In sports, it’s the very nature of the game that athletes must overcome various obstacles to achieve success, but one local athlete has overcome a challenge off the field and produced success on the diamond.

Joshua Criswell, 13, played in the Valley Grande Youth Baseball Leagues and found success on the field in the form of his first home run, and an outing on the mound where he struck out 17 batters at Linden on May 18.

Adversity on the field is a part of the game, but Joshua has also faced challenges off it.

“Joshua had some challenges. Back in December of 2011, Joshua lost sight in his right eye,” said Joshua’s father, Steve Criswell. “It’s called a branch retinal vein occlusion. Basically, what happened is a vein burst in his eye and bled out, and destroyed his vision cells.”

Steve said Joshua has to go to a retina specialist in Montgomery every four weeks to receive injections in his eye in order to help increase his vision.

“His vision right now is at 2,400. When he originally started, it was at 21,000,” Steve said, “so the injections have helped, but he’s still legally blind in his right eye.”

Joshua won the Selma Mayor’s Inspirational Achievement Award for his age group.

Joshua said he can tell the difference when playing, but he doesn’t let it hinder him.

“It’s not really that hard. I wear safety glasses just in case,” Joshua said. “You can tell a big difference in how you see the ball and stuff, but you have to just forget about that and keep playing.”

Joshua added that practice and giving the maximum effort have helped him find success and helped him contribute to his team.

“I just practice and try my hardest to do the best that I can,” Joshua said. “I’m not trying to be the best player on the team or anything, but I’m just doing what I can. It’s paying off.”