LODI, Calif. — When Jose ‘Jojo’ Duenas first learned his young son, Niko, was autistic, he felt a mix of excitement and uncertainty about the future.

However, instead of letting fear dictate the path forward, Duenas channeled his decades of experience as a coach into something transformative: creating an inclusive, autism-friendly baseball team in Lodi.

“I’ll never forget the day we found out my wife was pregnant,” Duenas said. “We had all these plans, you know, you picture your family going a certain way. Then, last year, we found out Niko was autistic, so this year, with him being 3, I started to see what his options were.”

Duenas, who has spent 16 seasons coaching football at Lodi High School and with the Lodi Junior Flames , knew firsthand the impact that sports could have on his ch

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