Mountaineers Enjoy Success On and Off the Field in Hurricane Relief Baseball Game

BOONE, N.C. – In the wake of Hurricane Helene, communities across western North Carolina have come together in a variety of ways. On Nov. 2 in Kannapolis, it was a game of baseball that helped unite the region – and raised impactful hurricane relief funds in the process.

Once students returned to campus, App State Baseball was in need of some outside competition after fall contests were canceled against Wofford and ECU. What began as Kermit Smith’s quest to find an opponent on short notice, resulted in a domino effect of kindness and generosity from a beloved baseball community – and ultimately more than $11,000 raised for hurricane relief.

UNC Asheville, having been hit hard by the hurricane, needed a game too. It was a perfect match. Then came the Kannapolis CannonBallers and general manager Matt Millward, who offered up Atrium Health Ballpark to host the game, with all ticket, concessions and merchandise sales going to each school’s Disaster Relief Fund.

As word of the game spread, more and more organizations reached out to lend a hand. The Sun Belt umpire coordinator put out an “all-call” soliciting umpires to work the contest. Without hesitation six local umpires – Timothy Gansrow, Marcus Neal, Kevin Morgan, Matt Preslar, Dalton James and Britt Kennery – volunteered their services.

Rawlings donated 10 dozen baseballs for the doubleheader, and Young Transportation provided the Mountaineers with a complimentary bus to transport them to and from Kannapolis.

With the UNC Asheville team hunkering down in Greensboro, they were without uniforms for the game. App State Director of Olympic Equipment Joe Tolbert and BSN Sports representative Luke Ware teamed up to create custom jerseys for both squads for the contest. It set in motion a jersey auction through the CannonBallers website to raise additional relief funds.

All in all, more than 1,000 tickets were sold for the contest. Jersey bids topped out at $120. Add in concession and merchandise sales, and the two schools combined to raise more than $11,000 through their seven-inning doubleheader.

“There are so many people to thank for providing us the opportunity to serve the High Country,” Smith said. “First, Kannapolis bent over backwards to help this day become possible. The Sun Belt umpire consortium provided top-of-the-line umpires, Young Transportation provided our bus, Rawlings donated the baseballs, and BSN provided the jerseys. We are very grateful to everyone involved.”

When the team took the field, they wore hats representing a variety of local organizations that played a pivotal role in Hurricane Relief efforts.

The successes extended on the field as well. On the mound, 11 different pitchers combined to work 12.1 innings, allowing just five runs and three walks, while striking out 13. Redshirt sophomore Carter Boyd and freshman Conner Barozzino led the charge, with both throwing over 60% of their pitches for strikes. Seven different pitchers recorded a scoreless outing.

The offense was equally impressive. The team batted .385 and reached base at a .514 clip across 14 innings. Five Mountaineers – Sam Weinstein, John Kramer, Xavier Lopez, Kameron Miller and Adam Quintero – tallied multi-hit games.

The Mountaineers will return to the field on Saturday, Nov. 9, when they face Western Carolina in Cullowhee for their final fall contest of the year. First pitch is set for 1 p.m., and the teams will again play a seven-inning doubleheader.