Ward Melville Patriots rally around one of their own
It was a game that transcended the scoreboard when the Patriots of Ward Melville hosted a Strike Out Cancer awareness and fundraiser softball game against Central Islip May 25 where the focus was on one of their own. Senior catcher Jordi Montuori’s mom Leigh-Anne, who has been battling breast cancer since last year, watched the game that was a fitting tribute of the support the softball community had for one of its family members.
Coach Joseph Burger sensed there was something amiss with his starting catcher and upon learning what she was enduring, decided to do something about it.
“I talked to Jordi during the winter workouts and wanted her thoughts on the idea and to see how her mom felt about it,” Burger said. “I wanted to make sure that Mom was comfortable because it’s so sensitive but Mom gave the green light [so I put the plan in motion].”
Between the pink Strike Out Cancer T-shirts, the balloons, the signs and the decorations her team put together, along with the nice weather, it made it a day of carefree softball.
Undergoing treatment last spring at the height of the pandemic, Leigh-Anne Montuori learned about the event in bits and pieces.
“I was scheduling my third surgery in April, and I found out that at first Jordi chose not to say anything to her teammates but [when] the coach [learned about it he] just ran with it and slowly Jordi revealed details of the game [he] was planning,” Montuori said, adding she was happy about it, and it helped her get through the tough time.
Jordi Montuori said she was touched with the outpouring of support her team and the softball community displayed.
“My dad’s mom died from breast cancer and so did my aunt’s mom, so it’s for all the moms,” the senior said. “You see all the balloons that the parents spent their own money on, the cups in the outfield fence, they did that for me and my mom so they always have my back.”
Coach Burger said the girl’s raised nearly $1,000 to be donated to breast cancer research.
Pictured clockwise from upper left, Ward Melville senior Jordi Montuori with her mom Leigh-Anne at a Strike Out Cancer fundraiser May 25; Patriots eighth-grader Sara Kropp throws the runner out at second base; and Leigh-Anne-Montuori throws out the honorary first pitch.
