Play Ball! Philly Schools Get Donations of Baseball Equipment

By Mike DeNardo

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- More than 50 Philadelphia school baseball and softball teams now have new equipment, thanks to the kindness of a nonprofit organization based in Harleysville (Montgomery County), Pa.

Coaches from 50 district and charter schools lined up at school headquarters on North Broad Street today to pick up their baseball equipment.

Dave Davis, a board member at the nonprofit Pitch In For Baseball, says the organization collected the equipment that had been donated by communities and corporations.

"Bats, balls, uniforms, gloves, cleats, socks, helmets, catching gear -- which is at a premium, obviously -- masks, shin guards, chest protectors, balls -- everything," he tells KYW Newsradio.

Wade King, baseball coach at Bartram High School, says his team appreciates the gesture.

"Our guys just feel very, very proud that they're going to be getting some good stuff to play with," King says. "It's going to help them, help their spirits, and hopefully help the team."

Without the donation, King says, his team would have to make do with older equipment.