By Steve Sears

A year after repairing and re-engineering the infield area in phase one bettering the Mendham High School baseball field, the Mendham Diamond Club Inc. has set its sights on adding additions and upgrading the dugouts and practice areas as part of phase two

$9,225 of the hoped for $12,500 has been raised, and some of thos funds will go to another great cause. 20% of every dollar will be donated to The Teamwork United Foundation, whose mission is to help those in need and heighten autism awareness.

Todd Hojnacki, in his first year as President of the Diamond Club, explains the marriage to the cause. “The Autism Awareness Challenge has been going on for a while now, and Mendham was invited to play in it this year, which was a great honor.” Hojnacki is referring to the April 24 baseball tournament which took place in North Brunswick. “It’s some of the best teams around the state and they highlight some of the best players who’ve been recruited by the D1 (Division 1) schools.”

The Diamond Club then got involved, seeking to give back to the community by making a team donation to the sponsor of the spring event, The Teamwork United Foundation. “This is a great cause, and we really wanted to do something, and the boys really wanted to do something to give back, so that’s kind of how this whole thing was born. Then we tied it around a 2021 Capital Campaign because, as you can see in pictures, you know we have things that really needed improvement.”

Hojnacki explains the work done thus far. “The varsity infield was redone last fall, and that was funded by the Diamond Club and also the school. That was completed in early November, so the field that they’ve been planning on this year has been great. With this (the current campaign) we’re kind of piggybacking off of that momentum for the next phase of improvements that are needed.”

Mendham Diamond Club Inc. is a 5013 c organization that supports the baseball program as a whole. “We’re here to support the coaches, the players for what they need to have a successful program,” states Hojnacki. “For instance, some of the things we’ve done, like I said the infield renovation, and a couple years ago, another big project was we got a new scoreboard for the varsity field. The school does everything they can to support the program but as you can imagine, they’re limited; they do for all the different sports, so they help out as much as they can. But the Diamond Club is here to basically provide some more support.”

Hojnacki, whose son is a freshman on the MHS baseball team, says the goal of $12,500 he hopes will be exceeded, and he had in May put in a call to the tournament director for the Autism Awareness Challenge. “He was so impressed with what the school was doing,” Hojnacki says, “he wanted to come at some point in the season, and thank the boys and thank the parents, and that’s when we were going to give them a check,”

To learn more about the 2021 Capital Campaign and to donate, visit www.mendhamhsbaseball.com and click the link on the homepage.