Going To Bat Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, conceived and created by three Southern California high school athletes to improve the lives of youths around the world. The mission is to provide any child who wishes to play baseball or softball with the means and the opportunity, providing a viable alternative to other destructive options. Going To Bat Foundation supplements programs provided by Major League Baseball like Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities. Going To Bat Foundation also provides support for Little League Baseball programs ravaged by economic and natural disasters.
In 2012, Going To Bat Foundation merged with Sharing the Sandlot, a Gilbert, Arizona-based charity group, under the Going To Bat Foundation name to better serve the Phoenix metropolitan area. Sharing the Sandlot's Shaun Rico joined the Board of Directors of Going to Bat Foundation.
In 2012, Going To Bat Foundation formed a strategic partnership with Phoenix-based Opportunity Through Baseball (OTB), to help expand the highly successful education and youth development program initiated by OTB at two Phoenix inner-city schools. The goal of this joint initiative is to bolster the public schools in the Phoenix community, expand existing relationships, and enhance the student learning experience. Hands-on tutoring by educators and business professionals, as well as exposure to real-world technology, will better prepare students to graduate with marketable skills and confidence. OTB's Phoenix-based Sean Payton joined the Board of Directors of Going To Bat Foundation.
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History
The Going To Bat Foundation was founded in 2009 by three athletes from Orange County, California. Adam Salcido (Laguna Hills High School); Kyle Candalla (Mission Viejo High School) and Kieran Lovegrove (Mission Viejo High School) recognized that the opportunities, facilities and equipment that they found readily available were not available to all. They witnessed first hand children falling through the cracks because their parents did not have the means to pay for their children to play sports. The Going To Bat Foundation helps make athletics possible for more children. After seeing a video of kids in a township near Cape Town in South Africa, playing baseball barefoot in a drainage ditch strewn with litter, Salcido, Candalla, and Lovegrove collected used baseball gear from all over California and began distributing it to the most needy.
The first large shipment of equipment and clothing was sent to the Phillipi Angels Township Baseball Academy.
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Founders
Adam Salcido
Adam Salcido is the son of author, psychotherapist and youth baseball coach Raymond Salcido, writer of Chaos to Balance: A Life-changing Strategy. Adam Salcido is a shortstop who played in the 2009 California Cup on an all-star team selected from the entire Southern California area. Along with baseball Salcido also plays basketball and varsity football at Laguna Hills High School.
- Southern California 14U Baseball 2009 - California Cup, Manteca, California
- Laguna Hills High School Varsity Baseball - Shortstop
- Laguna Hills High School Varsity Football - Free Safety
Salcido played shortstop on his high-school varsity baseball team as a freshman.
Kyle Candalla
Candalla played in the 2009 California Cup (Manteca, California) on an all-star team selected from the entire Southern California area.
Candalla was also selected as one of only 10 14-year-olds to represent Southern California at the National Team Identification Series at USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. Candalla played on the varsity baseball team as a Freshman at Mission Viejo High School!
- Southern California 13U - 2009 California Cup, Manteca, California
- Southern California 15U - 2009 USA Baseball NTIS, Cary, North Carolina
- Southern California 14U - 2010 California Cup, Palm Springs, California
- Elite Baseball Series 2010, University of California Irvine & UCLA
- Mission Viejo High School 2010 Baseball Most Valuable Player
- Mission Viejo High School 2011 Baseball Most Valuable Player
- Elite Baseball Series (EBS) - 2011 UCLA
- Elite Baseball Series (EBS) - 2012
- Elite Baseball Series (EBS) - 2012 UCLA - Player of the game
- All Tournament Teams from the 2012 WWBA World Championship
- 2012 High School Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the Year
- 2012 All-Seaview League 1st Team
Kieran Lovegrove
Kieran Lovegrove was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1994. He learned his ball skills playing cricket. He moved to California at age 5, and fell in love with the game of baseball. Lovegrove was a member of the Saddleback Coyotes Baseball Team that won the 2005 National Cooperstown Tournament of Champions (Oneonta, New York), where he also won the shortstop skills competition. Lovegrove is a pitcher on the Mission Viejo High School (Mission Viejo, California) baseball team. In addition to baseball, Lovegrove was also an All Star soccer player (goalie) and football wide receiver.
- 2005 National Cooperstown Tournament of Champions (Oneonta, New York)
- Cooperstown All Star - Champion Shortstop Skills Champion 2005
- Southern California 14U - 2009 California Cup, Manteca, California
- 2009 California 14U "Golden Arm" Champion, Manteca, California - 85 mph
- Southern California 15U - 2009 USA Baseball National Team Identification Series, Cary, North Carolina
- 2010 Mission Viejo High School Baseball Most Valuable Player
- NCTB Stars, 2010 USA 16U Championships, Peoria, Arizona
- Elite Baseball Series 2010, University of California Irvine & UCLA
- Perfect Game 2010 West Coast Top Prospect Showcase - 91 mph
- Southern California 17U - 2010 USA Baseball National Team Identification Series, Cary, North Carolina
- USA Baseball 16U National Trials Team - 2010, Houston, Texas
- 2011 Under Armour Pre-Season All-American - 2011 Tucson, Arizona
- 2011 Perfect Game Pre-Season All-American
- Perfect Game National Showcase - 2011, Fort Myers, Florida
- American Amateur Baseball Congress Don Mattingly 17U World Series Champions - 2011 Tempe, Arizona
- Area Code Milwaukee Brewers - 2011 Long Beach, California
- Southern California 17U - 2011 USA Baseball National Team Identification Series, Cary, North Carolina
- USA Baseball National Team Trials 18U 2012
- Rawlings Pre-Season All-American 2012
- Rawlings/Perfect Game Preseason California Region All High School Senior 1st Team - 2012
- Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 3rd round of the 2012 MLB Draft
- Played for the South Africa national baseball team in the 2012 World Baseball Classic Qualifier
Kieran Lovegrove was committed to play baseball for Arizona State University in 2012.
Fundraising
Donations of new and used equipment are accepted from all sources; individuals, Little League and Travel Ball Programs. Donations can be made through the Going To Bat Foundation website.
The Going To Bat Foundation received the 1st Annual New Balance Community Service Award when founder Kieran Lovegrove was recognized at the 2011 Area Code Games. Lovegrove played on the Southern California Milwaukee Brewers team in the 2011 event.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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