• ESPN
Feb 16, 2024, 09:34 PM ET

An East Carolina infielder/pitcher, who battled back from losing a leg in a boating accident two years ago, has become the first person to play in Division 1 baseball with a prosthetic leg.

Parker Byrd, a sophomore, got the historic moment to remember when he pinch hit Friday night in the eighth inning of the Pirates' season-opening 16-2 victory over Rider.

Walking to home plate to thunderous applause, Byrd reached base on a walk on a 3-1 pitch that drew an even bigger reaction from the crowd of 5,221 in Greenville, N.C. Byrd was pinch-run for by designated hitter Jason Janesko, who eventually came around to score East Carolina's 13th run of the game.

A boating accident in Bath, North Carolina in July, 2022 very nearly cost Byrd his life and led to the amputation of his right leg.

He then needed 22 more surgeries in a 45-day period, and the path to try to get back on the field this season had been arduous. But he has now successfully reached a significant milestone on that long road back when he made his college debut on Friday.

"Been working really hard for this moment," Byrd, said, as quoted on the website of WITN-TV in Greenville. "I mean the support I have had from my teammates, this community here, and back home in Laurinburg. I'm glad I'm back out and hopefully making everybody proud."