LYNN — The Lynn 15s Babe Ruth team is heading to the World Series in Virginia, but not without a couple of stops. The first stop is at Fraser Field on Wednesday, where the team takes on the North Shore Giants at 6:00 p.m.
“The North Shore Giants are a men’s league, and actually, a lot of the guys are from Lynn. Coach Leon Elwell’s son Zack is actually the catcher on the team,” said Lynn Babe Ruth President Jeff Earp. “There’s going to be a hat passing and a 50/50. It’ll be a fun night, and I hope it’ll be a good time.”
The proceeds of the 50/50 raffle and the hat passing will go toward the team’s trip to the World Series, as well as the hope of donations.
The second stop will be at the Gannon Municipal Golf Course on Friday for an adult-only fundraiser: A Night at the Races. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and races will begin at 7:30 p.m.
“A Night at the Races is what they’re calling it. It’s a lot of fun. We have a lot of raffles, we have Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins tickets, and we have themed baskets as well as whatever the parents do. Plus, they have really good food up there. My daughter, who’s 27, is really excited to go,” said Earp. “Everyone does things like this, but we take it up a notch. It’ll be quite a display. We’re hoping to make some serious money with this one.”
The final stop is the World Series with the help of the community.
“We’re not there yet, but with this one last push, we hope to. We have always managed to get there, and I have faith that we will,” said Earp. “We’re trying to raise over $40,000, which is a lot. However, it’s for the families and parents who want to see their kids play. It’s a special moment to see. There are 12 teams going, and all of them use life-size cut-outs of them for when they walk in; we don’t want these kids to be the only ones not to have that.”
The team does have a GoFundMe available for those of you who can’t make it out to one of the events, as well as a Venmo, all of which are posted on the Greater Lynn Babe Ruth Facebook page.
“Matt Cushing saw our GoFundMe, and what he did was he challenged the rest of the 1983 Lynn Babe Ruth team to donate. They raised $1,000,” said Earp. “I get so many texts or calls about where people can drop off checks. Both of these events are good times to swing by for five minutes or so and drop it off. If they stay a while, they stay a while.”
The World Series starts with pool play games from Aug. 13 until Aug. 17 before starting the final brackets and ending with the championship on Aug. 20.
Maddi Filip can be reached at [email protected].
