Softball Benefits for more than just a Win

Posted by Briana Campbell at 10:34 am 0 Comment Print

By Briana Campbell – Terrier Times Editor – VINTON, VA. -

On March 31, 2012 William Byrd High School’s varsity and junior varsity teams joined together with Hidden Valley High School to benefit more than just their stats sheet. Every year for the past four years these teams have put together a special benefit game for different causes in order to raise money. This year, the benefit game was played for Autism.

“A player brought [Autism] to my attention this year,” varsity coach Greg Barton said.

For one player, junior Jordan Meador, the game meant more to her than just raising money for a good cause.

“My cousins have Autism, so this game means a lot to me,” Meador said.

In the past four years Byrd and Hidden Valley have played for different causes including the American Heart Association in order to ‘Strike Out Heart Disease.’ With these events some of the money is donated to these causes. This year the money from the event was donated to Byrd’s very own special education classes.

For many players and fans the game was a good chance to come together as a community in order to support Autism.

“It’s nice to have the softball community come out and watch us play our game for a good cause,” junior Taylor Zimmerman said.

At the games, Bonsack Kroger manager Robert Biggs helped supply tons of food for the hungry fans. This was an especially good thing with games starting at 9:00 AM going till about 4:30 PM.

To start off the varsity game a few of Byrd’s special education students got to throw out the first pitch of the game to senior Danielle Powell and Zimmerman, catchers.

“It was a lot of fun,” Zimmerman said.

A day full of softball for a good cause is always a day of fun for many people. At the end of the day varsity beat the Titans with a win of 3-2.

 

Photo Courtesy of Billy Powell

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