First things first, Sacrifice Present #12, courtesy of Axis Bats, goes to Maria Belliard. Maria, along with close to 100 responders (some very enthusiastic ones as well) correctly identified the Hopkins Family as the Rhode Island Baseball Family. Congrats Maria.

Huge thank you to the nearly 1,500 responses to this holiday Rhode Island Baseball trivia contest and Axis Bats giveaway over the past 12 days. The contest averaged about 100 responders a day, 99% correct answers, and the random winners were selected by an independent advisor, who would give me a number between 1 and 100 every night around 10pm when I returned home from work. Thanks Rachel for helping out.

To recap a bit, here are the 12 Lucky Winners of the 12 Sacrifice Presents courtesy of Axis Bats, along with the answer to the daily trivia question:

• Name this Rhode Island Baseball Coach – Frank Holbrook. Winner – Adryan Urena
• Name this Rhode Island Baseball Player – Tommy Turner. Winner – Jackie Grinnell
• Name this Rhode Island Baseball Field – Warwick North Little League’s “The Pit.” Winner – Jessica Hunt
• Name this Rhode Island Baseball Super Volunteer – Richard Hemphill. Winner – Tracey Colucci
• Name this Rhode Island Baseball Organization – Pawtucket Slaterettes. Winner – Meghan Robinson
• Name the two Rhode Island Baseball Pell Bridge Series Teams – Newport Gulls, Ocean State Waves. Winner – Paul Rioles
• Name this Rhode Island Baseball Indoor Facility – Rhode Island Baseball Institute. Winner – Jason Peters
• Name this Rhode Island Baseball Coach – Kayla Baptista. Winner – Denise Oliveira
• Name this Rhode Island Baseball Little League – Cranston Western Little League. Winner – Ed McConnell
• Name this Rhode Island Baseball Player – Shaun Gamelin. Winner – Chris Charette
• Name this Rhode Island Baseball Field – McCarthy Field. Winner – Danielle Davis
• Name this Rhode Island Baseball Family – The Hopkins. Winner – Maria Belliard

Some of the responses each day came not only with the trivia contest answer, but also a personal note about the person, place, coach, event, or volunteer. Here were some of those responses that stood out to me this week and thank you to everyone who added a personal note to their answer.

“The great Frank Holbrook!”

“Tommy Turner. We know him well! He’s a great player and an even better kid!“

“The Pit!!! Best field in RI and my son’s 2nd home growing up & the 2016 New England Champions!“

“The answer is the great Richard Hemphill! One of the best community volunteers period. We all should try to follow his lead.“

“The Pawtucket Slaterettes. I’m a coach for the league great organization and fantastic people to be around.“

“The Ocean State Waves who play at Old Mountain, and the Newport Gulls who play at Cardines!“

“Rhode Island Baseball Institute (RIBI). Played for John Mello my 13 & 14 years on Bandits! Great development from little league field to large field!”

“Kayla Baptista- one of the best people around“

“CWLL- Cranston Western Little League! That’s my Cherokee in that picture from the 2019 season when my son Nate was on that team!“

“Must be Shaun Gamelin! Played with my son at SK. Great player and a great person and teammate!!“

“Jack McCarthy Stadium Renovated for the RI Tiger Sharks Independent League“

“Hopkins! Matt is also a great softball coach – he coaches my daughter who is on his team, Hops Fastpitch 12u. Matt’s wife Becky is currently running the team’s offseason training and conditioning this winter. Note: The pitching program at HOPs is top notch.“

For those of you who knew the answer and the back story of the Rhode Island Baseball Field or Player or Coach or Volunteer or Organization, great. For those of you just learning about Frank Holbrook or Richard Hemphill or Kayla Baptista or the Pawtucket Slaterettes or Shaun Gamelin, I hope you take the time to read more about them and understand why these and so many others are so important to the Rhode Island Baseball Community. You can click on the highlighted responses above to go to the Sacrifice Present Trivia Post from each day of the 12 Sacrifice Present articles. From hosting state and regional tournaments, to creating opportunities for youth baseball players, to coaching and mentoring the next generation of Rhode Island Baseball superstars, this group of individuals and organizations are doing incredible things every single day to make others better. Thank you so much to all of you for what you do for the Rhode Island Baseball Community.

And huge thanks to Lou Ledoux of Axis Bats for your generosity this holiday season in the 12 Sacrifice Presents for 12 Lucky Winners Giveaway. If you are a lucky winner, make sure you connect with Lou on your present. If you would like to learn more about Axis Bats for yourself, a family member, your team, your league – connect with Lou today!!! You can reach Lou at lou@axisbats.com via email. His website is www.axisbats.com.