The following is reprinted with permission from the May 27 Paducah (Kentucky) Sun.

Seven-year-old Ty Weglarz said his friends tease him sometimes for rooting for Jacksonville State University rather than nearby Murray State University, but he still is pulling for the Gamecocks to win the Ohio Valley Conference baseball championship.

Ty and his father, Lee Weglarz, both of Paducah, met up with Ty's hero and friend Jason Horn, senior outfielder for the Gamecocks, on Wednesday at Brooks Stadium to watch the first game of this year's Ohio Valley Conference tournament between Murray State and Southeast Missouri State University.

Ty and Horn first met during the 2004 tournament after Jacksonville State defeated Eastern Illinois University, 5-3, May 27.

"Jason hit a home run, and I wanted to give him the ball," Ty said of Horn's two-run game-winning ball that hit the scoreboard at Brooks Stadium.

Instead of keeping it as a memento of the win, Horn signed his name, put "Best Wishes" on the ball and gave it back to Ty.

After the game, Ty and his father went home and visited the Gamecocks' Web site where they found Horn's biography, which listed his game statistics and his birthday -- May 26.

Ty made him a belated birthday card, which Horn still has, and gave it to Horn the night of the championship game against Southeast Missouri State.

Lee Weglarz said when the Gamecocks won, Horn came into the stands and took Ty to the dugout to celebrate with the team.

"It was such a nice gesture to show," Weglarz said. "It's not something everyone would do for a little boy, and it shows you what a great group of guys are on that team."

After the championship, Horn played summer baseball in an Iowa-based league, but he kept in touch with Ty via e-mail. When the Gamecocks resumed play for the 2005 season, the Weglarz family traveled to Murray; Cape Girardeau, Missouri; and Clarksville, Tennessee, to watch the team play. Ty called Horn to wish him and the team good luck in the games he couldn't attend.

Last weekend, the Weglarz family drove from Paducah to Jacksonville, Alabama, so Ty could watch the Gamecocks battle Austin Peay State University for the regular-season conference title.

Jacksonville State head coach Jim Case said he knows Ty is close to Horn, but the team is just as attached to Ty.

"It's always kind of neat for us to look up in the stands and see Ty when he comes," Case said.

Horn said he thinks of the Weglarz family as good-luck charms because the team seems to play better when they come to games. Horn's theory held true Thursday night as Jacksonville State defeated Eastern Kentucky University, 8-2. In last year's tournament, Jacksonville State defeated Eastern, 15-0, the first time the Weglarz family saw the Gamecocks play.

Horn said he is honored to be Ty's role model and looks forward to getting together with the Weglarz family.

"When you are younger and have a hero or a role model, you want to be just like them," Horn said. "You want to dress like them. You want to act just like them. There are so many people today who can lead you the wrong way, and it's good to have someone you look up to who can lead you in the right direction."

Weglarz said the latter is what Ty has found in Horn.

"Jason is such a wonderful role model," Weglarz said. "You just couldn't ask for anything more. Ty really looks up to him."

Ty's regard for Horn is more simplistic, but no less genuine.

"He's so nice," Ty said. "He's almost like a brother."

Ty, who will be in the second grade this fall, is looking toward the future, hoping his time with the Heath Cardinals Little League baseball team and, eventually, a high-school team will allow him to play baseball in college.

Where does he want to go to college? Jacksonville State.