Western North Carolina is still feeling the effects of the Hurricanes that have caused major damage and devastation around the area this fall. This opened the eyes of a minor league baseball team in the state to help fellow baseball teams in the area that were majorly affected.
The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, a Single-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, will host two college baseball teams from the western North Carolina area for one of their fall exhibitions.
On Nov. 2, the Cannon Ballers’ home ballpark, Atrium Health Park, will host the Appalachian State Mountaineers and UNC Asheville Bulldogs. The first pitch for this game on Saturday is scheduled for noon.
Perhaps the best part about this game is that all proceeds will be given to a disaster relief fund at each university. This will help speed up the recovery process in these universities’ regions that were severely affected.
The head coaches from both teams were grateful and expressed that to Kannapolis.
“I would like to thank the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers for their willingness to assist in this endeavor,” App State head coach Kermit Smith said. “Since the very first conversation with Matt Millward, he has been all-in on bringing two affected universities and baseball programs together. We are all hopeful that this day can not only raise necessary funds for both communities but can also allow our student-athletes an opportunity to have some normalcy and let the two powerful words ‘play ball’ provide just a little bit of healing.”
“We can’t say thank you enough to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers and Matt Millward for their generosity,” Asheville head coach Scott Friedholm said. “We also want to thank Kermit Smith and App State Baseball for helping put this all together. After the past five weeks for our team, a chance to feel a day of ‘normalcy’ is a great opportunity. We hope to return to Asheville soon and be back with our community as we rebuild.”
According to the Salisbury Post, the two teams will play in two seven-inning games this weekend.
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WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
