“I don’t care if you have one arm, one leg….or six eyes!”

An inspiring true-life sports tale that we might have watched as a team when my mates and I battled for state baseball titles in the early ’90s.

But we never faced adversity like softballer Katelyn Pavey.

By Jason Hink

Released on DVD by Mill Creek Entertainment is I Can, the 2023 Christian biopic from First Capital Films and Kappa Studios about an exceptional high school softball player knocking out goals and chasing her dreams of playing at the collegiate level…all after being born without most of her left arm.

Starring newcomer Danner Brown as the titular player along with Daniel Roebuck, Cameron Arnett, Jeff Armstrong, Amanda Verkamp, with an out-of-nowhere appearance by Vernon Wells (Aussie accent intact), I Can goes into extra innings, throwing curve ball after curve ball to Katelyn and her family, who must find the strength to continue on and keep the faith if they want to win in the end. And keeping the faith isn’t easy when when your religion plays with your head, making you second-guess your early-life choices.

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The story picks up in Indiana, where teenager Katelyn Pavey (Danner Brown) inspires her fans, teammates and opponents alike with her softball skills. She’s a speedy centerfielder, tracking down line drives under the lights and is no slouch at the plate, either, hitting at least one pitch out of the park for a home run. Her Christian family is also her softball family; her dad, Eric (Jeff Armstrong), is the team’s head coach. He’s not mean, per se, but he doesn’t go easy on his daughter, either, who has mastered both hitting and throwing using her one fully-developed arm (just watch how she catches a fly ball in the outfield with her glove on her right hand, pulls the glove off with her half-arm, then uses her right hand again to make the throw—all with lightning-quick speed and precision.

Katelyn has a large rooting section, including her grandparents, David and Me Me (Daniel Roebuck and Karen M. Chan), her sisters, Sydney and Mackenzie (Maeve McCloy and Elsa Hargis, who does double-duty as “young Katelyn” as well), her friend Rachel (India McCue), and even the coaches looking to recruit her (Cameron Arnett and John French). But in I Can, obstacles are constantly thrown Katelyn’s way that have nothing to do with her birth defect, forcing her to reaffirm those two words—”I can”—and, with the help of her dad and her mom, Salena (Amanda Verkamp), reaffirm her faith in God. As college coaches and recruiters make the rounds and take interest, disaster strikes when Katelyn suffers a leg injury running to first base, putting her out of commission and under the care of Dr. Wells (Vernon Wells), who says she must undergo surgery. During her recovery time, Katelyn must overcome her depression of being out of the game, her fear of re-injury, and the simultaneous death of a beloved family member.

Can she buckle down, recover, and get her swing back? Will she succeed in her comeback and impress the college recruiters enough to actually play at the next level? If you know the true story of Katelyn Pavey, then you know already know the answer.

I came into I Can fresh and new; I knew it was based on a true story, but I didn’t want to read anything until I watched the movie first. But the true story is…pretty amazing. Pavey was indeed a standout player, and from all accounts I’ve read, there is no embellishing by the filmmakers. Scripter Evan Mitchum plays it straight up the middle and director Tyler Sansom keeps the pace proper (at 85 minutes, the length is perfect). Even an online stunt that Katelyn performs with her bat and ball that goes viral is based on a true viral video story from 2015. (I think I saw it back then, too!)

The actors are fine and generally believable in this indie project, and many of them are newcomers—including Danner Brown. But how did Brown, who has both of her arms, perform all of Katelyn’s athletic feats? During the regular “acting” scenes and dialogue scenes, Brown has her left arm somehow hidden underneath her shirt and tied behind her back while using a prosthetic to mimic Katelyn’s half-arm. But Brown, who played soccer in high school, didn’t have to worry much about learning how to hit and throw a softball with one arm.

Amazingly, during those athletic softball scenes showing Pavey hitting fastballs, catching line drives, and making those pinpoint throws while juggling the glove and ball…that’s actually the real-life Katelyn Pavey performing in those scenes. Pavey, who from what I can tell graduated high school in 2017, was still in fine shape to perform these scenes. Brown’s likeness to Pavey (they both have red hair and are apparently the same height) is enough to fool the viewer during those quickly cut and edited sports-action sequences (movie magic!).

Speaking of magic, this is for sure a Christian-made movie, through and through…and not just because the subject of the movie—the Paveys—are Christians. From what I gather, most of the cast are Christian. The director, Tyler Sansom, is the president of the film’s production company, First Capital Films, and is listed as the lead pastor at Church Anywhere in Indiana. As expected, this overt Christianity occasionally comes through in the film, and may be jarring if you’re a nonbeliever. But those references to God and “His plan” do play a crucial role in the film, depicting how believers struggle with those beliefs—and I Can tackles head-on how religion can play with your head.

The movie starts with a relatively dark prologue, showing a young Eric and Salena Pavey (portrayed by Raphael Ruggero and Madison Page West) 17 years earlier, meeting in a restaurant for the first time. They’re married…but not to each other. An affair ensues and Salena discovers she’s pregnant, leading them to split with their current spouses, eventually marry and raise their child, Katelyn. But why was she born with a birth defect? Is it punishment from God for their adulterous affair? For having a child out of wedlock? The question lingers throughout the film, underlying all that goes wrong in their lives, and illustrating how difficult staying on the “righteous path” can be. Without those references to God sprinkled throughout, this real-life dilemma wouldn’t pack the same heat. It’s not just a story of inspiration—it’s also a redemption story.

Mill Creek’s DVD presentation of I Can, rated PG, looks fine and includes English and Spanish subtitles. There are no special features.

I played high school baseball (an Oregon Class 3A all-state outfielder, thank-you-very-much!) and played a couple years of college ball, so a sports movie—especially one about baseball or softball—is right up my alley. It was a public school, but we had a strong contingent of Christian athletes who were team leaders (we gathered around for a prayer at the end of every football practice and game). Many of us were not from churchgoing families, myself included—but I remember those days fondly, where many of us looked up to those “leaders” of the team—those who had that positive, never-give-up, “warrior” attitude. And they were all churchgoing Christians. I feel some of that nostalgia when watching I Can, a true story about how sports, family, and real-life “warriors” can inspire others to never give up.

Jason Hink is a writer, editor and content producer. Sign up for his Email Newsletter here. For more of Jason’s reviews, visit here.