Mets Foundation Buys Full Gear For 50 Youth Baseball, Softball Teams
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Hundreds of young baseball and softball players from across the five boroughs got a helping hand from the big leagues Saturday.
As CBS2's Marc Liverman reported, it was a room full of smiles and season full of hope, as 50 teams walked into Citi Field in Flushing, Queens. The Mets Foundation purchased full gear for each of them.
"I'm really excited, because we never really got this much equipment for our team and now we have like professional equipment so we can play games in our season," said Dexter Wilson, of the New York Tigers.
"Thank God they did it, because we really needed this. All this stuff we needed," Union Little League Coach Hector Meregildo said.
Each team received helmets, gloves, balls, catcher's gear and baseball bats – everything they need for an entire season.
The teams were picked based on need and interviews with coaches.
Tony Crosin, with the Mets Foundation, said many of the coaches were paying for gear out of their own pockets.
"If they don't have funding for these kids, we figured we would step in and help these coaches out," he said.
"Some people had to share gloves, but now since we have all these equipment, we won't have to do that anymore," Wilson said.
"We're going to look better as a team," another player added.
In every glove, bat and ball is an opportunity for the kids to play the game they love, just in time for a new season.
