Murphy Cash prizes will be awarded to the contestants with the most dingers during the Home Run Derby for Peyton Mixon at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 1, at Konehete Veterans Park.
Much more riveting than the where and when of it, however, is the who and why of it. The event was conceived by 11-year-old Mason Lovingood in order to cheer up his best friend, 10-year-old Ralston Hogsed.
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Mason is the kind of best friend parents want their children to have. He and Ralston enjoy hunting and fishing together, but they absolutely love playing T-ball.
They have played together since they were 4 years old. Now fifth-graders at Murphy Elementary School, the boys are preparing to enter ages 12 and under baseball.
When Ralston’s first cousin, Peyton Claire Mixon, was born with GM1 Gangliosidosis – a rare, incurable disease – it understandably hit Ralston hard, too.
Mason noticed. That’s what friends do.
“I’d seen that Ralston was getting really sad that he just had a lot going on, and that she (his dad’s sister’s daughter, Peyton) was sick,” Mason said. “I thought I needed to do something about it, so I came up with the idea of a home run derby.”
Mason ran the idea by his parents, who enthusiastically support the idea. Ralston jumped on board and is helping Mason organize and plan the event.
Another child may have given a sad friend a bag of Skittles. That’s not how Mason rolls, however.
Helping on derby day
Mason took the Major League Baseball concept of its annual Home Run Derby and shrunk it down to an all-ages, Murphy-size day in the park that will raise funds for Mixon’s family.
Mason and Ralston have enlisted many grownups to help on derby day.
Kaylon Hicks secured food donations from Yogi’s Neighborhood Grill and Julie’s Place for the concession stand. Joseph Watson and Nikol Watson with Murphy Middle and Murphy High school athletics, respectively, also offered to help.
“Everyone else,” Mason said,”can help by donating money and praying.”
In order to attract the hundreds of participants he expects, Mason is working his connections, including Payton McCracken (whose name is spelled with an “a” because his father, an Alabama fan, didn’t want his son named after Peyton Manning).
Anyway, McCracken was a senior and a baseball player at Murphy High when the boys played 8U baseball.
“They thought he was very cool,” said Mason’s mother, Savannah Hardin, “then he went to Western Carolina University and played a year of football, and they would go watch his games. Now he preaches, and the boys really look up to him.”
McCracken will lead the prayer and work wherever he is needed at the derby. In the meantime, he’s encouraging other athletes in the area to attend, including former baseball players from Murphy High.
Of all of their peer volunteers, Mason and Ralston assigned friends Quinn Campana and Trevor Green with the most responsibility. Murphy Elementary School second-grade volunteers include Carson Lovingood, Hadley Hogsed, Miles Wood, Stella Campana and Kenzley Green.
Hardin said when the boys approached her with this idea, she described how much hard work it would entail, and the boys agreed to be the ones doing the work.
“They never hesitated and jumped in from the very beginning, putting in the hours to make this derby a success. Both of the boys live and breathe baseball and I am so proud that they are using their love of the sport to help this precious family. They love Peyton and her family, and are looking forward to supporting them,” Hardin said.
“We’re incredibly proud of Ralston and Mason,” said Ralston’s father and stepmother, Garrin and Jenna Hogsed.
“They are handling every detail with minimal parental help, we really want them to own this as their own. It’s inspiring to see them use their talents and connections in this fundraiser to support Peyton. Their dedication to both baseball and helping others is teaching them valuable leadership skills to use on and off the field. We can’t wait to see them grow through this meaningful cause this year and for years to come.”
“This whole community, even surrounding counties, has been so good to us, but when these little boys came up with this, I was just speechless and cried like a baby. I’ll be at the derby giving it my best to hit one out of the park, or maybe just swing at one for them,” Cindy Chastain said.
Chastain is uniquely positioned as the grandmother of both Ralston and Peyton.
Baseball the great equalizer
“Baseball brings everyone together because you don’t have to have a certain size or stature. Those kinds of things can be minimized, unlike in any other sport where those things can be a very big factor in your play style.
“Baseball doesn’t discriminate against anybody. It’s for each and every person,” McCracken said.
That’s one reasons McCracken thinks the Home Run Derby will succeed. The other reason involves a pair of best friends who appear to be unstoppable in their mission to help others.
“Ralston and Mason hold a special place in my heart. They’re two great kids. They were some of my biggest fans and I love that.
“I don’t know any young kids that are putting on something like this for just the care in their heart. If the world could be a little bit more like them, about caring for others, we’d be in a better place,” McCracken said.
Details: Enroll at the event page at facebook.com/share/19t3rTTm7n. “Peyton’s home run Derby for Peyton Mixon” T-shirts (made by Brittany Davis) are available to preregistered contestants. Preregistration is $20, while derby day registration is $25. First place is $300, second place is $200 and third place is $100.