When Karley, 13 and Cameron,11 were given the honor to throw a pitch at the Carolina Mudcats last week, they had no idea that one of their heroes would be on the field.
The kids were made to believe that they had won a contest for a VIP experience at the baseball game but everyone else around had something else in mind.
See, Karley and Cameron's dad, Lance Daigle is a Seymour Johnson AFB Technical Sergeant and had just returned from six-month deployment in Kuwait. Since his kids had no idea he was coming home, he wanted to give them a surprise they won't soon forget.
Sgt. Lance dressed up in a Mudcats uniform and took a position behind the plate so he could catch the ceremonial pitch.
Prior to the big reunion, Daigle got in contact with the Carolina Mudcats for help with his plan. The minor league team hopped onboard and emailed Karley to inform her about "winning tickets."
"This could be my last deployment before I retire so she and one of her friends started to think about a surprise," Daigle, a 19-year Air Force veteran told ABC News. "They thought of the Mudcats because we've been to games and they're big supporters of the military."
The military dad was worried about not being able to make it home on the day of the game but in the end it all worked out.
"And then we just hoped for the best from there because with the military sometimes things happen," Daigle said. "But I made it back on the day I needed to."
Grab some tissues and watch the surprise reunion unfold in the video below. I bet there wasn't a dry eye in the stadium.
Military dad poses as baseball catcher to surprise his kidsSWEET SURPRISE: United States Air Force service member home from 6-month deployment overseas surprises his two children by pretending to be a catcher at baseball game. http://abcn.ws/2pB5e9K
Posted by ABC News on Monday, May 1, 2017