Morenci dedicates season to fallen assistant coach

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: The Morenci Wildcats baseball team has dedicated their season to assistant coach and 2018 Morenci graduate Cameron Orona, who tragically recently died.

4 Cam

By Raymundo Frasquillo

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: A jersey signed by the players was presented to Cameron Orona’s parents.

MORENCI – The Wildcats thought they were preparing to compete in a game and do their best to wind up reaching the title game – a goal other teams across the state and nation aspire to – as they returned from the Easter holiday. They were mistaken. Life lessons are repeatedly presented for their consumption and digestion.

Raymundo Frasquillo File Photo/Gila Herald: Morenci Class of 2018 grad Cameron Jared Austin Bryant Orona.

An unexpected life lesson or left-handed curveball came their way on resurrection day, Easter Sunday. A member of their family lost his life, 22-year-old assistant coach Cameron Jared Austin Bryant Orona.

“It was a shock,” head coach Christopher Aguallo said. “The guys have dedicated the rest of the season to him. We’re playing ‘4 CAM’.”

Considering the ongoing global health crisis limitations, it was that more moving that more than 300 of the people Cameron touched were on hand to celebrate his life at the Vining Funeral Home’s “Chapel of the Valley” on Saturday, April 17.

It is normally thought the burial process would be children doing that for their parents, not as was the case for the young man. But, regardless of one’s religious persuasion, one must come to understand we are all part of someone else’s overall game plan. The choices we make are a small part of the big picture.

The final words prior to Cameron’s burial in the Thatcher Cemetery were “look up, not down” with the meaning similar to words used by Dr. Seuss, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Casket bearers, not in order, Orlando Acuna, Brandon Blair Jr., Aidan Falcon, Jake Falcon, Marcus Grijalva, Matthew McCarty, David Ogas, Jeremias Pina, Jose Sauls, A.J. Shuck, and Kelby Threlkeld carry Cameron Orona to his final resting place in the Thatcher Cemetery.