Holiday baseball tournament in north Columbus helps grant wishes – 10TV

A Fourth of July weekend tradition in north Columbus is not just bringing sports families to the baseball diamond, it is helping grant wishes.

36 Ohio youth baseball teams faced off Saturday afternoon on day 1 of the North Columbus Sports Raiders Firecracker Baseball Tournament.

The three-day long competition at Ridgewood Middle School brings teams, ages 9-14, to play baseball and help make someone’s special wish come true.

Before the windup, the catcher gave Austin Smith the go ahead for the throw. The baseball bounced over home plate for the opening ceremony pitch at the Firecracker Baseball Tournament.

“It’s really cool to see all these people and all that they did for me, it’s really humbling,” Austin Smith said.

At a tournament for young ball players, it isn’t just about winning and losing. It’s about people helping people, like Smith.

“Well, I had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I was diagnosed March of last year,” Smith said.

It took the Grove City teen four rounds of chemotherapy to kick his cancer.

The now, healthy 18-year-old made a wish then, to take a trip to Turks and Caicos with his family. He’ll get to go thanks to the players on 36 Ohio baseball teams.

Tournament founder Gerry DeLuca has helped grant wishes for more than a dozen local kids and teens. He says the tournament gets bigger every year and so do the donations to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“It makes them realize there’s more than just baseball, in a baseball tournament,” DeLuca said.

Teams in the Firecracker Baseball Tournament have raised $150,000 in the last six years for Make-A-Wish.

“It’s probably the most important thing I’ve ever done,” DeLuca said.

Proceeds from this year’s tournament will be used to grant Austin Smith’s wish.

Smith recently graduated from high school and has plans to attend Columbus State Community College. He and his family are planning to take their trip some time next Spring.