COLUMN: Striking out cancer is a long at-bat

Whether it's local, regional, national or global, the mission to spread awareness of cancer and raise funds to further research for a cure to cancer, remains a constant one.

Locally, the Dexter High School boys tennis team recently held the Fifth annual Courts for Cancer Event this past Saturday. Jackson's Trent Schorey took second place in the first flight of the singles tournament, while fellow Indian Jeremy Essner placed third in both flights.

More importantly, the event raised a total of $2,200, which was divided up by thirds to go to the Friends of Kids with Cancer (affiliated with Children’s Hospital in St. Louis), 18ForeLife (a Stoddard County cancer charity), and to a student or educator from one of the participating schools currently in a bout with cancer.

Major League Baseball, which opens the 2023 season on Thursday, has no shortage of cancer research initiatives, from Stand Up to Cancer to Strikeout Cancer, a foundation started by former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jason Motte.

Motte started his foundation in 2013, the last time the Cardinals were in the World Series, and his "K" shirts spread like wildfire all across the baseball world.

Over a handful of players have posts of them wearing the "KCancer" shirts on their social media pages and the shirt sales have raised over $271,000 benefiting over 60 cancer charities in partnership with the KCancer player representatives, according to the foundation's website.

"We definitely didn't see that," Motte said, "but it's awesome to see because that means we're helping a lot of people and we're being able to do a lot of good."

Most of his events happen in St. Louis or Memphis, Tennessee, where he currently resides as a high school baseball coach. He holds an annual cornhole tournament August 31 in St. Louis.

Motte said the proceeds from his events went toward updating cancer treatment rooms in facilities in those cities.

His playing career is in the rearview mirror, but the support remains.

"There's still a lot of people in the Cardinal clubhouse that support us and come out to our events," Motte said. "It's the Cardinal guys but really it's the Cardinal nation, the fans coming out to support our endeavors off the field that are really special to us."

Usually, charitable foundations are started due to a personal connection. Motte started his foundation because his wife's grandmother had Stage 4 lung cancer. The DeGregorio Family Foundation started because numerous members of the family died of stomach cancer.

That foundation, with the support of the Esophageal Cancer Awareness Association, awarded a $75,000 grant to my father, Dr. Anthony Capobianco, who is a professor at the University of Miami.

"Grants from foundations such as the DeGregorio Foundation are vitally important for our research efforts and really provide the ability for us to do the discovery research to find new cures, without which such studies could not be funded," he said.

Dr. Capobianco's research is dedicated to targeting cancer stem cell populations with novel experimental drugs. He said he hopes the clinical trials for such drugs will be conducted in the next two years.

Slowly but surely, progress in cancer research has been made over the years. MLB players such as Anthony Rizzo and Trey Mancini had bouts with cancer and were able to continue their lives and careers thanks to the proper treatment. Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks is currently being treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but thanks to the treatments, there is optimism that not only will he be cancer free but possibly return to the mound by the end of the season.

"In recent days, we've received positive news on Liam's progress," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn told reporters Wednesday. "He remains in treatment and still has some work ahead of him. However, he is making very good progress.

"While we don't currently have a specific timeline available to share with you on his potential return, those of you who pay close attention to our roster will notice that we have not placed him on the 60-day IL, and that is on purpose."

How cancer is viewed, treated or cured a few years from now could be drastically different, and it's because of the constant work done by charitable foundations from Dexter tennis to Major League Baseball and beyond.