BOISE - The baseball diamond is a home away from home for Payette High School Freshman Kodee Bennett.
Years of practice, training, and games led Kodee to a starting spot on the high school's varsity baseball team.
On Friday morning at practice, an accident brought that all to a stop. Kodee's father got the first phone call saying his son was being flown to Saint Alphonsus in Boise.
"It was kind of a blur didn't really know what to think and what was going on," said Steven Bennett, Kodee's father. "It was pretty scary."
Kodee was diving for a ball, and so was another player. A collision was unavoidable.
"They told us he had a fractured skull and that it had punctured the membrane and came in contact with the brain," Kodee's mother, Mindy Mordhorst, said. "Total time from the time they took him to the ER to the time we got him was pretty close to three hours."
Those hours, Mindy said, seemed to crawl.
"You want to hope for the best but with a brain injury we didn't know what to expect," said Mindy. "If there would be continual bleeding, or continual swelling, or what Kodee was going to be like after or how it would alter his life."
The truth is, Kodee and his family may not know the lasting effects for a while, but there's hope less than two days after the accident.
"You can't believe it really if you don't see it," said Mindy.
Kodee is defying odds already. He's walking and talking and has even been released from the hospital already.
"It's kind of unreal we didn't really expect it this quick," said Steven. "But Kodee, he's a strong kid."
Although Kodee's parents are shocked and say the hospital staff are shocked too, there's one thing that isn't quite so shocking.
"The first thing he talked about when he woke up was he wanted to hit the baseball diamond and all he wanted to do was see his team," said Mindy.
His teammates have been by his side, both on the field and off.
"That's kind of been the really cool part, really emotional for us I think," said Steven.
"They have a brotherhood that's pretty remarkable," said Mindy.
Kodee's parents also say the overflowing support from the community is something they never would have expected and are extremely thankful for.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Kodee's family pay for medical expenses.
The Payette High School Pirates begin the district tournament Tuesday in Weiser.