Brownton to host Townball Knocking out Cancer Day
BROWNTON – The tradition of amateur baseball is a special one. For the Brownton Bruins organization, it’s about finding ways to give back through the game. This summer, the Bruins will be hosting the inaugural Townball Knocking Out Cancer day featuring three games all held at Barney Tadsen Field in Brownton. The event will be held Saturday, June 10, and feature three amateur baseball games with the first beginning at 12 p.m.
“The idea came right after we gave $1,000 to Randy Shaver after our golf tournament,” Brownton’s Ryan Grams said. “There is Tackling Cancer in football and Coaches Against Cancer for basketball so Brandon Draeger and I came up with our own slogan for baseball. We just wanted to promote townball as more than just baseball. We’re humans. We want to help others and the community.”
The event will feature three teams from the Crow River Valley League (Brownton, Plato, and Watertown) and three teams from the North Star League (Delano, Hutchinson, and Dassel-Cokato). It didn’t take Grams long to find some teams willing to play and get in on the cause.
“When they received my text messages, they all jumped on board right away,” Grams said. “It was pretty cool to see. They thought it would be a lot of fun and that it was a cool idea. We have six good teams battling all in one day. It should be a good turnout and some good baseball.”
The first game of the day will feature the Brownton Bruins taking on the Dassel-Cokato Saints. The second game will feature the Plato Bluejays and Delano Athletics followed by a matchup between the Watertown Red Devils and Hutchinson Huskies.
All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Randy Shaver Cancer Research Foundation. Randy Shaver will be on site to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Shirts and hats will be sold throughout the event and raffles throughout the day as well.
Although it will be the first event like this in amateur baseball, Grams is already planning for it to not be the only event and wants other organizations to get involved as well going forward.
“We’re trying to just make it a one-time deal at our park,” Grams said. “We’re open to other teams that want to jump on board and host it every year. We want to promote town ball a little bit and hopefully other teams jump on board with it and show that it’s more than just about baseball for us. We’re hoping to get the whole state of baseball involved eventually.”
SCHEDULE OF GAMES
Brownton Bruins vs. Dassel-Cokato Saints, 12 p.m.
Plato Bluejays vs. Delano Athletics, 2:30 p.m.
Watertown Red Devils vs. Hutchinson Huskies, 5 p.m.