Pirates Charities fulfill Mars teacher’s request for baseball equipment
ADAMS TWP — The question was simple enough.
The answer? Not so much.
“My students asked me if baseball could be part of the class, if we could teach them the game,” said Sara Coon, Mars Area Primary Center and Centennial School physical education teacher. “I had to tell them we didn’t have the equipment to do that right now.
“I decided to reach out to (Pittsburgh) Pirates Charities, just to see if something could be done. I sent them an email ... That’s how all this happened.”
“All this” included Pirates Charities sending over 25 baseball gloves, eight bats, 50 baseballs, three batting tees and two heavy equipment bags to the Mars Primary Center and Coon’s first-grade class Wednesday morning.
Coon sent the email less than two weeks ago.
On hand to deliver the equipment were Mars Area High School graduate and Pirates relief pitcher David Bednar, along with the Pirate Parrot. They were greeted by approximately 250 students lining the hallway, delivering high-fives as Bednar and the Parrot entered the building.
“COVID rules prohibit us from having all of the kids in a classroom together to spend time with them,” Coon said. “This was a way to get everybody in the school involved. It was a fun time.”
Pirates Charities’ prompt response was to enable the Mars students to learn about baseball this spring, said Jacque Skowvron, Pirates Charities executive director.
“This was a unique request,” Skowvron said. “We get a lot of requests for tickets to games, autographed items for fundraisers, things like that. Equipment requests generally come from youth baseball or softball organizations.
“When a school has children who want to learn to play the great game of baseball? We wanted to help with that.”
She added that Pirates Charities receive requests for help from the public on a daily basis, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were going to fulfill this request regardless, but when the thought came to us that we have a Pirates player from Mars, we reached out to him to see if he wanted to help take part in the delivery of the equipment ... and we got an emphatic ‘Yes’,” Skowvron said.
John Leonard is the manager of youth baseball and softball for the Pirates.
“This whole thing worked out well,” he said. “Having a player who actually went to school at Mars, lives in Mars, bring the equipment to the kids turned it into a great experience for everybody. He put on a clinic for the kids in the gym and visited with them.”
Bednar’s sister, Mars senior softball player Danielle Bednar, and their father, Andy, helped out with the day’s activities as well.
“Walking down that hallway was quite a scene,” Andy Bednar said. “The kids can identify with David. They know he’s from here. And it’s not just my boys (Will Bednar is also a professional pitcher in the San Francisco Giants organization), it’s the Carmody brothers playing sports at Notre Dame, our lacrosse players getting Division I scholarships, JJ Wetherholt at West Virginia playing baseball against Jack Anderson at Pitt ... If you’re from here, big things can happen for you.
“Days like today can inspire a kid.”
It can create humbling moments as well.
One youngster came running toward David Bednar in quest of an autograph. Just as the player was ready to sign, the child ran past him and handed his baseball and pen to the Pirate Parrot.
“David was definitely humbled by that,” his father said, laughing.
