Baseball 4 Causes

Baseball 4 Causes (B4C) is the baseball philanthropy division of Technology 4 Causes, a non-profit organization dedicated to making a positive impact through technology and support services. 

Our mission is to create a positive impact in the baseball community and the wider local community by fostering fellowship through the playing of baseball, enhancing educational activities and event experiences through our technology platform, and engaging in initiatives that support worthwhile causes that give back to the community.

• B4C Baseball Events - First, we organize unique baseball events and experiences that foster fellowship and camaraderie among players in the baseball community. These activities provide a platform for players to connect, share their love for the sport, and build lasting relationships, while supporting worthwhile causes. 
• Baseball Non-profit Technology Assistance - Second, we extend our support to baseball-related nonprofits and charitable initiatives. By collaborating with these organizations, we assist them in achieving their goals and making a meaningful impact in the community. By providing skilled staff members and advanced technology, we help streamline their operations, allowing them to focus on their core mission. We provide programmers and web designers to enable these organizations to best leverage their available resources and maximize their impact.
• Baseball Service Missions - Lastly, we operate our own charitable programs to directly address unserved needs in the community. Through these programs, we aim to make a positive impact by leveraging our platform, staff, and network.

At Baseball 4 Causes, we are dedicated to using the power of baseball and technology to make a meaningful difference. It's a wonderful chance to be part of a community-driven effort that brings people together and creates a lasting and positive change. By actively participating in unique baseball-related events, individuals have the opportunity to not only enjoy the sport but also contribute to something greater than themselves. Together with our partners and supporters, we strive to create a stronger, more united, and more compassionate baseball community while positively impacting the wider world.

We are always looking to expand the causes we support and to expand our network of volunteers making an impact in our baseball community. Please share your thoughts for events we could host or organizations or initiatives we could assist.

Join us for our 2nd annual B4C Ripken/Harford Experience on Tuesday, July 16th and Wednesday, July 17th. This year, half of your games will be played on the Yankee Stadium replica turf field on the Ripken Complex, with the other half being played on the turf at nearby John Carroll.

Proceeds will benefit the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, and the event will again host an evening dinner reception.

Our next over 60 will be held on July 15, 2024, at The John Carroll High School campus in Bel Air, MD.

The B4C Baseball Over 60 Series provides exciting opportunities for baseball players over 60 years of age in our community. Envisioned events will follow the format of popular one, two, or three-day events at various fields and venues across Maryland and the greater regional area with an initial emphasis in Harford County.

On Monday, July 15^th, Baseball 4 Causes will host our first-ever Father / Son/Daughter Game. It will be played on the collegiate-caliber turf field on the campus of The John Carroll School in Bel Air, MD. Spots will be limited as this is a single game, so act fast when registration begins! This is open to sons, daughters, nieces, and nephews (16/varsity, or over) to play with their dad, uncle, aunt, or mom. The young guns will be able to pitch up to two innings each, so bring your A-Game.

B4C events will be designed in consideration of existing local leagues and organizations, such as HMBL, DCMSBL, DBW, JSB, and others. The intent of B4C Baseball is to create additional opportunities for people to play together in unique formats and neat venues.  You should continue to participate in the events and leagues that you already do.  We will seek to coordinate with the leadership of various groups to help avoid duplication of times and locations, to avoid logistical conflicts.

Click any of the links below to learn more about previous B4C events!

• 2023 Ripken Experience
• 2023 Over 60 Fall Classic
• 2024 Winter Baseball Classic

Join us for a change of scenery … on the golf course on Monday, August 19^th for the B4C Golf Tournament at Winters Run Golf Club in Bel Air, MD. We are in the final stages of planning, and will announce the start time, and events of the day soon.

Baseball 4 Causes supports the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation via our annual B4C Baseball Ripken Experience event.  Proceeds from this event benefit the CRSF who helps transform kids lives in underserved communities.  Through their transformational at-risk youth programs and Youth Development Parks, multipurpose parks, CRSF creates safe opportunities for youth in need to develop valuable life skills, build character, connect positively with local law enforcement, and learn how to make productive choices for their future. By partnering with youth-serving organizations and schools across the country, they provide educational life skills curriculum for adult mentors to use to better engage and teach the children they serve. Baseball 4 Causes is proud to be one of their dedicated partners and generous donors to support these opportunities to impact millions of young lives every year. 

Home Runs For The Homeless is an annual home run derby to benefit Harford Family House held at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, MD.  Baseball 4 Causes helps staff and volunteers organization and run the event more efficiently, allowing them to focus more on their mission to help provide housing assistance; and to help increase fundraising for the event and an enhanced experience for participants and sponsors.

Harford Family House, Inc. assists families with children and unaccompanied adults achieve independency through housing, support, and resources dedicated to improving the financial stability and mental wellbeing of its clients experiencing homelessness. 

The Kutcher Foundation sponsors a fun annual home run team called the JHU Bomb Squad in the event that helps benefit the Transformation Guild mentoring program, Hopkins athletics, and Harford Family House.

The Louisville Slugger Warriors baseball team is nationally sponsored, and they travel around the US playing against various leagues and teams. They are a group of extremely competitive amputee baseball team that consists of U.S. Military Veterans, Active-Duty personnel, Wounded Warriors, and current and former amputee college baseball players.

We assist Delmarva Baseball Weekend in raising money and operating their annual fundraiser to benefit Tunnel to Towers. We do this by helping to promote events, increase awareness, and helping create an enhanced minor league stadium experience for all DBW participants. Delmarva Baseball Weekend is an adult baseball tournament held twice each year (Spring and Fall) at the home of The Delmarva Shorebirds (Low-A Affiliate of The Baltimore Orioles).

Baseball 4 Causes has established a Tony Giordano Memorial Fund in collaboration with Tony’s family. Donations to this fund will be used to establish and operate the Tony Giordano Legacy Project which will support initiatives Tony was very passionate about and will assist other causes important to the family. 

The link below will take you to the memory wall landing page for Tony where you can leave a memory and/or contribute to the fund.

Brent Toms was an avid baseball fan and a beloved Coach for the Sentinels baseball team at Evangelical Christian School in Fort Myers, Florida.

Starting in 2021, a graduating senior on the ECS baseball team will be given The Brent Toms Baseball Legacy Award. The winner will be someone who exhibits some of Brent’s values such as working hard and being committed to the game of baseball. It is not necessarily going to be the best player on the team; it will be the player who works to make their teammates better.

John Simpers exemplified service to his community through his leadership and support of the amateur baseball umpire associations he helped organize, lead, and sustain for nearly five decades. John’s service was instrumental in establishing a top tier high school umpiring program, including the recruiting, training, scheduling, and management for our county’s youth and the famed Susquehanna League.

Joshua Evan Hamer, born on April 2nd, 2001 in Denton, Texas, was a talented and joyful young man. With a passion for sports, particularly baseball, Joshua excelled academically and was loved by all. Tragically, on March 2, 2017, at the age of 15, he lost his life in a car accident on his way to school. To honor his memory, the Joshua Hamer Legacy Foundation was established in 2023 building upon the tremendous impact of the Joshua Hamer Memorial. This legacy scholarship program provides financial assistance to high school seniors in Cecil or Harford County, Maryland to attend college, regardless of gender. In its first year, the scholarship has already positively impacted 3 students, and the goal is to continue changing lives one student at a time.

Baseball 4 Causes has initiatives to benefit many different groups, and dozens more to come! So, your donations help us be on several positive fronts at once to make the most impact.

Our ultimate goal is to help impact millions of youths and 1000's of organizations by running 100's of programs throughout local communities across the nation.  We seek to make a difference through the great game of baseball and the tens of thousands of kind and generous players who come together in fellowship as they continue to play the game throughout their lives and look to give back to others in need.

To accelerate and launch our grand vision, B4C is aligned with a youth mentoring program within our parent organization to give transformative opportunities to young writers to use their talents to help make a positive impact while learning valuable communication skills.  Current projects include establishing web sites and actionable forms for all of our planned B4C events (see above); as well as upcoming hands-on resource initiatives including Gear 4 Kids (to assist inner city coaches) and Shocks 4 Jocks (our AED Awareness & AED Location Directory initiative).

Over time B4C will support many causes and many events. Donations made between October 1st and November 30th will help support our current projects.

Help us boost our donation for our current event's cause. At this time, proceeds from your $30 contribution will be pooled with the proceeds from the 60+ Fall Classic event to increase our donation to the Tony Giordano Memorial Fund!

A $50 donation will provide an impact on two fronts! First, it will boost the contribution made to our current event cause (Tony Giordano Memorial Fund) as described in the Cause Booster Sponsor. Second, the balance will help support young writers in our mentoring program to help them gain valuable real-world experience while they help us launch more B4C events to benefit even more causes.

Your $100 contribution will provide twice the impact of the Stand Up Double Sponsor.  This will benefit our current cause while also helping B4C support more events and causes as described above.

For larger donations, please contact our finance office at finance@dicorp.com and a member of our philanthropy management will will help you coordinate a customized giving program and facilitate your donation in a manner most convenient to you and targeted to your specific areas of desired support and impact.

We are always looking to expand the causes we support and to expand our network of volunteers making an impact in our baseball community. Please share your thoughts for events we could host or organizations or initiatives we could assist.

Former Baltimore Orioles Infielder and friend of Delmarva Baseball Weekend, Ryan Minor, recently passed away after a battle with colon cancer. Baseball 4 Causes would like to express sadness over Minor’s passing and send our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

You can read about Minor’s passing HERE.

Baseball 4 Causes was already in the process of establishing an advocacy awareness program for colorectal screenings in collaboration with Tony Giordano, and we will be honoring Ryan in this program when it is ready. Please keep his family in your prayers.

This site is powered by the Transformation Guild, a mentoring program for young writers operated by Technology 4 Causes.

Several baseball players in our community made this effort possible through their generous support of these students.

To learn more about the Technology 4 Causes mission and vision click here. 

John Kutcher has been playing in the HMBL and its predecessors for the past 28 years and is a member of the HMBL Hall of Fame.  He is passionate about helping organizations make a greater impact through donations of technology and bringing together people with a shared interest in baseball to enjoy the sport, enjoy the fellowship of each other, and help make a difference in many worthwhile causes.

He is the President & CEO of DICORP, Inc., a software technology company, Executive Director of The Kutcher Foundation, Inc. and President of Technology 4 Causes, Inc., which  operates and supports Baseball 4 Causes and its many programs.

Steve Murfin has been playing or coaching baseball for 60 years and has used baseball to provide many opportunities for inner-city and underprivileged youth to participate in the game.  For over two decades, Steve Murfin has been a head coach at Blake High School, showing his commitment to youth and the game.  27 high school players Steve has coached have gone on to play college baseball.  Steve and B4C also support the MLB Youth Foundation. Steve is also a partner in the JSB baseball organization which has brought hundreds of DC and MD adult baseball players together. Steve is actively involved in Baseball 4 Causes and will be part of baseball and golf operations management team.

Bryan Adkins, a lifelong resident of the Delmarva Peninsula, currently calls Delmar, Delaware, his home. He is happily married and cherishes his role as a parent to four children, as well as being a proud grandparent to six grandchildren. Since 2007, he has organized and ran an adult baseball event, Delmarva Baseball Weekend held at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, MD, home of the Delmarva Shorebirds, the Baltimore Orioles Class A minor league team. Bryan has been actively involved in organized baseball and modified pitch softball since 1961, participating in various notable events over the years. These include the Baltimore Orioles Fantasy Camp, Dream Week, JSB Baseball at Pirate City and Cooperstown, as well as the World Series of Fantasy Camps in Clearwater, FL.

Charlie Deale is the President of Charles E. Deale & Associates Inc. An independent Insurance Agency since 1986. He has 4 kids and 5 grandkids and has been involved in playing baseball since he was 5 years old. He still enjoys playing and coaching both youth and men’s teams today. 

Retired Sgt. Montgomery County, Md Police Dept., Retired President/CEO Montgomery Investigative and Security Services. Softball player in Montgomery Co Md for 35 yrs, then moved to Fla where I have been playing Softball for another 15 years. In 1997, started back with Baseball by going to Oriole Fantasy Camps, where i have been a participant for over 20 years.

JR Paterakis has been playing baseball for 58 years since he started little league at age 8. He played Oriole Fantasy Camp, JSB, and Senior Baseball leagues for 31 years. He is passionate about baseball and how it helped him develop socially with the fellowship and camaraderie associated with the game. He is committed and determined to give back to underprivileged children in low-income communities of Maryland and other charitable foundations for the mission, "Baseball4Causes". Bringing together coaches and mentors for the children, will encourage the legacy to give every child opportunity for the love of the game.  JR helps B4C with our annual B4C Baseball Ripken Experience and B4C Golf Bulle Rock Classic events, serving as our liaison with the Cal Ripken Youth Foundation and Bulle Rock golf course.

Larry Lombardi was one of the two original founders of DCMSBL in 1989 and has been the DCMSBL league president or commissioner for 35 years. Larry leads the pack in the category of longevity, aside from the original Long Island MSBL, which was founded by Steve Sigler, who is also the founder of MSBL National. Larry has been inducted into the MSBL National Hall of Fame in 1997 and was the recipient of the MSBL Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

With a bachelor’s degree in Parks and Recreation Administration from the University of Maryland, Larry has been organizing sports activities for years. Most recently, Larry retired as the Director of Economic Development for Currituck County, North Carolina. Previously, Larry worked for over 35 years in the high-tech networking hardware industry, being based in the D Metro area and working for several startups located in Silicon Valley.

Paul Smeton is a recently retired investment and financial planner of 30 years that is married with 2 children and loves playing baseball along with golf and tennis. He is passionate about helping other experience the game of baseball together, and helping to support and help those less fortunate in life with his generous contributions of time, expertise, and financial support.  Paul will be our program chairperson for the 60+ tournament series for Baseball 4 Causes.

Previously a full-time musician, Steve Freeman worked for the Baltimore Orioles from 1993 to 2020 in alumni affairs.

Tim Favazza serves as a Business Development Director for T4C and DICORP.  The use of DICORP technology platforms results in greater business evaluations by lowering projected labor and operational costs. 

Tim was a former college, minor league, and semi-pro player, who has continued playing the game of baseball throughout his life.  Tim was a long time member of the HMBL and still remains active in the JSB Alumni Baseball network that was established by Steve Murfin despite two shoulder replacements. 

Additionally, Tim founded and has operated a non-profit sports organization that is dedicated to providing female athletes with the opportunity to compete for scholarships in the sport of softball for the past 22 years.