A total of eight local policemen and firemen who got the chance to take part in the recent 2017 Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (CHaD) Battle of the Badges baseball game can continue to puff out their chests with pride in the aftermath of that event as it has been announced by game directors that that contest set a new record for funds raised for its worthy cause.
The Friday, August 11 contest – played for the first time under the lights at the New Hampshire Fisher Cats’ Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester – smashed previous fundraising efforts by raising a whopping $102,000 and counting for the programs and services at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
The 45 police officers and firefighters from across the state who took part in the contest were by far the largest fundraisers, but nearly 2,000 fans did contribute as well in turning out to watch Team Police beat Team Fire by a lopsided 15-2 tally to snare a 4-3 lead in the annual series.
The players and coaches raised nearly $92,000, with the firemen leading the way by collecting about $50,000 of that total. And by virtue of their fundraising success, the firemen earned home field advantage in series game number eight next August despite the fact that they were vanquished so soundly on the field.
Badges veteran Anthony DeRosa of Derry led all the firemen where fundraising was concerned by collecting some $4,740 on his own. DeRosa was the on-field hero of the 2016 Badges game, rapping the winning hit for his side. His fellow Derry Fire Department member Dennis Livoli served as an assistant coach for the fire squad.
Four Londonderry firemen and two town policemen played for their respective teams. The firemen were Riley Northrop, Mike Roberson, Brian Schofield, and Chris Schofield, and the cops were Jim Freda and Justin Hallock.
The record fundraising total of this year’s Battle of the Badges pushed the game’s all-time fundraising tally to greater than $420,000 in seven years. Players committed to raising at least $1,250, but the average raised per player this summer was more than $2,000.