FROM STAFF REPORTS

PELHAM— When Pelham High School’s baseball players took the field March 19, they were playing for more than victory. Decked out in teal socks, hats and belts, the athletes were aiming to strike out cancer.

The Field of Teal baseball tournament has become an annual event at Pelham High School since Coach Sean Anderson’s wife, Tammy, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Former coach and friend of the Anderson family Coach Jeff Mauldin, who currently coaches the Hewitt-Trussville team, first came up with the idea for the Field of Teal as a way to bring awareness to the deadly disease.

About one in 73 women will face ovarian cancer in their lifetime and an estimated 14,000 women die per year of the disease.

While Field of Teal is meant to bring awareness to ovarian cancer, it was also created to encourage those who are fighting GYN cancers and to remember those who’ve lost their battle.

Parents of Laura Crandall Brown, the founders of The Laura Crandall Brown Ovarian Cancer Foundation, were present to watch the games, and they threw the first pitch for the second game.

The foundation’s website states, “The mission of The Laura Crandall Brown Foundation is threefold: Offering hope through early detection of ovarian cancer, empowering communities through gynecologic cancer awareness and enriching lives through support. By focusing on early detection, we have the chance to fight it, to beat it, to live!”

Tammy Anderson and Joni Hawkins, who’ve won their individual battles against GYN cancers, were also at the games to celebrate, support and encourage.

For more information about ovarian cancer, visit Thinkoflaura.org.