Well he was wrong and is glad to be.

“We never envisioned this,” Bianco said. “We started four years ago (and) it was supposed to be a one-time baseball game and here we are three full years later with our fourth baseball game.”

Originally incorporating primarily Falconer athletes, the event has grown to areas throughout Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Warren (Pennsylvania) counties.

“We have a lot of kids from Falconer, because that’s where I teach, and those are the kids that I’m most familiar with,” Bianco said about the expansion of the program. “We have kids from Southwestern, Jamestown, Bemus Point, Cassadaga Valley, Warren, Randolph, and Chautauqua Lake schools. So what started four years ago with 13 kids from Falconer, expanded to 50-plus kids from six, seven different school districts and we’re always looking for more.”

Ethan Sturges rounds third as his buddy Chase Bianco tries to keep up. Times Observer Photo by Christian Storms

Putting together an event of this magnitude is quite a task, but Bianco and ESA has plenty of help to make it all work.

“Last night was a sleepless night. My wife will tell you that I was up at the crack of dawn thinking about if we have everything we need and if we’re prepared,” added Bianco. “We’ve got a great team of people that help us with these events and with their help everything went off without a hitch like it always does. We’re really grateful and appreciative of the community support. Without them, we couldn’t do any of it. We’re just really grateful.”

The event began with a stellar performance from Mackenzie Smith singing the national anthem.

“That’s my first time singing the national anthem here,” stated Smith. “I was a little nervous, but I hear God’s voice and I just sing right through it and I’m fine.”

After Smith’s sang anthem, the fun began for all of the athletes. Each player stepped up to the plate with their buddy and hit the ball off the tee before rounding the bases together for a home run.

The event gives the opportunity for the athletes to participate in a sport they might not get the chance to do. The game played out with both teams getting a turn to bat through the lineup twice with their buddy, giving everyone the chance to get two hits and score twice. With that opportunity, the athletes decided to have quite a bit of extra fun, from dancing at home plate to speeding around the bases with big smiles on their faces.

“I love playing baseball,” added Smith. “It’s my favorite sport ever. I love to have fun with my friends and I love doing ESA.”

There is no doubt that those in attendance appreciate what ESA does for its athletes, but the players are excited for the opportunity, too.

“I like playing baseball with Coach Bianco,” stated Chryssie Panteli. “He’s my favorite coach ever. He always cares about me and he always will be my friend.”

ESA receives so much community support for its program to provide a zero-cost event for the athletes participating, and Bianco looks to give back every year. Once again, through the raffle, money was raised for the Karen Cotten Memorial Scholarship. This year, the event was able to raise $1,500 for the fund.

“We get so much support from the community,” stated Bianco. “All of our events are free, so without their support we can’t do what we do. So since we get so much support, we felt it was our obligation to give back and that’s a big part of what our program is all about. To be able to raise $1,500 today for a former teacher and that scholarship is huge today. In the three basket raffles we’ve done, we’re over $10,000 that we’ve been able to donate to three different causes.”