Flashes, Zips raise $10,000 playing in charity game
Kent State and Akron played baseball for a cause other than standings and statistics yesterday, raising money for Akron Children’s Hospital.
Playing at Canal Park, home of the Akron Aeros, the Flashes and Zips each were victorious, knowing they raised more than $10,000 for charity. Coach Scott Stricklin said the experience exceeded his own expectations.
“We were close to 2,000 people,” Stricklin said. “When it was all said and done, we’re going to raise over $10,000 for Children’s Hospital. I think it was a great success.”
This was the second annual Diamond Classic for Kids, which is part of a five-year plan. Ultimately, the event hopes to bring 5,000 people through the gates at Canal Park. This year’s total reached more than 2,000.
The first game, played last season, raised just over $1,000 because of expenses. This year, many of the people working the event were volunteers. That combined with significantly more donation money contributed to the significant increase.
All ticket sales went to Children’s Hospital as well.
Such a large crowd in a pro-style environment is unusual for college baseball in the Mid-American Conference. The event gave fans and players the opportunity to participate in a special atmosphere and donate to a good cause.
“It was definitely an entertaining game,” Stricklin said. “Getting to play your rival in front of a big crowd, it was a good experience for both teams. It was an emotional crowd, the crowd was in the game.”
Former Kent State quarterback and current Cleveland Browns player Joshua Cribbs made a guest appearance by throwing out the opening pitch.
The night ended in style as Kent State won it in the bottom of the ninth off the bat of Doug Sanders, 16-15. The two teams will play again May 9-11 in Akron as the official MAC series.
Next, Kent State travels to Bowling Green this weekend for a three-game series.
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Chris Gates
Chris Gates
My name is Christopher Gates and I will be a senior at Kent State University in Ohio this fall. I am studying to be a sports writer, majoring in newspaper journalism. I currently write for the student run newspaper at Kent State, The Daily Kent Stater. I also work at the student run radio station Black Squirrel Radio. At the Stater I am on the sports staff. I have written for soccer, football, basketball, wrestling and field hockey. At Black Squirrel Radio I am on the news team. There I do news updates that are aired once a week at quarter to, and quarter past each hour. Also, I am a live on-air play-by-play analyst for Kent State men’s basketball. In other sports coverage, I have recorded halftime shows for all of the football games that we broadcast. Lastly at the radio station, I am a DJ and have a sports talk radio show every Sunday night from 10 p.m. to midnight (subject to change this fall).
I am originally from Pittsburgh, PA, and hope to one day be able to write on Pittsburgh sports. I have a passion unlike any other for sports, and have dedicated my life to becoming an expert in as many areas as possible. I hope to one day be able to write about Pittsburgh sports, as well as do on-air sports talk radio. I’m currently a Promotions Assistant at 1250 ESPN in Pittsburgh.
I created this blog in order to spur conversation about the Pittsburgh Penguins and the National Hockey League. My family has had season tickets for quite some time, so I’d like to think I have a pretty good knowledge of the team and the NHL. Please, when reading, feel free to comment about any articles you read. I would love to get conversation going about anything and everything dealing with my pieces. In order to leave a comment, either click on the title of the entry and scroll to the bottom of the page, or click on comments at the bottom of each post. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy it!
You can contact me at Christopher.G.Gates@gmail.com
