Nutting, Pirates Charities help save baseball season in Wellsburg

It was windy and chilly at the Betty Carr Recreation Site in Wellsburg, W. Va., on Saturday morning. However, the atmosphere was festive, nonetheless, as the Pirate Parrot led a parade of approximately 60 youngsters into the facility for the Wellsburg Baseball and Softball Association’s Opening Day festivities.

As recently as a few weeks ago, the baseball season was very much in peril. A former official with the association was charged with embezzling money, and the funds needed to execute the 2025 season were gone.

The folks in this small town, located about an hour’s drive from Pittsburgh along the Ohio River, were raising money in hopes of preventing cancellation. A big assist in that regard came when Pirates chairman Bob Nutting -- who is originally from Wheeling, W. Va. -- saw news coverage of the unfortunate situation.

Nutting reached out to Justin Lendon of the Wellsburg Baseball and Softball Association and offered to help. The result was the donation of $15,000 via the Pirates Charities “Fields for Kids” program.

“For every negative thing that happens, you usually see good things -- multiple good things -- come of it, and that’s what happened here,” said Joe Pettini, president of the Wellsburg Little League. “The community came together, and the Pirates reached out and have helped tremendously. It gives you chills.

“What happened was a bad thing, but what came out of it was a good thing. We appreciate the help from all over -- and especially from the Pirates.”

The Pirates also aided the cause by donating equipment such as bases, bats, balls, infield conditioner, rakes, and other items.

“To have all these kids and this community geared up to play baseball, and then to have something unfortunate like that put their season at risk, this is the type of situation where Pirates Charities is built to step in and help,” Nutting said. “The real heroes of this story are all the people in Wellsburg. It’s a small town that rallied around their baseball teams and rallied around their kids. I’m so glad the Pirates and Pirates Charities were able to step in and help.”

In true Opening Day fashion, kids ranging in age from 4 to 12 got to run onto the field in their colorful uniforms as their names were announced by Pirates in-game host Joe Klimchak over the public address system. After the national anthem was played, the Pirate Parrot threw the ceremonial first pitch out to Pettini. In addition, a variety of baseball-related prizes were given away to the players -- a pitching machine, wiffle ball sets, batting gloves and sunglasses among them.

“I really believe that we have a responsibility to give back, and a responsibility to contribute to communities like Wellsburg,” said Nutting, who spent considerable time chatting with youngsters, coaches, parents and members of the media. “I grew up in Wheeling, 20 minutes down the river, so I know what these towns are like, and I know how important their baseball programs are. I’m proud that through Pirates Charities we were able to reach out and lend a hand.”

Youngsters from teams such as the Thunder Bats, River Monsters and Diamond Dogs seemed to have boundless energy as they ran around the field enjoying the atmosphere with game action soon to come.

“Three weeks ago, we literally had nothing. We had no money and no hope of anything, and we didn’t know what we were going to do,” said Nathan Marshall, who coaches a T-Ball team named the Bitty Battin’ Burritos. “But every day I was amazed by how much our community came together. Nobody was negative. Everybody said, ‘Let’s do this for the kids.’

“Of course, I want to thank Bob Nutting and Pirates Charities. He immediately gave us a call and said, ‘What can we do to help? You guys are our neighbors, and we want to help.’ He didn’t have to do that.

“Despite whatever obstacle gets thrown at us, let’s look at it as an opportunity as we did with this situation, and let’s continue to grow baseball and softball here in Wellsburg.”