Baseball Wraps Up Fall With Pair Of Community Service Initiatives

The Sun Devil Baseball program recently wrapped up their month-long fall practice schedule, but in between practices, workouts and intersquad scrimmages, they found time to give back and engage in the local community. 

The Ahwautkee Foothills PONY Champions Division was created three years ago to give special-needs children between ages 5 and 18 a chance to play baseball. The league has grown to more than 50 kids and it recently capped off its 2014 season on Nov. 14 at Kyrene Akimel A-al Middle High School in Phoenix.

“Teaching our young men the importance of serving the community is an important piece of their education,” head coach Tracy Smith. “As student-athletes at a major university, and especially in a major city like Phoenix, they have a duty to be positive role models.”

The entire Sun Devil Baseball team spent their Friday night as “on-field buddies” for the PONY Champions Division, which included helping them warm up, cheering them on and standing with them throughout the games.  

“Sometimes we take playing this game for granted,” junior center fielder Johnny Sewald said. “It’s experiences like these that make you appreciate what you have, and also show you just how lucky we are to be doing what we’re doing.”

A group of nine baseball student-athletes visited the Phoenix Children’s Hospital to spend the morning with more than 50 different kids. One group of three Sun Devils headed to the main activity room at the hospital where they engaged in a variety of activities, from video games to drawing to air hockey. The two other groups of three headed to the Oncology floor where one threesome spent the rest of the trip and the other went to more than 20 individual hospital rooms. 

“It was heartwarming and gratifying, and really puts into perspective our roles as baseball student-athletes at Arizona State University,” junior right-handed pitcher Ryan Burr said.
It is a pleasure to be able to five back to these kids who have been in the hospital for so long.”

One case really stood out to the group above the rest. A 10-year-old girl, in need of a bone marrow transplant, was waiting to go into surgery. Her 11-year-old brother, who was in the process of being prepped for the transplant, was set to be her donor. 

“These kids are just so strong in spite of their illnesses,” sophomore right-handed pitcher Eder Erives said.