Norwalk baseball to honor Ford, host fundraiser for local boy

NORWALK — Each year, the Norwalk High School baseball program holds a fundraiser for a person or group that could use some financial assistance. Every year has been special to longtime head coach Wes Douglas. But this Saturday will certainly carry more weight than usual. In a year the program is celebrating its 50th season, the Truckers will also honor the late Scott Ford, the longtime Norwalk Middle School teacher and Lefty Grove Baseball League commissioner who died in September 2019. The program will also team up on a fundraiser for a local boy, Myles Hernandez, a 15-month old with various ongoing health issues. And, on the diamond, the matchup is also a pretty good one between the Truckers (11-7) and visiting Edison (9-6). The two teams will play a doubleheader, beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday at Norwalk High School. "We have done fundraisers for ALS, Coats for Kids, the Honor Trip to Washington D.C. for veterans and a few others," Douglas said. "I try and organize the events, but our parents do the majority of the work. "We try and relay the message to our players of the importance of doing anything you can, large or small, to help our community." Douglas said several of his players are active in the Teen Leadership Corps at NHS and approached him about directing the fundraising efforts towards the Hernandez family. "His siblings have been or still are students in our district," Douglas said. "There will be raffles, 50/50 tickets and wristbands available for purchase with 100 percent of the profit going to the Hernandez family." Hernandez was born prematurely and had to spend several weeks in the NICU after doctors located several holes in his heart that required open heart surgery shortly after his birth. It was also discovered after Myles was born that he had Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) — the most common genetic condition caused by an extra chromosome. When Myles was five months, he had three surgeries in five days after he began to go into heart failure. The family was then told he would need another open-heart surgery when he got bigger. But yet another recent routine check-up with the cardiologist showed the surgery was going to need to happen sooner. Myles — who also has a tube to help get enough nutrients to gain weight — is currently undergoing more tests to determine when the surgery will happen. He will also undergo a bone marrow biopsy sometime in May. While the fundraiser for Hernandez will be ongoing throughout the day, the baseball program will recognize Ford between games. Douglas said they had planned on honoring him last season, but it was canceled like most everything else after March 2020 when the pandemic shut things down. Current Lefty Grove baseball players and their families are invited to stop by in Ford's honor. Players from the summer baseball league will be able to run the bases on the NHS field between games if they choose. "We hope the Lefty Grove players will enjoy being on our field, running the bases, interacting with our varsity players and listen to the words spoken about Scott Ford the man," Douglas said. Ford, who was the Lefty Grove commissioner for 33 years from 1987 until his death at age 71 on Sept. 23, 2019, will also be recognized in a short ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Debbie Seaman, Scott's best friend and love his life for 43 years as his biggest supporter, will attend the ceremony. "There will not be one person from Norwalk there that has not been touched in some way by Mr. Ford — 'that handsome devil'," Douglas said of Ford, and his favorite catchphrase toward many. "I had many interactions with Scott, from teaching in his building to setting up clinics and umpires for Lefty Grove. "I always left feeling better about myself after spending time with him, which was a true gift he had," Douglas added. "I thought what better way to honor him than by giving back to someone in our community. We look forward to a tremendous day of baseball, fun, giving and celebrating the life of Mr. Scott Ford." Myles May Madness event The fundraiser at the baseball games is just the beginning of an eventful day for the Hernandez family. From 6:30-to-10:30 p.m. Saturday, another fundraiser will be held at Contractors Stadium at the Warren Whitney Athletic Complex. Again led by the NHS Teen Leadership Corps, the event is a chance for the Norwalk student body to get together and have some fun while raising money for the Myles Hernandez family, according to NHS TLC teacher Nick Lee. There will be cornhole boards along with other yard games, along with laser tag, dodgeball, 9 square, 4 square, wiffle ball, board games and food and music. "Students have missed out on a lot this year," Lee said. "Things like spirit relays, homecoming dances, student body pep assemblies. This is a chance to get together outside on a nice evening and play some games at the field for a good cause, and hopefully a good time will be had by all."