Nahant Little League goes to bat for Jimmy Fund

NAHANT – Nahant’s Little Leaguers teamed up to fight cancer during this summer’s 29th annual Jimmy Fund tournament.”This has been our best year fundraising,” said Frank Botta, Nahant’s Jimmy Fund League manager and Little League president.The town’s Jimmy Fund team knocked one out of the park this season, raising $5,683.59 and ranking No. 1 in District 16, which encompasses southern Essex Country as well as Revere and Winthrop, and No. 3 in New England.Nahant has participated in the Jimmy Fund Little League “on and off for the last 15 years,” Botta said. Its participation has been dependent on the number of kids able to play in their small town, he said.The Jimmy Fund season begins when the regular Little League season ends.”The games are a means to continue playing baseball and to try to raise money,” Botta said.This year, the league has a full roster of 15 players: Drew Botta, Max Gadon, Aidan Wyse, Sophie DiGrande, Billy Conigliaro, Aidan Graciale, Jamie Godwin, Joseph Giardella, Michael Reiling, Torin Anderson, Izzy Cesso, Sam Reenstierna, Ronan Locke, Jake Desmaris, and Brian McKinnon.Coaches include Botta, Joe Giardella, Ray Desmaris and Chuck DiGrande.Fundraising for the league, which is presented by Extra Innings and Franklin Sports, usually includes placing cans at local businesses, bake sales, business sponsorships and Home Run Derby competitions. Proceeds support adult and pediatric cancer care and research at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.The Jimmy Fund is the official charity of the Boston Red Sox, the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, the Pan-Mass Challenge and the Variety Children’s Charity of New England.Last year, over 5,000 children across Massachusetts and New Hampshire participated in Jimmy Fund Little League and raised more than $250,000. This year, Nahant’s team made a conscious decision step up to the plate.The children worked hard to raise the money, Botta said. They held a car wash in July and “all of the kids helped out,” he said.They were especially inspired when an umpire at one of their games thanked them for their hard work.”He talked to our kids and told them a story about his daughter who was afflicted with the disease a year ago,” Botta said. “He wanted to thank them for helping his daughter. They were very proud.”The team set a goal to raise $5,000 at the beginning of the season, Botta said. “We really wanted to make a push for our goal. We’re a small town so we knew it would be hard. There are a lot of really big towns behind us.”They never predicted they would surpass that goal, he said.”I think we just had a really good group of parents and kids and coaches that were dedicated to going out and raising the money,” he said.”The car wash with the kids was a tremendous amount of fun,” he said. “We did 50/50 raffles at the car wash too.””The kids also sent out personalized letters to a number of family and friends,” he said. “It was more of a personalized letter than just having their parents ask people for money. A lot of kids had some really good traction with it.”They also held a raffle at the little league annual picnic.While the season, which consists of games throughout the district, has recently wrapped up, the team just found out it will play Swampscott in an upcoming championship. The date for the championship has not yet been determined.”It’s not decided on the two best teams, it’s decided on the two teams that raise the most money,” Botta said.Nahant finished the tournament season 10-0, he said.”We weren’t really playing to win,” said Botta. “Many kids got to play many different positions and they just had a blast.”The top fundraising team from each district will receive tickets to a Red Sox game on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Fenway park.”These young athletes will learn about the importance of raising money for cancer care and research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute while playing the game they love,” said Jimmy Fund co-captain and Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval in