Nevaeh ultimately committed to AIC, there were no questions in the minds of anyone in the family what was going to happen. To keep the family together, they picked up and moved over 2900 miles across the country to Springfield.

Making a move in such a short time was its own challenge, and while she knew it would happen eventually, even Nevaeh was surprised at how quickly her family made it work. She had expected to be on her own for at least the first semester if not first year, but four weeks later, they were all together.

"I told my husband, 'I'm going to put in my transfer from work.' If it's meant to happen, it's going to happen, and it happened right away…we had a month to leave, and come, and this was an adventure for all of us, a lot to support her, just to grow as a family here," Lizdebeth said.

AIC was the perfect fit for the Trejos in every way. "It's one huge family…people are really friendly, it's super nice," Joseph said, noting as well that they were able to find programs in Springfield to support Elijah and help him grow.

For Nevaeh in particular, choosing AIC not only set her up to live out her dream of playing college softball on the East Coast, but it suited her academic desires as well; citing Elijah as her inspiration, she had already chosen occupational therapy as her major.

"My brother is the reason for my major…I wanted to help people with disabilities, and I feel like he does not have access to as many resources as he should. That's why I want to be an occupational therapist. He works hand-in-hand with occupational therapists, and that's why I want to work with students with disabilities," she said.

"[She's seen] the struggles we've dealt with with her brother, and she's going to be able to apply that and make something better for kids with special needs," Joseph said.

"It makes me very proud of her. I think she's seen such a lack of people that are qualified to help the special needs community…and she sees that not only her brother needs it, but other people are going to need it. It's something that's fulfilling for her," Lizdebeth said.

Tolentino was impressed with Nevaeh's commitment to her career path and to softball from the first time they met, and how that commitment has only grown. "From our first conversation she knew what she wanted to do. She asked all the right questions. She knows she wants to be the best softball player she can be and she knows she wants to be the best occupational therapist she can be," she said, adding "It rubs off on everybody around her; everybody wants to be around people that can elevate you in life." 

Her teammates have taken in all the Trejos, but especially Elijah, as one of their own.

"They always run up to him, and he's always ready to give a high five or hug or take a picture. They've really embraced him and he holds a special place in everybody's heart," Tolentino noted of Elijah's presence at games.

"All the girls love my brother…him being around helps my team understand, you don't judge a book by its cover…it's helped them understand more patience and awareness for others around them," Nevaeh said. "My team has gathered that encouragement and been super involved," she added.

"It seems kind of crazy to have your family follow you to college, but they understood…it was such a strong family unit, and they embraced that," Lizdebeth said.

Nevaeh has even worked to spread awareness to other teams in the Northeast 10 Conference, bringing informational pamphlets and awareness ribbons to games and distributing them to other teams over the month of April.

 "It brought me lots of joy being able to play the sport I love and being able to spread that awareness," she said of the positive reaction to her efforts from other teams in the league.

She knows that it will take a tremendous effort to create a world where people like her brother are given the support they need to thrive.

Her message, and the work she is doing to make a difference, comes back to what she has learned about family from her parents and her brother.

"You don't know what people are going through, and at the end of the day he's a person, everyone's a person. Just because they may have some sort of learning disability or physical disability, you still treat them with kindness, respect, and love," she said.