Pennsbury baseball coach trying to increase Coaches vs. Cancer games
A year ago, senior first baseman Sam Labrecque undergoing chemotherapy for synovial sarcoma was the impetus for Pennsbury head coach Joe Pesci holding a Coaches vs. Cancer game last May 8 against Neshaminy.
With Labrecque spending a post-graduate year attending Peddie School and playing baseball there, Pesci decided to encourage all 24 Suburban One League baseball and softball teams via social media to designate a game or have a fundraising event this spring.
The idea is for any interested SOL school to pick a game the week of April 8 for the Coaches vs. Cancer cause. It appears 26 teams have committed so far, with North Penn baseball and softball having already raised $730.
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Pennsbury ended up giving almost $3,000 to the American Cancer Society last year and Pesci is hoping that number increases.
"The goal is to make it like the Coaches vs. Cancer events in basketball," he said.
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One obstacle is most SOL baseball and softball squads are limited as to when they can play Monday by the mid-afternoon solar eclipse. Nearly all of the league schools aren't allowing games at the usual 3:45 or 4 p.m. start times due to the timing of the eclipse.
Pesci had originally planned for Monday's afternoon home date with Council Rock North to be the Coaches vs. Cancer contest, only to reschedule it for 7 p.m. at Diamond Nation in Flemington, N.J. There will be fliers there with QR codes for people to donate to the American Cancer Society.
Another issue during the week of April 8 is that 12th graders from at least three Lower Bucks County schools will be away on their senior trip, limiting the days for varsity baseball and softball games to just Monday in some cases.
Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly is a sports columnist for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Pennsbury baseball coach wants to increase Coaches vs. Cancer games
