GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The World Series may have marked the end of the 2018 baseball season, but there was plenty of action on the diamond at Gettysburg College on Nov. 11 as the Bullets baseball and softball teams hosted a home run derby to raise money and awareness for ALS and adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) at Bobby Jones Field.
 
For the last six years, the baseball team has raised money through their initiative Take ALS Yard to combat the deadly disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The team has raised more than $63,000 over the years to support Project ALS.
 
After hosting a home run derby last fall as part of the Take ALS Yard campaign, the baseball team joined with the softball team to grow the fundraising event. Softball took its swings against ACC, a rare form of cancer.
 
"The softball team has a very similar initiative for the event raising money for adenoid cystic carcinoma and we thought it would be great to team up and raise money for both causes," said Take ALS Yard Coordinator Brendan Wright '19 (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley).
 
The derby, which began at 1:30 p.m. at Bobby Jones Field, included members of both teams as well as Gettysburg students, alumni, and staff. The entry fee was $10 and for an extra $5, participants received their very own Take ALS Yard t-shirt or hat designed by the baseball team. More than 30 participants received two minutes to hit as many underhand pitches as possible over the fence at Bobby Jones Field.  
 
"It's really important to instill in our teams and our institutions that we are much more than our sports," said Sophia Blasius '19 (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey). "Being a part of both the baseball and softball programs gives each person a responsibility to be a great a person as well as a great teammate, and this is part of that process. This event can show everyone that we are more than just student-athletes."
 
Both diseases have close ties to the two Gettysburg athletic programs. Take ALS Yard began as a philanthropic effort by the baseball program in connection with Tommy Kirchhoff, who was diagnosed with ALS and was the son of Bill '63 and Jean Kirchhoff '64, for whom the Bullets' home field is named. Not long after the creation of the fundraising campaign, Robert Borman P'05, father of former Gettysburg baseball player Rob Borman '05, was diagnosed with ALS. Kirchhoff and Borman passed away within five months of each other in 2014-15. 
 
For the softball team, ACC has hit close to home as well, afflicting family members of the student-athletes. Proceeds from the derby will go to the Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Research Foundation to help fight that battle.
 
"We really love having a bond with baseball, and it's easy to do so because our sports and schedules are so similar," noted Blasius. "This event allows us to come together for something greater than just our sports."