Randolph HS baseball game for fallen peers returns – Daily Record
RANDOLPH – A Halloween-themed baseball game fundraiser to honor two Randolph High School student athletes who died in 2014 will return next month.
The second annual Verduga-Timmerman Halloween Classic will be held at 4:15 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4 at the high school varsity baseball field.
The game honors Randolph High School students Jack Timmerman and Calvin Verduga, who died in a car accident in July 2014. They were riding in a classmate’s car when it veered off Ironia Road at 1:35 p.m. There were four people in the car when it crashed.
Brandon Lopez and Andrew Hafner, who are both 18, created the game last year as a way to bring the community together for a good cause.
All players will pay a fee to participate in the game and wear Halloween costumes in lieu of uniforms. Spectators also are encouraged to wear costumes.
Admission to the game is $3 with a costume and $5 without one for both students and the general public.
Lopez and Hafner graduated Randolph High School in June but are returning for the game. Lopez is now playing baseball and studying history at Montclair State University and Hafner is studying at Temple University.
This year the pair will be dressing up as characters from the popular 90s baseball movie “The Sandlot.”
“This year’s game will have a different twist to things,” Lopez said. “We will be having new teams involved in this event. Since we had such a stellar turnout last year, we decided to make it a Randolph baseball-based event.”
Last year’s game was between the Randolph varsity team and the Locked In Expos, a New Jersey-based traveling “showcase” club team.
Lopez said he and Hafner will be the two coaches this year, one for Team CV and the other for Team JT, and draft teams from the Randolph baseball players.
Proceeds raised from the event will benefit the Verduga-Timmerman Memorial Scholarship fund. Last year’s event raised more than $16,000 for the fund.
For the Verduga-Timmerman scholarships, students will nominate their peers based on qualities including leadership, responsibility, school spirit, high energy, and respect from their peers and the school staff, traits the two student athletes were known for at the high school.
The application for the scholarship will include both a staff or coach and a peer recommendation. A top 10 will be selected by three guidance counselors and administrators before the Timmerman and Verduga families each pick one student from a final pool of five for the scholarships.
People can donate to the scholarship fund by sending checks made out to the Verduga-Timmerman Memorial Scholarship to Randolph High School, 511 Millbrook Avenue in Randolph.
“We hope to keep this event going every year because we see how much the community enjoys this event,” Lopez said. It’s a great way to remind everyone about these two great kids and help promote safe teen driving.”
For more Information on the game and the scholarship fund go to http://verdugatimmermanscholarshipfund.webs.com/.
Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com
If you go:
Verduga-Timmerman Halloween Classic
What: A baseball game fundraiser to raise money for the Verduga-Timmerman Memorial Scholarship fund
When: Sunday, Oct. 4, at 4:15 p.m.
Where: Varsity baseball field, Randolph High School, 511 Millbrook Avenue in Randolph