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Rarely has a first pitch been more anticipated than the one Lio Ortega tossed Friday night.

The right-hander from Colorado Springs won’t appear in an official game until next week, but Friday’s brief outing at Santa Ana Star Field marked the end of a long, difficult stint on the disabled list. Ortega was grinning ear to ear as he fired the baseball toward UNM catcher Robby Campillo, and he wasn’t the only one smiling.

Lio Ortega is 3 years old and coming off a painful battle with cancer. He was diagnosed in February 2016 with medullablastoma, a fast-growing malignant brain tumor. There were two masses located behind his left ear, requiring immediate surgery to remove them.

The diagnosis devastated Lio’s family, parents Fred and Kirsten Ortega and older sister Ariadne. Fred and Kirsten couldn’t help wondering if their young son could survive the combination of high-risk surgery, chemotherapy and difficult recovery and rehabilitation.

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“Every day was emotional and scary,” Fred Ortega said. “You just feel helpless.”

Lio’s fight took a positive turn through an unlikely connection with the University of New Mexico baseball team. Fred played baseball under Lobo coach Ray Birmingham at New Mexico Junior College in the mid-1990s and the two stayed in touch over the years. With Lio between courses of chemotherapy last May, Fred decided to take him to see the Lobos play host Air Force at Falcon Field.

Lio’s first baseball game was a hit for everyone involved. After the contest he met Birmingham and UNM’s players and a Lobo fan was born. The Ortegas watched ensuing UNM games online, and Lio later received a pile of signed Lobo gear, courtesy of Darlene Tripp, who met the Ortega family during the UNM-Air Force game. Tripp has two sons, Johnathon and Christian, playing for the Lobos.

The UNM baseball connection, “did so much to lift Lio’s spirits,” Kirsten said. “He never wanted to take his Lobo helmet off, even when it was way too big. And now that his hair’s grown back, the helmet actually fits.”

Lio was cancer free at his most recent quarterly checkup, and he’s making up for lost time. The Ortegas attended another UNM game at Air Force last month, but they’ve been looking forward the day when Lio was recovered enough to see his beloved Lobos play in Albuquerque. Friday night’s New Mexico-Fresno State game, Fred said, was well worth the wait.

With Ariadne dutifully holding his hand, Lio took the field for his ceremonial pitch. Fans cheered while Birmingham and the Lobos high-fived with him afterward. Through several chilly innings of UNM’s 24-4 victory, the Ortegas then sat with the Tripp family, including Johnathon, who was charting pitches and taking radar gun readings.

Asked about Lio’s pitch, he smiled and said, “He hit 96 (mph). He’s a natural.”

Lio was a bit undersized for the white Lobos jersey he wore for Friday’s pitch, but he plans to wear his UNM helmet again next week — for his first official T-ball game.

“It’s awesome to see Lio healthy and happy like this,” Birmingham said. “I’d like to think maybe we inspired him a little bit, but that kid beat cancer. He inspires us.”

SATURDAY: A night after scoring 24 runs, the Lobos could manage just one in a 2-1, 11-inning loss to Fresno State at Santa Ana Star Field.

Zach Ashford’s safety squeeze bunt brought home the eventual winning run in the 11th for the Bulldogs (15-11, 6-5 Mountain West), who snapped UNM’s six-game winning streak. The Lobos (17-10, 10-1) stranded 16 runners.

Both teams had outstanding pitching throughout. Johnathon Tripp allowed just two hits in seven innings for UNM, while Ricky Ramirez and Edgar Gonzalez combined to allow just eight Lobo hits. Gonzalez, Fresno State’s closer, threw 82 pitches in 4⅔ scoreless innings for the win.

Jared Mang and Jack Zoellner had two hits apiece for UNM, with Zoellner scoring the lone run on Danny Collier’s sacrifice fly in the sixth.

The rubber match of the conference series is noon Sunday at UNM.

Box score: Fresno State 2, UNM 1 (11 innings)