Eric Frink spoke to his team last week about “appreciating life” and not taking any moment, even their youth, for granted.
“I try to teach them that nothing is guaranteed, and you don’t get time back,” the John Jay-East Fishkill baseball coach said. “As a kid, sometimes, it feels like the days are infinite. But as you get older and start losing loved ones, things get put into perspective.”
The coach is reminded of that as his father-in-law died Tuesday after a battle with cancer, the same disease that claimed his mother six years ago, and a former player on his team in 2019.
Those people will be among those in his thoughts Saturday as the baseball team hosts its annual “Strikeout Pediatric Cancer” tournament at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill. The event, which returns after a two-year hiatus amid the COVID-19 pandemic, serves as a fundraiser for Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla.
The Patriots will host Fox Lane High School for baseball games throughout the afternoon and evening, beginning at 1 p.m., featuring the schools’ ninth grade, junior varsity and varsity teams. Donations will be accepted, and a portion of the concession sales will go toward the charity.
“Once the cost of the event is covered, the rest of the money is sent to the hospital,” Frink said of the event, in its fourth year. “In past years it’s generated a couple thousand dollars to be donated, but this year I think it’ll be a lot more, since we’re getting a percentage of the food truck sales. I give our booster club huge props for working with us and the (Hudson Valley) Renegades to spearhead this.”
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Fox Lane coach Matt Hillis is a friend who “has been fully supportive of this,” Frink said, which helped facilitate their teams meeting for this tournament.
The ninth-grade game will lead off at 1 p.m., followed by junior varsity at 4 p.m. The varsity teams have the nightcap at 7 p.m., playing under the lights at Dutchess Stadium.
The event holds greater significance and sentimental value to the players since the death of former standout Brandon Johnson three years ago. He battled leukemia valiantly, and even threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the Patriots’ 2017 “Orange Out” game, which was held to raise awareness of leukemia. But he succumbed to the disease at age 19.
Devon Williams Jr., a former Arlington High School athlete, died two weeks ago after a months-long battle with kidney cancer. He was 18.
“The players and their families have spoken about losing people in their lives to cancer, so it’s something that hits close to home for almost everyone,” Frink said. “Losing Brandon, saying goodbye to a kid with a bright future in so many ways, was awful. He was raised well, personable, smart, so talented. It’s still difficult to think about.”
During the visits to Maria Fareri to see Johnson, Frink was struck by the number of children there also suffering from pediatric cancers. That, he said, was the impetus for the fundraising events.
“Seeing things like that and knowing about the devastation of these illnesses, it hurts,” he said. “But it means that we have to try to do something about it, try to contribute, and not just sulk. I want all the kids to understand that, at least for a day, we do something for others.”
Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4826; Twitter: @StephenHaynes4