Why Tim Corbin invited Asher Sullivan's brother into dugout for Vanderbilt baseball vs Tennessee

Aria Gerson, Nashville Tennessean
Updated ·2 min read
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Vanderbilt baseball had a special guest in its dugout for Sunday's 3-0 win over Tennessee.

Declan Sullivan, the brother of Asher Sullivan, spent the game with the Commodores.

Asher, the 10-year-old son of Rutherford County Schools director Jimmy Sullivan, was critically injured after being swept into a storm drain following a storm May 8.

A photo of Asher that the family posted on social media showed the boy previously wearing a Vanderbilt baseball T-shirt and hat at Hawkins Field.

In a post on Facebook on Sunday evening, Jimmy Sullivan wrote: "Asher had a really, really rough night. Neurological signs we were seeing as positives have stopped. He had some real tough moments with pulse, blood pressure and breathing."

Jimmy Sullivan said he and his wife Kaycee "have some impossible decisions to make in the next few days that no parents should have to face. Please pray for our family and our sweet Asher."

Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said that he invited Declan to spend the game with the team.

"I just was laying in bed last night, thinking about if there was anything that personally we could do to help the healing process just in the short term," Corbin said. "And so ... I just texted Jimmy. He was late. It's about 10:30. And I said, Listen, you know, this is small change, but can we take that for the afternoon, and just bring him over to the ballpark? And he texted me right back and said, Let's do it. So I picked him up right after batting practice, brought him back and we had a great time. Happy for the kid. This is probably very good for him right now. ... Sports sometimes can bring relief to families and people in times of need and this is just one of those."

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Asher Sullivan's brother in dugout for Vanderbilt baseball vs Tennessee