Saturday, June 17th is the second annual Notre Dame High School/Thrive in Joy Nick Fagnano Foundation Baseball Extravaganza at the state-of-the-art Notre Dame High School baseball stadium in Sherman Oaks. The event, launched by the Thrive in Joy Nick Fagnano Foundation, in partnership with Notre Dame High School, celebrates baseball, friends and family—especially the bond between fathers and their children as it’s held on the Saturday of Father’s Day weekend.
The day starts off at 11:00 am with a two-hour Junior Players’ Skills Clinic (for players 7-13 years-old) facilitated by Notre Dame High School baseball coaches and led by head JV coach Brian Milone. After lunch, there’s a co-ed softball game for players 16-60+. The day concludes with a baseball game, open to all current and former varsity baseball players 18-60+, that will finish under the stadium lights.
Registration fee for Junior players includes an event T-shirt and lunch with dessert and beverage. Players will be grouped by skill level for pitching, hitting, running, fielding and mental strategy training. The registration fee for softball and baseball players includes a t-shirt and baseball cap, plus a barbecue dinner with all the sides, dessert and beverage. The 5 p.m. barbecue is open to players and spectators alike. Online registration is encouraged for all activities.
The Thrive in Joy Nick Fagnano Foundation was established in memory of Nick Fagnano (NDHS ’12), whose life was taken on Sunday afternoon, July 27, 2014, when a rare and unexpected lighting storm struck Venice Beach. Fagnano grew up in the Larchmont community and attended St. Brendan grade school for grades K-8, and then Notre Dame High School. His family is still part of our Larchmont Community.
Fagnano loved playing baseball from the age of four all the way through junior college. He was never more proud than when he wore the uniform of the Notre Dame Knights. According to Nick’s parents, Mary and Jay, when Nick was 13 years old, he organized a baseball equipment drive for children in the Dominican Republic after seeing a TV documentary about how much Dominicans love baseball, even though children there play the game with rocks for balls and sticks for bats. Nick succeeded in sending more than 200 pounds of baseball gear to the DR.
After Nick’s passing, Mary and Jay felt drawn to the Dominican Republic. Following their first trip, they established the Thrive in Joy Nick Fagnano Foundation to support vulnerable children at Tia Tatiana School and the Remar Orphanage—both Vision Trust programs in Santo Domingo. Mary and Jay now make two trips a year to the DR and invite others to join them. This past March, nine students from USC’s Caruso Catholic Center accompanied Mary and Jay to the DR on their alternative spring break.
The Foundation also supports the Los Angeles Chapter of the Jefferson Awards Students in Action Community Service Program, the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy Nick Fagnano Memorial Endowment, the Notre Dame High School Senior Baseball Player Award for Outstanding Character, and the St. Brendan Grade School Graduation Award for Outstanding Character. All causes align with the foundation’s mission of encouraging and rewarding character through education and recreation.
All proceeds from the Baseball Extravaganza will benefit the ongoing work in the Dominican Republic by the Thrive in Joy Nick Fagnano Foundation. The Thrive in Joy Nick Fagnano Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) Federal Tax ID # 47-2931858.
Thank you for this beautiful article, Patricia! We hope to see many familiar as well as new faces at the Baseball Extravaganza this Saturday. Online registration is extended through Friday at 8:00 pm but player slots are filling fast so we suggest signing up ASAP. Onsite registration is also an option but we can’t guarantee if slots will be available on Saturday.