Orlando ( CNN ) -- A high school sophomore in Orlando who throws a mean fastball but was cut from his baseball team because he 's not so good at fielding bunts said Tuesday that his rejection was off-base . `` I went there and tried out and the coach gave me the excuse that I ca n't cover bunts , '' 16-year-old Anthony Burruto told HLN 's `` Prime News '' about his coach 's decision at Dr. Phillips High School . `` Bunts was n't even part of the tryout . '' And Burruto 's 80-mph fastball just was n't enough , apparently . Oh , there 's another thing about Burruto that may -- or may not -- have anything to do with this story . Life threw him a curve that other athletes at the school have not had to contend with : He has no legs . Burruto launches his pitches from atop prostheses . But the birth defect never deterred him from pursuing the sport : He has played baseball since he was 8 , playing two seasons in the fall league and one on the junior varsity team . `` They know what he 's got , '' Burruto 's mother Diane said about the school 's coaches . `` He 's a very good athlete , very good pitcher . He handles his own out there . '' She said her son worked hard to hone his skills . `` Not to say other kids out there do n't work hard , but Anthony has to work harder . He loves the game of baseball . '' She added , `` He became skilled at it , he excelled at it , and had to overcome obstacles , obviously , to get there . Nothing can stop him . That 's the way I raised him . You do n't have a disability . You want to do something ? Go out and try to do it . '' In a written statement , a spokesman for the Orange County Public Schools said Burruto was treated like any other player . `` Anthony was given the same opportunity as all other students to try out for the Dr. Phillips High School baseball teams , '' wrote Dylan Thomas . `` He was among 63 student athletes who were evaluated for a position on either the varsity or junior varsity squads . With only 40 roster spots , Anthony and 22 other students did not make either team . As a sophomore , Anthony has the chance to vie for a position on a school team again next year and we hope he will . '' But Burruto said he was not sure he would , particularly if the coach who cut him keeps his job . `` I would never play for him again , '' Burruto said . `` He basically told me that I 'm not going to make the team ever again because I ca n't field the bunts , which is n't true . I can field bunts -- just a little slower than the average person . '' Burruto said his former teammates have been incredulous when they learned he has been cut . `` Their reaction is , 'Oh , my God ! Are you serious ? There 's no way ! How can you get cut ? ' They 're livid about it . ''
16-year - old Joe Burruto throws an 80 mph pitch . ` ` The coach gave me the rule that I ca n't cover bunts , '' Burruto says . ` ` Oh , my God ! Are you serious ? ''