Piper Bengals Baseball Team Supports Down Syndrome Organization

Franco Prato throws out the first pitch with Piper Head Coach Chris Costanzo looking on.

The Piper High School baseball team put together a night Friday that Franco Prato will never forget. Prato threw out the first pitch in the Piper-Hollywood Hills game as part of an evening dedicated to raising money for Down Syndrome research.

Part of being a high school head coach is teaching kids life lessons. Piper Head Coach Chris Costanzo showed his leadership skills when he organized a fundraiser for the Broward Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization.

Costanzo came up with the idea when he went to an event last year for his nephew, who has Down Syndrome. The event was filled with tents and other attractions that brought awareness to the medical condition.

“As a high school baseball coach, we are always asking for donations and for the community to give us money to help run our programs,” said Costanzo, when asked why he decided to schedule the fundraiser. “So after doing this buddy walk last year, I thought that I would teach the boys how we’re going to give back to the community.”

Costanzo received much support not only from the community, but from the administration and staff at Piper high school. Principal Enid Valdez, who has worked for a long time in the school system, has seen a sense of community at Piper that she never experienced in the past.

“I’ve been in other public schools, and the first thing I noticed when I came to Piper five years ago was that our children sit and eat lunch together, whether they have special needs, physical, or mental disabilities, our students all help each other,” said Valdez. “It is one of the things that makes me feel very good about being a part of this school.”

Piper, itself, could not have pulled off this type of event without the help of the community. Several businesses stepped up when Costanzo came calling for donations, providing key components to making the night a success.

Bru’s Room in Sunrise donated 1,000 wings. Chick-fil-A offered up 400 chicken sandwiches to be given out to those who paid the $10 entry fee to attend the game. Krispy Kreme provided dessert for the evening in the form of eight dozen doughnuts.

Webster’s Team Sports helped out with the uniforms for the night. Webster’s donated the home team game jersey’s, and fifty white T-shirts with the theme of the night – “Bengal Baseball Supports Down Syndrome” printed on them.

With the school and business leaders behind the fund-raiser, all that was left was for Costanzo to bring in political leaders. Sunrise Mayor Mike Ryan was more than willing to support the efforts of the Bengals.

“I give these kids great credit,” said Mayor Ryan, speaking about the Bengals baseball team. “They could be fundraising for their own team, but instead, their funding 100% for Down Syndrome. Bringing the school, the city, the community, together in a fun event, it’s a win-win for everybody.”

Piper ESE Specialist Tony Dutra was on hand for the uplifting festivities. Dutra chose Prato to throw out the first pitch, and the ESE instructor was excited that a sports team was bringing attention to the program.

“When the school said they were doing this event, I specifically chose Franco because I knew he could be a representative of the cause,” said Dutra, “The fact that they’re bringing this awareness is key, because a lot of people don’t know that when these students graduate, they need another program to go to. Franco is in the eighteen to twenty-two program here at Piper, and he’s doing a great job.”

Costanzo did not know exactly how much money would be raised, but he did consider the event a success, regardless of the final numbers.

“Our goal was to raise as much money as we can from the concession, the donations, from the gate,” said Costanzo. “No matter how much is raised, it will be a success, because the kids have learned a valuable lesson of how to give back.”

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