Baseball

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 11, 2013

Courtesy of UMass Lowell Athletics Communications

UMass Lowell to donate $5,000 to Shedd Park
Little League and Adam Keenan Scholarship Foundation

DRACUT, Mass. – The first annual UMass Lowell Baseball Hot Stove Dinner, held Sunday night, Feb. 10 at the Four Oaks Banquet Hall in Dracut, Mass., raised more than $30,000 for the UMass Lowell baseball program.

With the proceeds, UMass Lowell will donate $2,500 to the Shedd Park Cooperstown 2013 team of Lowell, as well as $2,500 to the Adam Keenan Scholarship Foundation.

Keenan was a sophomore on UMass Lowell's 2011 squad who lost his life to cardiac arrest in June 2011.

"It was extremely humbling to see this kind of support from not only the University, but from the Merrimack Valley community," said head coach Ken Harring, entering his ninth year. "This was a great community event which supported three great causes. It was a night that everyone will remember for a long time."

The event, which had sold out weeks prior, also included live and silent auctions, which raised roughly $20,000.

Several UMass Lowell players, including sophomore Jimmy Ricoy and freshman Kyle Edwards, are alumni of the Shedd Park Little League, which sent a team to the 2012 Field of Dreams Tournament in Cooperstown last summer and is expecting to do the same this year.

With the $2,500 earmarked for the Adam Keenan Scholarship Foundation, UMass Lowell has helped raise in excess of $7,000 in Keenan's name with its involvement in the Heartwalk 2012 Boston on Sept. 15 which raised $4,800. 

Harring also presented awards to members of the 2012 team. The Jim Stone Player of the Year Award was presented to Cam Kneeland while the Jack Leathersich Pitcher of the Year Award was given to senior Mike Sloban.

Sophomore Geoff DeGroot was presented the John Cahill Rookie of the Year Award while Mark Sanborn was named the recipient of the Adam Keenan Sportsmanship Award; and Bryant Guilmette the Bob Bushong Unsung Hero Award.

UMass Lowell opens its season on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 23-24 against Philadelphia University in Flemington, N.J. The River Hawks open at home Wednesday, March 27 against Merrimack.