Warren Central hosts Softball Spooktacular
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, October 24, 2017
- Warren Central baseball player Kyle Dupree, dressed as Superman, rounds third base during the 2016 Softball Spooktacular charity game.
In the spirit of Tinker to Evers to Chance, Warren Central will once again present Tinkerbell to Evil Clown to Chicken.
For the fourth year in a row, Warren Central will play its Softball Spooktacular Thursday at 6 p.m. at Lucy Young Field. The event is a co-ed softball game featuring members of the school’s softball and baseball teams playing in Halloween costumes.
Admission is $5, and all proceeds will go to the family of Victor Worrell, Jr. Worrell is a 7-year-old Vicksburg resident who is battling leukemia.
“It’s a lot of fun for the kids and a good way to give back to the community,” Warren Central softball coach Dana McGivney said. “It’s not about softball or baseball, it’s about both teams coming together to give back to the community.”
The game was started in 2014 and based off of Hinds Community College’s annual “Monster Mash at Moss” event that follows the same format and goal of raising money for charity.
This year’s Monster Mash at Moss is scheduled for Oct. 30 at 6 p.m., at Hinds’ Joe G. Moss baseball stadium in Raymond. Its proceeds will benefit Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital in Jackson.
Warren Central’s Spooktacular tries to keep the money closer to home. In 2014 and 2015 it went to former Warren Central students Afton Wallace and Gabby Butler, who were battling cancer. Last year, the beneficiary was Blair E. Batson, and this year it’ll be Worrell.
Last year’s Spooktacular raised nearly $1,000.
“Especially if it’s someone in our community, it makes it mean more to the kids,” McGivney said. “They want to give more to someone that they know.”
In addition to the softball game, there will be a costume contest, a canned food drive, and Halloween candy for the children in attendance. Children who come to the game in costume will get in free.
The costumes on the field are the real stars, however. McGivney said that while the game is fun, her players take that part of the game very seriously.
“They enjoy it. The girls will get together and talk about what they’re going to wear. They’re competitive when they play, but most of all they have fun,” said McGivney, who has dressed up as a blind umpire for past games. “Last year we had a bunch of girls dressed as M&M’s. I like the group ones. They all look good. They crack me up.”