Battle Ball XI Battle for Bennie is held

Rejects Adult Champs, above, and junior champs Wakulla Youth Baseball, below.


By LINDA ANN McDONALD Correspondent

Battle14 hosted the Battleball XI event at the Wakulla County Recreational Park on Friday, Oct. 27 to raise funds for a child named Bennie Mott, who has been diagnosed with Medulloblastoma.
Medulloblastoma is a type of brain tumor that primarily affects children. It originates in the cerebellum, which is responsible for coordination and balance. Treatment typically involves surgery to remove the tumor, followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy to target any remaining cancer cells. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential for the best outcomes.
 Donny Bennett along with his best friend and co-founder Pete Sands, who both shared dark times and through salvation found Christ, created the nonprofit organization to B.A.T.T.L.E.- Believe, Accept, Testify, Together, Love, and Encourage.
Battleball XI is the first event Sands could physically attend and he said, “I am very excited to see what a vision was years ago come into fruition. Anytime you are helping a cause, the people affected, the positive that comes from helping, it is great to see all the encouragement and to be able to plant the Word of God as seeds to those who attend the event.”
Wayne Baker, who was explaining the rules of the game to the umpires of the event said, “This has been a great event since the first Battleball. Battle14 came up with a fundraiser that would bring the community together to help families as well as play a competitive, yet safe game of ball. We want to encourage the families being loved on and to keep battling.” Baker also said, “We want to keep the fun entertaining and family friendly. After each competition, we meet together to tweak the good and the bad so we can make it more fun and more competitive.”
The event sold out all fields at the Wakulla County Rec Park as well as all nine adult teams and six junior teams with 10 people on each team.
Being a family friendly event, Bennett announced at the game’s introduction, “There is no smoking, no drinking and no vulgarity, there is now a deputy assigned here to enforce this, we come here for a faith-based event, and we will keep it that way.”
Bennett, founder of Battle 14 said, “It is really special to do a fundraiser for a young kid who does not know anything about the fundraiser – all he sees and all he knows is there is a big group of people who came out who love him and want to help him.”
Boston butts and barbecue pork plates served through a drive-thru fashion in the rec park’s parking lot as well as a chance to win a shotgun was provided by Blackwater Septic’s Casey Miller and his family and friends, along with cakes, raffles and different opportunities to raise funds was provided by many different Wakulla community members to help raise funds for the Mott family.
Prior to the start of Battleball XI, the event was prayed over by Brother Kyle Johnson and the National Anthem was performed by River of Life’s church praise team member Jessica Sheffield.
DJ Butch volunteered to bring his DJ services and music by playing Christian based music throughout the event.
Brooklyn Mott, Bennie’s mother said, “This is amazing, there are no words, it is so humbling coming to an event with true testimony, with the perfect timing and grace of God for our family. With the obstacles on top of the cancer, everything has lined up so perfectly it is amazing, God is good, all the time.”
Battleball XI adult winners are the Rejects team with American Threads as runners up along with Wakulla Youth Baseball as the Jr Division champs with Coastal 28 as the runners up.
Anyone interested in Battleball, or interested in donating or becoming monthly partners can contact Donny Bennett at battle14all@gmail.com or call (850) 528-5019.