Amy Smotherman-Burgess

Patrick McPherson, 10, of Seymour, soaks in a soggy view of the field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday night while trying to wait out the rain delayed start of Tennessee’s series with Alabama.

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Zane Stone looked out toward the pitching mound and tried to imagine what emotions he might feel tonight.

Today's the day he gets to see his mom pitch at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

She's alive. That's what makes this night so special.

It wasn't that long ago Stone wondered if his mother would survive long enough to see him pitch for the University of Tennessee.

Sheila Stone was diagnosed with acute leukemia when Zane was a sophomore in high school at Chattanooga Baylor. She underwent extensive chemotherapy, but a relapse warranted the need for a radical stem cell transplant when Zane was a senior.

Today, she throws out the ceremonial first pitch of Tennessee's 7 p.m. game against Alabama as part of UT's ongoing cancer awareness efforts with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

UT's scheduled Friday night game against the Tide was washed out by rain and will be made up as part of a doubleheader beginning at 2.

Stone will be focused on seeing his mother's smile.

"It's going to be awesome," he said. "She told me she has been practicing up.

"It's a celebration, but I still get emotional. When you look at the statistics of that disease - this sounds horrible - but you're almost trying to prepare yourself to let go. But you can't, you've got to have that hope."

Hope paid off this time.

First-year UT coach Todd Raleigh wasn't so lucky.

When he was 14, his oldest brother, John Raleigh III, lost his battle with Hodgkin's disease.

The date of John's death was April 12, 1983. Today is the 25th anniversary.

"I just couldn't believe it when they told me the date for this because I had nothing to do with setting it up," Raleigh said. "My brother went to Central Florida to play baseball as a pitcher.

"Technology wasn't as good back then and he seemed like he was sick all the time, coughing, and nobody could figure out what was going on. It's so vivid in my memory."

Raleigh had to watch his hero die.

"This is obviously a cause that's close to my heart," he said. "It really hits home with me."

Stone organized a fundraising effort last fall and helped pull in $6,125 during a 2 1/2 week period in September.

Junior outfielder Jarred Frazier is another UT player touched by the impact of cancer. His mother, Lynn, has battled osteosarcoma, a bone cancer, for the past six years.

As part of the UT Lights the Night celebration today, the team will join fans for a cancer walk around the field after the game. Fans will be given balloons of different colors to signify different forms of cancer.

No Relief: Raleigh is beginning to think his pitching staff has a black cloud following it around these days.

The Vols will most likely have to do without Jeff Lockwood on the mound this weekend. UT already has lost junior reliever Aaron Everett for the season with an elbow injury and junior reliever Danny Wiltz for the weekend with a strained triceps muscle.

Now Lockwood is lost as a pitching option after getting hit on the middle finger of his left (pitching) hand trying to put a bunt down in practice Thursday.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.