June 16, 2015 12:00 AM
The charismatic coaches of the Pirates were in full training mode Sunday morning for “Pitch for Hope” Women’s Baseball Clinic at PNC Park.
The clinic supports A Glimmer of Hope, a local breast cancer charity started by Diana Napper in 1996. The organization sells pins and bracelets with the proceeds going toward breast cancer research and medical equipment.
The organization has been working with the Pirates since 2000. This is the clinic’s seventh annual event.
“Women traditionally don’t take … interest in baseball,” said Napper. “I believe women in Pittsburgh, since the inception of baseball, have been one of the strongest followers.”
That was clear at the clinic. There were about 200 women mainly dressed in black and gold sporting various Pirates paraphernalia.
The clinic cost $80 per person and included coaching lessons from the Pirates including Clint Hurdle, brunch, and tickets to the game. The ladies learned the basics of hitting, running bases and catching.
“Anytime we get to come out and support a cause like this it’s great,” said hitting coach Jeff Branson. “We are giving them the experience that we give to the players on a daily basis.”
The charity and the clinic are focused on bringing new mammogram equipment to all Allegheny County hospitals. The equipment is called tomosynthesis. It is an add-on to the mammogram machine and it provides a more in-depth look into the breast tissue.
“Sometimes it’s hard to make a diagnosis because a lot of women have dense breast [meaning] they have a lot of breast tissue,” said Dr. William Poller, a radiologist at Allegheny Radiology Associates. “With this machine you are slicing the breast and the X-rays are taken at one millimeter, one centimeter intervals so you can look at them all separately. You are picking up smaller breast cancers.”
Picking up on the smaller tumors is key to survival. The quicker the cancer is found, the quicker the path to recovery can begin.
Currently, the cancer institute at the Wexford Health + Wellness Pavilion owns a tomosynthesis machine. The goal, according to Dr. Poller and Napper, is to have that machine at every Allegheny Health Network hospital.
Nothing brings Pittsburgh residents together like sporting events. For golfers, there will be a golf tournament in August hosted by Glimmer of Hope and Dimonds for Hope, another local breast cancer charity. Glimmer for Hope also works with the Steelers for an event called Bid for Hope in November.
The Pirates, Rue 21, Highmark and the Allegheny Health Network sponsored the baseball clinic. The sponsors combined with the ticket sales helped raise $67,000 with all the proceeds going toward purchasing medical equipment.
Desiree Mathurin: dmathurin@post-gazette.com and Twitter: @dez_sm
