Head baseball coach Coach Allen and the Tiger baseball team hosted the first signing of DePauw’s baseball class this year. The first to sign was four-year-old Charlie Lane on Nov. 20.
Charlie is a part of the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, a nonprofit organization that improves quality of life for kids battling brain tumors and other forms of cancer.
To support Charlie’s signing, the baseball team, former head football coach Bill Lynch, vice president Alan Hill, Tiger cheerleaders, and members of the softball, football and women’s soccer team showed up and cheered him on.
At the signing, Charlie was the life of the party. The Lane family arrived at 5:00 p.m. to a packed Lily Center. Charlie burst onto the scene with enthusiasm and livelihood. He jumped around the lobby, played with Tyler the Tiger, ate some cake and even rang the Monon Bell.
Junior baseball player Charlie Patrick said, “As a team, I felt that it was great to be able to give [the family] that opportunity and seeing Charlie so full of life after everything he’s been through was priceless.”
Patrick added, “It was a great experience for us because he loves sports, and Coach Allen figured it would be a great idea to bring him and his family out to give them something they wouldn’t forget.”
Before he signed, senior Brayden White gave Charlie a personalized DePauw baseball jersey, and Coach Allen gave him a DePauw baseball and banner, both signed by the baseball team.
Jonathon Nichols-Pethick, director of the Eugene S. Pulliam Center For Contemporary Media, was present along with first year Media Fellow students who recorded the event and covered it from start to finish.
He said, “I was happy to see the level of enthusiasm from the students and the staff for this event. It shows what kind of institution we are and what our values are.”