Northeast senior pitcher and third baseman Jesse Moeller didn't choose baseball. Baseball chose him.

"I grew up around the Trop," said Moeller about the Rays home, Tropicana Field.

"He was almost born on a baseball field," said Jesse's mom Lisa.

"Jesse's been around here since he was born basically," said Jesse's dad, Dan.

"I went to my first game a week old," said Moeller.

"He's had a ball in his hand since birth," said Lisa Moeller.

Jesse's dad, Dan is the Head Groundskeeper at Tropicana Field.

"I know that place like it's the back of my hand," said Moeller.

After tagging along with Dad while growing up, now Jesse works there too.

"I'm a bad boy for the Rays and I work in the clubhouse," said Jesse.

Soaking in every moment of Major League Baseball he can, Jesse's experienced several historical milestones firsthand.

"He was in the clubhouse when the playoffs for the World Series ended," said Lisa Moeller. The Rays beat Boston in the 2008 ALCS four games to three. "He was in there with the players having champagne sprayed all over him and celebrating."

"Bobby Ramos (former Rays bullpen coach) came up and hugged us and of course he was already drenched in champagne," said Dan Moeller. "He then proceeded to open up a couple of beers and dump them right over the top of Jesse's head. I would think that something Jesse would never forget."

From Evan Longoria's Game 162 home run to the World Series berth, Jesse's favorite memory isn't any play by a professional.

"Probably when I was working last year and I made a play down in the bullpen and ended up on TV," said Jesse. "It was a liner that headed toward the bullpen and I caught it."

It is that reaction time Northeast head baseball coach Rob Stanifer loves about Moeller.

"He came up as a shortstop, but we moved into third base," said Stanifer. "He's developed into probably one of the best third basemen’s I've had defensively."

A stud at the hot corner, with an elevated baseball IQ, Jesse actually prefers his role as the team's closer. Dressed in cleats once worn by Rays pitcher Kirby Yates, Moeller helped the Vikings win back-to-back Class 7A District 9 titles.

"It's beyond exciting," said Moeller. "I mean just pulling in the win is always the best feeling in the world."

Since December Jesse hasn't been feeling the best.

"I've been in the hospital about three or four times now," said Moeller.

"It's Iron-deficiency anemia," said Lisa Moeller.

Jesse is 15 pounds lighter than he should be. He tires quickly and his stamina is almost nonexistent. He sat through a five hour iron infusion in hopes of boosting his levels.

"It's extremely severe," said Moeller. "Probably one of the worst that my doctor has seen."

"His worst day so far was migraines, vomiting and complete exhaustion where he was in bed pretty much for three days," said Lisa Moeller.

"It gets rough but I try to move through it," said Moeller. "If I need to come out I'll tell coach, but I really don't like coming out."

"He's a stronger man than I am," said Stanifer. "I know times you look at him and you don't think he can walk, but he's out there giving it everything he's got. He wants to play. It's his senior year. It's a special year. He knows that he is a vital part of our team, so we need him out there."

"He's got to have baseball," said Dan Moeller. "Of course he's not going to listen to what everybody tells him and he's going to play baseball and of course work."

They don't know a cause for his iron deficiency, so while they search, Jesse fights through exhaustion.

Cleaning cleats. Polishing helmets. Shagging balls.

It's all for the love of the game.