PITTSFIELD — Carter LaCasse and Lori Lussier share something important in common: They’ve each battled cancer. On Saturday morning, the two of them got the chance to share something else: The honor of throwing the first pitch during the baseball and softball games at Striking Out Cancer in the Berkshires’ sixth annual fundraiser.
Members of the Berkshire community flocked to Buddy Pellerin Field at Clapp Park to support LaCasse, Lussier, and others affected by cancer during Saturday’s festivities, which kicked off with a baseball game at 9:30 a.m. and continued with softball at 11.
The Striking Out Cancer event was organized for the sixth straight year by Joe DiCicco, with support from local residents and businesses. Krispy Kone sold ice cream during the games, volunteers sold event merchandise and raffle items, and UNICO members gave out free hot dogs and hamburgers.
All proceeds were donated to the Jimmy Fund of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
The Dana-Farber Institute is where DiCicco’s late wife spent time being treated for cancer before she passed away, and DiCicco started this event in her honor.
“2020 was the twentieth anniversary of my wife passing away, and I wanted to do something,” he said. “People have a lot of golf tournaments and things like that, and I’m a baseball guy, so I said, ‘Let’s try baseball.’”
Lori Lussier, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, throws the first pitch of the softball game at the sixth annual Striking Out Cancer in the Berkshires fundraising event.
Last year, Striking Out Cancer raised $14,000. “I don’t think that’s too bad,” DiCicco said.
LaCasse, now 12, has been in remission for over three years after fighting a rare form of acute leukemia, according to Crystal Czerno, his mother.
“Boston Children’s [Hospital] and Jimmy Fund were a part of our lives every single day for two years,” she said. “They’re very patient-centered, where they’re focusing on, ‘How can we make this absolutely horrible, scary time any better?’”
Czerno connected with DiCicco three years ago, after seeing a Facebook post featuring Striking Out Cancer. Her son has since been a staple of the summer event, throwing out the first pitch of the baseball game three consecutive times. “The people this brings together and the fun time we have every year, it’s just an amazing experience,” LaCasse said.
Players stand for a moment of silence for those lost to cancer at the sixth annual Striking Out Cancer in the Berkshires fundraising event at Clapp Park on Saturday.
Lussier, who threw out the first pitch of the softball game and followed that with a single in her first at-bat, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. “[The Jimmy Fund] helped me a lot with my recent diagnosis, and I’m going to continue to support the cause,” she said. “It’s amazing to me to find out how many people that I know are actually suffering from cancer and that this organization actually helps.”
Chris Keegan, the former assistant coach for the Taconic High School baseball team, served as the designated pitcher at the sixth annual Striking Out Cancer in the Berkshires fundraising event at Clapp Park on Saturday.
Although Lussier hadn’t previously attended a Strike Out Cancer event, she has long known DiCicco through baseball. “He helped my boys do some pitching,” she said. “I know his son, and I know his daughters, they’re family to us.”
For DiCicco and his friends and family, this year’s edition was more evidence of how far the event has come since 2020. “It’s definitely grown,” Courtney Dondi, DiCicco’s daughter, said. “More and more people seem to show up, especially the younger kids, and then we’ve had more raffles.”
This year’s raffle items included tickets to a Red Sox game, as well as tickets to see several other local minor league teams. For the first time, two autographed bats, signed by Red Sox players Wilmer Abreu and Carlos Narvaez, were also available by auction.
Maryann Sherman takes a turn at-bat during the sixth annual Striking Out Cancer in the Berkshires fundraising event at Clapp Park in Pittsfield.
DiCicco announced the raffle winners on Saturday evening during the event’s conclusion, which took place at Pittsfield’s Sideline Saloon on Fenn Street with pizza and live music.
The Sideline, owned by Tim Carroll and Colleen Doyle, has partnered with DiCicco during Striking Out Cancer since the beginning. The Sideline hosted a fundraiser on June 21 which featured the Red Sox World Series trophy as well as Red Sox mascot Wally and Worcester WooSox mascot Lucky. “We just want to help more and more people every year, if we can,” Doyle said.
Saturday was a reunion of sorts for DiCicco. In attendance were several of his teammates from St. Joseph’s High School’s 1975 state championship-winning baseball team, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last May. These teammates included Carroll and 1975 team captain Rick Naughton. “We’re here to support [DiCicco] and support his endeavors in any way we can,” Naughton said.
A crowd gathered for a day of baseball, softball and fundraising for the sixth annual Striking Out Cancer in the Berkshires fundraising event at Clapp Park on Saturday.
“We were taught early on to give back from the sisters of St. Joseph, and in a small way that’s what we’re trying to do today,” Carroll added.
Throughout the action on Saturday, DiCicco roamed the bleachers, laughing with spectators and acting as the de-facto event emcee. “Joe’s the guy,” Carroll said. “He works hard at this event; he starts preparing in September, so he takes a few months off and then he gets right back on his bike and gets next year’s event going, and he does an incredible job.”
A crowd gathered for a day of baseball, softball and fundraising for the sixth annual Striking Out Cancer in the Berkshires fundraising event at Clapp Park on Saturday.
For Czerno and her son, the event continues to stand out because of the community. “We look forward to it every year, it’s so much fun,” Czerno said. “You get all the different age groups — it’s a riot watching these guys out here playing, you know what I mean?”
The event’s organizers emphasized how the cause — fighting cancer — always brings people together.
“It’s awesome to just get together as a community and build that camaraderie around not only the community, but also cancer, because everyone knows somebody who’s been affected by cancer,” Dondi said.
