My apologies to LH baseball dad John Curtis, who sent us this update quite a few days ago about the special “Sadie’s Night” promotion at The Cat, the LHHS baseball field. Sadie was born with a birth defect, and the team and crowd rallied around her to draw attention to the Craniofacial Association and raise funds for the group. More than $1,200 was raised at the event from the standing-room-only crowd. Here’s John’s report, which sat in my cluttered email box quite a few days longer than necessary (note that Carol posted a brief update on the team’s season and Sadie’ Night, too:

Sadie’s Night at The Cat

Lake Highlands HS Varsity Baseball recently hosted Jesuit in a matchup of two undefeated teams in district 9-5A. That particular evening at The Cat (LH name for their home baseball field) happened to be a very special night. It was “Sadie’s Night” in honor of a precious little 3 yr. old with Pfeiffer Syndrome.

To a standing room only crowd, little Sadie Bono threw out the first pitch! The evening was designed to raise awareness and money on behalf of Sadie for the Children’s Craniofacial Association. Sadie was born with the genetic skull disorder effecting approximately 1 in 100,000 births.

Proudly with Sadie that night were her parents Justin & Debbie Bono, her big sister Molly and loving Grandmother. A host of the LH community family & friends, including Sadie’s & Molly’s teachers were there. LH warmly welcomed many new friends from the Children’s Craniofacial Association as well.

By the end of the game, over $1200.00 had been raised for the Children’s Craniofacial Association. From a percent of the LH Baseball concession sales, Cash donations and the selling of handmade baseball bracelets, the funds kept coming during Sadie’s Night!

Each year, more than 100,000 children are either born with or develop a craniofacial condition. Parents continue to cope with the emotional & physical aspects of having a child with a craniofacial anomaly and the social alienation of appearing different. CCA was founded to help them and today provides the support these children need to lead positive, productive lives.

Yes, a very magical evening took place at The Cat. One might even say more happened off the field than on the baseball field. For one very special little girl provided two great schools along with the Lake Highlands & Jesuit communities an evening filled with open hearts, giving and endless smiles for all in attendance.

This was truly, Sadie’s Night at the Cat!

(Lake Highlands Varsity Baseball gave up the lead & game in the 7th inning)

Richardson ISD’s Bob Dubey has been named Athletics Director of the Year by the National Foundation of Football’s Gridiron Club of Dallas. The announcement was made today and the award will be presented at a banquet April 16th.

Dubey graduated from Richardson High and has worked in the RISD for 35 years, first as defensive coordinator at his RHS alma mater, then as head coach for the Berkner Rams. He earned the Meadows Foundation Award and the Texas Excellence Award for outstanding high school teachers, and he was RISD Health Teacher of the Year three times. He was named Dallas Cowboys High School Coach of the Week, District Coach of the Year, and Metroplex Coach of the Year, and he currently serves as president of the Texas High School Athletic Directors Association.

Also at the banquet, Highland Park’s Frank Bevers will receive the Legends Award, Michael Cooper will be named Official of the Year, Hal Wasson and Tim Wasson will receive Coach of the Year honors for big schools (Southlake Carroll), and Seth Stinton and Joe Williams will be named Coach of the Year for small schools (Melissa).

Dubey will be joined by Wildcat senior Will Moomaw, earning recognition as one of 58 North Texas scholar-athletes. Congratulations Will and Mr. Dubey!

Wildcat baseball plays Sunset tonight at Reverchon Park near downtown Dallas in their second half push to make the playoffs. The team is 7-2 in district play and they’re hoping to build excitement for the big Saturday game against Berkner at 1pm.

Players are still riding a high from Sadie’s Night two weeks ago, when 3-year-old Sadie Bono stole the hearts of the team throwing out the first pitch. Sadie has Pfeiffer Syndrome, and she helped the team raise $1,200 for the Children’s Craniofacial Association. In addition to parents, Justin and Debbie, and sister, Molly, many of Sadie’s teachers and friends came to the game to cheer her (and the Cats) on.

Tonight’s varsity game begins at 7 pm, and you can follow Coach Tucker’s blog here. You can find a full schedule here. Go Cats!

Marcus Grunewald directing the 2011 White Rock Marathon

The Dallas White Rock Marathon board of directors last week announced a noteworthy organizational change, promoting its race director to executive director and outsourcing the management of race logistics to a firm called Event Southwest.

In his new role, Grunewald, a White Rock area resident, will supervise all administrative aspects of the event, a spokesperson says, “including, but not limited to, race staff, event hospitality, elite runner activities, promotional and advertising materials, website and database management and coordination of the Health & Fitness Expo.”

Says marathon board of directors chair Kevin Snyder, “Marcus Grunewald has been instrumental to our race’s success for many years. He possesses an unparalleled passion, knowledge and appreciation for the Dallas running community; we’re very pleased to expand Marcus’ role with our race, and are excited for what his leadership as executive director will bring to this marathon’s future.”

Event Southwest is owned and operated by former Racing Systems (Run On!) race director, Lear Johnson, and Michael Luchsinger, owner of Apple Event Services. They will manage race-course planning, measuring and sanctioning and race-day operations

“As this marathon continues to grow and grow, I can’t think of anyone more apt to oversee race operations than Johnson and Luchsinger,” Grunewald says. “The changes our organization is making today will be evident in the enhanced runner experience come December.”

This could be a step in the direction of making the White Rock Marathon more economically impactful, both for the city of Dallas and for the charity it benefits, Scottish Rite.

Visit runtherock.com for more information. Registration begins in June and the marathon is Dec. 9.

Reagan Dunk, Murphy Short and Mason Miller, seniors at Lake Highlands High School, led their club soccer team to the Under-19 championship last night at Dallas Cup as Solar Chelsea defeated Arsenal FC 3 to 1. The boys are long-time Solar teammates.

The match was played to a large crowd at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco in the final day of the international youth soccer tournament. Solar was the only Dallas-area team to make it to finals.

Murphy and Mason, shown on the far left in the photo being interviewed for television news, and Reagan, not shown, will play on separate teams in the fall when they head off to college. Mason will suit up for the University of Central Florida, Murphy will become an SMU Mustang and Reagan will play for the University of Denver.

Congrats, guys!

Lake Highlands High School senior Will Moomaw has been named to an elite list of local scholar-athletes by the National Football Foundation’s Gridiron Club of Dallas. Will is one of 58 students from schools around North Texas who’ll be honored at the club’s fourth annual awards banquet April 16th at the Marriott Quorum in Addison.

“These players represent everything good in football,” said Gerald Brence, president of the Gridiron Club and athletics director for Plano ISD, “and they serve as a tremendous example about what it means to bring the same competitive spirit to academics that we teach them to use on the field.”

Gil Brandt, longtime Dallas Cowboys personnel director, will receive the Distinguished Texan Award at the banquet and Scott Murray, local sportscaster, will serve as emcee. More than 700 people are expected to attend.

Will is an AP Scholar and National Honor Society member ranked 11th in his class. He’s active on campus, dancing as a Wrangler in addition to playing center on the Wildcat football team. He’s earned the Lechner Fellowship and the Nelson Scholarship for Texas A&M petroleum engineer majors, and he just learned he’s been awarded a scholarship from the Dallas A&M Club.

Will is the only scholar-athlete from Richardson ISD on this list year’s list, but Wildcat fans may recall that Scott Hanks was honored by the group in 2011 and Ricky Zorn was their national winner in 2010.

The selection committee included coaches, teachers, administrators and business leaders from the North Texas area. Will and his fellow honorees were chosen based on athletic accomplishments, performance in the classroom and commitment to the community. At the banquet, one student will be named the club’s top scholar-athlete and receive a $2,500 college scholarship.

Congratulations and good luck, Will!

Will Morgan’s shy smile and polite, soft-spoken commentary belies his near-celebrity status. Since learning in 2009 that he had Ewing’s sarcoma, a form of bone cancer … he has received an outpouring of support from the Lake Highlands neighborhood, mom Renee Long says.

“We really want to thank the community. When Will was diagnosed, we asked for prayers … when I started seeing all the people rallying around us, I knew that Christ was at work and that we could use this to share his message.” (more from our fall 2010 story.)

A run/walk to help Will and other young patients is planned for Saturday, April 14 at Bachman Lake. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. off the NW Highway entrance. Race begins at 9:30. Cost is just $10 and free for kids under 16. Not up for a run? You can also donate here at the Will to Win team page.

The British referees staying in Lake Highlands during Dallas Cup had the morning off today, so they visited schoolchildren at Vaughan Elementary in Allen ISD where Sandy Cocek teaches. For years, Sandy has been a “homestay” – their term for the LH families who welcome referees-in-training into their homes and hearts during the international youth soccer tournament.

Bright as copper pennies, the first graders listened intently then pelted their guests with questions.

“When you play soccer, can you use your hands?”

Only if you’re the goalie, Alasdair King from Scotland told her.

“Do you ever have to give red cards?”

Only when the players are naughty, said James Welsh from Salisbury.

“Have you ever reffed for FC Barcelona?”

Okay, that kid was a ringer. Big Ben, as the refs called him after that, demonstrated his extensive knowledge of English football despite the fact that he wore a Dirk Nowitzski basketball jersey to school. Oh, and – little known fact: Big Ben is the name for the bell, not the clock, on London’s famous tower, they told the kids.

“Why do you carry that chart?”

To keep track of players, substitutions and penalties, explained Craig Dean (the kids were fascinated that he kept his pencil in his sock). Craig and Alasdair are the guests of LH’s John and Leigh Ann Hicks.

Oliver Bickle and Adam Dean blew their referee whistles indoors (the children squealed with delight), and Lucy and James, bunking in my home, played a game involving red and yellow penalty cards. Alan Bennett and Mark Chalkley, staying with Rick and Terri Hawkins, taught their charges a song about the Grand Old Duke of York which involved learning a bit of history and moving about in their chairs.

“They were very interested and showed a surprising knowledge of the game,” Alasdair told me. “Lots have played on teams, and it helped that Jenny Hare [the teacher] had used red and yellow cards to control her classroom.”

A few kids, including one wearing a Drew Brees jersey, asked about the difference between soccer and American football.

“And do you PLAY soccer?”

I tried, said Craig with a laugh. That’s why I ref.

I prefer to be the boss, admitted Alasdair.

It’s already getting a little warm for running around the lake, so consider getting in the lake.

The White Rock Boat Club and Mariner Sails this Saturday are co-hosting a Big Hobie Kayak Demo Day from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at White Rock Lake.

Mike Stovall with Mariner Sails tells us that Hobie Factory reps will have tons of kayaks (paddle-only kayaks, Hobie Mirage Foot Drive kayaks and single and tandem sailing kayaks…) ready to ride the White Rock waves. (If it’s as windy as it was the day I tried it, that will be the case.)

Interested in fishing from a kayak? The Hobie Pro Fishing Team will be out to give pointers (and to try to sell you a fully equipped tournament fishing Hobie Pro Angler, no doubt). The kayak showcase is free and open to all. Learn more at Mariner Sails.