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The Boro Buzz
The Boro Buzz Episode 14: Bases for a Cure
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⚾THIS ONE MEANS MORE THAN BASEBALL. ⚾
Episode 14 of The Boro Buzz is HERE — spotlighting the Mid State Melon Mashers and a mission bigger than the game itself.
This new summer collegiate baseball team is stepping up to the plate to help raise awareness for breast cancer, honor survivors, remember loved ones, and support fighters still battling every single day.
From pink jerseys to great logos to powerful stories, this episode is about community, strength, and using the game we love to make a difference.
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📍 Spotlighting: Mid State Melon Mashers
🌐 www.melonmashersbaseball.com
Shout out to another sponsor in this episode Blue Luna Tattoo for their support in The Boro Buzz! Give them a follow on instagram and a call!! Local and ties to Randolph County Athletics
Welcome back to another episode of The Borough Buzz, and this one's gonna be a home run.
SPEAKER_03What's up, Borough Nation? And welcome to the Borough Buzz, the all-access path to everything sports in and around the borough. We're talking inside the lines and behind the scenes. Athletes, coaches, refs, and the stories you don't hear on game day. If it's happening in the gym, on the field, or in the locker room, you'll hear it here. This is the Borough Buzz.
SPEAKER_04First off, let's welcome. You're probably wondering first of all, what kind of hat am I wearing? I've worn it a couple of times. Um, Melon Masters, as always, my co-host right here, Scotty.
SPEAKER_01Oh ho. I got something for you. Big announcement coming. Okay. It'll be announced before this, but I'm just telling you, you're gonna hear about it. It's getting ready to happen, J Rob, later on this evening, man.
SPEAKER_04Heck yeah, dude. I love it. I'm excited. I don't know if I'm as excited as our guests that we got today. It's pretty awesome, man. We got a new uh collegiate uh summer ball team coming to uh the Randolph County area.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, something for Randolph Sports Central. Just a few more things to cover, man. I'm looking forward to it. I love the colors, man.
SPEAKER_04I feel like we look pretty good in pink, man. I don't know. I never thought so, but now I feel pretty I feel confident, man. I feel confident. All right, let's welcome our guest, Mr. Carter. How you doing, brother? Good, man. How are y'all? Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01John J. Rod, let me let me say this about Carter. I met Carter when he first came to this community. Knocked on my door one day, said I want to officiate.
SPEAKER_04Did he knock it or did he kick it down because I knew it was awful?
SPEAKER_01He was he was nice the first time. Said he wanted to uh officiate. Okay. So okay, I'm the guy you need to see. So he started out doing basketball.
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And then doing baseball. And uh just one of the best, still still helps me out some uh with his other things he's got going on. But um he uh he became one of the best officials in the area.
SPEAKER_04I agree, man. Even at NAMS, I get excited when we have them. Uh I don't you gave me him three times here we won the championship, so maybe it was our good luck charm over here. Um but but what's cool about like you said, it's just good people that are starting good things to get back to the community. And that's one thing my you know, first of all, I want to ask you, Carter. Um, the Mellon Masters, that's a unique name. Um, where did that come from?
SPEAKER_02So the Mellon Masters came from um play on words with from for breast cancer. My wife had breast cancer last year, she's a survivor. Um, we were thinking about doing a summer collegiate team. I talked to my partners Tuck and Tommy at New Market, and they're supportive of it. So we were trying to come up with a name. Originally I was like, well, just do New Market. And no, that doesn't sound snazzy enough. And then as we were going through treatment, um, not to be overly uh out there, but that happens a lot when you're when your wife's going through breast cancer. So we're sitting there one day and uh I threw out melomasters because I'm like, everybody's coming in here. The doctor comes in, the nurse comes in, the tech comes in. I'm pretty sure the janitor came in one time. And so I'm like, yeah, that would that would be a good play on words. So um tongue-in-cheek, melomasters, and people ask that same exact question you ask, and I get to tell them why it's called that and the importance of it. So um it is a snazzy name, it it pops really well, but it does have a have a meaning to it that's important.
SPEAKER_04Well, go on this guy, I mean, that's kind of unique, wouldn't you agree, Scott? Turn a tragedy into something that's you know that's eye-catching, as you can say.
SPEAKER_01We had uh Carter on s uh sports and community um a month or so ago. You can go back on Randolph Sports Center also and hear that version. Uh it it's a great um it actually brought tears to my eyes uh the things, but it's a vision. It's a vision that Carter had. And it's not only for the Catlett family, it's for everyone because there's so many things going on that he'll be putting out there. And you can tell by the color of the jerseys, the colors of the hats. Uh it's a it's a breast, yeah, right here, a breast cancer awareness thing. Uh and it and it happened through him and his wife, his family, his boys, uh doing with it. My mother was a 20-something-year cancer survivor. There's not too many people watching today that somewhere down the line doesn't know someone that's that's been, you know, had the the word C in there we talk about. But I just think the vision that he's had and the way he's ran with it, and I know Carter. He crosses every T and dots every I. And just seeing the things he puts on social media and the things he's doing now.
SPEAKER_04He's a graphic designer. I feel like he's got a hidden graphic design degree over there.
SPEAKER_01He he's he's only beginning. This isn't a one-year thing that he's doing. It's a I know Carter, it's a thing that'll go on and on and on. And I just think it's it's it's great for the community to have another outreach, but also for people dealing with different things. There'll be families that come to the game that are can breast cancer survivors, and I know he'll have things that the game will recognize.
SPEAKER_04And uh, I don't want to go too deep down this road. Um, I know we're because we could talk a lot about this, but I do want to dive into it. Um it's gotta, you know, before we get to the baseball term, talk us through that that moment where it's just like, you know, for that person that's listening that's going through that breast cancer, I know it hit you hard when you found out you said you felt like everything was going right, and then Yeah, you know, you you hear about breast cancer, cancer in general, and you're like, okay, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02But it had affected, I mean I'd heard about I had people at work that were at least had to go get tested for whatever concerned about it. And you never think it's gonna happen to you or happen to your loved ones. Um, I can remember where I was when we got the call. They they our family doctor called me to tell her. Um, you know, I'm sitting there with my two kids. I got a 19-year-old and a 15-year-old, and now at that point, they were 18 and 14. And I just retired. I mean, I'm hadn't been retired six months. I'm like, life is great, I can do everything I want to do with my kids, could watch ball games, go on vacation, but they call and tell you that, and I'm like, you're talking about getting smacked in the face. Here I am, I know it. My wife had an idea that that what that's what the call was, and we had kind of braced for that as we went through the test, had the mammogram, hey, there's something on it, you gotta come back, you gotta come back again. So we were not totally blindsided by it, but still, when you get you get that call that, hey, that is a breast cancer cell or a cancerous cell, and then we have to we have to operate, it it hits you right square in the face, and you think about what's important in life.
SPEAKER_04Did you think about losing? Like there's a chance I could lose the love of my life? Nope. You fought through it, you said no way.
SPEAKER_02Nope, not gonna happen. We we I told her, you know, we're gonna get through this, we're gonna do what we need to do no matter what it cost us to do it, you know. But we're gonna get it, so you're safe, you're healthy, and we'll move on from there.
SPEAKER_04Did she how did she get what made her want to get checked for breast cancer? That's why I'm curious, because that's what now you have something for people to go out.
SPEAKER_02So it was her her her normal exam. It was time for her mammogram, and that's what got this whole thing started was hey, there's a very small, small spot on your mammogram we need to we need to have checked. So we go back, go back to Randolph, they do a little biopsy on it. Hey, we need to do another one. Do another one, test it off. Hey, it's it's a cancerous, it's a cancerous cell. Um it was tiny. I mean tiny. You would not have been able barely to see it with a naked eye based on what they told us. But the mammogram picked it up, the biopsy confirmed it, and then we started the treatment.
SPEAKER_04And now you're doing so that's kind of unique. You and if you got something, Scott, I don't want to interrupt you.
SPEAKER_01No, I mean I I just think uh some things you're gonna hear today here are are life touching. I mean, it's it's just it's a thing that it's everyday life now. I mean, to hear a young man, and I'll call him young, a young man. I appreciate that that's that's got a great idea to help kids out the way he always has. Uh and now to go to another platform that helps out people that he's not even known, that he's not even met yet, that he will in the coming times. I just think it's one of the most special things you could ever talk about.
SPEAKER_04And it's through a sport that I feel like was one of the most dominant forces in Randolph County baseball. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02Like, yes, I mean Randolph County is is a goal mine for for baseball. From 220 at Seagrove to 220 at Level Cross and you know, east to west. It's a goal mine for baseball. And it's a big baseball community. Um, you know, baseball, I'll say this about Karen was the epitome of a baseball mom. 14-year-old playing middle school baseball, playing tournament baseball on the weekends, uh a 19-year-old or 18-year-old at that time playing college baseball, always at the baseball field. The epitome of a baseball mama, and that's kind of important to me too, to get that message out to these baseball moms. We we host tournaments at Newmarket every weekend, and you see 300 baseball moms a week, and and if it this helps one person get checked to uh get caught early and get the treatment they need so it's not as nearly as invasive or you know, down the road as bad as it could be. If it this helps somebody get stuck, you know, get checked early and detected early, then I'll it's it's a success.
SPEAKER_01Talking about a baseball mom. I'm over at Central David a couple of weeks ago, and of course, Carter's younger son playing the JV game, and I was doing the varsity game. And when I was in Carnegie and Carter's wedding. Yeah, 20. How many years?
SPEAKER_022004. We'll just say so. We'll say 22. I was in high school. I know I was in middle school.
unknown22.
SPEAKER_01We were at a game the other night. He said, You know where you were 22 years ago? But I was in their wedding, and come up after the game, I'm saying hey to them, and she opens the this the baseball mom opens the cooler. She's got orange and blue, random and blue Gatorade. I mean, come on now. I love it. I took the orange one, but it just goes to show.
SPEAKER_04I'd go blue.
SPEAKER_01It just goes to show, you know, what what she enjoys doing and what she's about.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and that's one thing. So my next question, uh Carter, it goes from this was a vision. When did it become reality? Where it's like we're doing this.
SPEAKER_02So we had really thought about this last summer. You know, we thought maybe we could give a good experience, player-first experience, to local kids in in a summer league program. A lot of the D2, D3, JUCO kids around here don't play summer ball, they don't have the opportunity. So I came back to Tuck and Tommy, Tommy, Tommy Beast and Tuck Strickland, who are my partners at New Market, and I was like, we need to consider this because we got a lot of kids in this community that would would play. They can be home, they can work jobs during the day, play ball at night, and get get it back and get you know, get the experience that they need to continue playing and get better at college baseball. So the idea really kicked off last summer. Um long about the time that the other thing kicked off. With the so we were still talking about it. Um as we went through treatment, it was not really the front front item at the time in the first place slot, but you know, it was there, and when Carter was playing summer ball, Houston was playing summer ball. So we were like, okay, you know, we need to do this. Tucker Tommy came out to a couple games where we were playing, and like we can probably make this work, at least give them a player, a very good player experience here. So that was the vision, and we we started moving that way. Um, I had taught to several kids last year. Um, what do you want in a summer summer baseball program? Hey, we want a place that we can work out, a gym. If we're if we're playing ball, can we get a gym membership? Um, if we break a bat, is there a bat available to us? In a wood bat league, you know, you you break bats. And a college caliber wood bat is not cheap. If you go to Dick's Sporting Goods to get a stock model bat, it's still $150. If you break one on Tuesday night and you play on Wednesday, you're getting up first thing Wednesday morning and going to Dick's and spending $150. And I really didn't think that was that was fair for a kid to pay that kind of money to uh to play ball and then not have the necessary stuff. So I we but we bought a bunch of bats, uh, you know, I bought uniforms, I got socks and shoes, baseballs, you name it, we've it's already been purchased so that we have the stuff these kids need uh and wanted when they get here this summer.
SPEAKER_01Let me say this right quick. Carl, I want to thank you for what you're doing, not only for kids, but for people. I know you've got a big June 13th game thing that Jonathan will talk about here in a second. But what you do for people, what you're doing for people, a vision, and I keep calling it a vision, and you'll hear me on Randolph Sports Central whenever you're on with me. That's what it'll be. It'll be a vision that you had that is second to none. And I want to thank you for this because again, I know this guy. I've known him as long as anybody in this area has known him. I know what he's about, I know what he does, and when he puts his mind to something, it's first class all the way. And I'm I'm really you know, I I wanna I'm gonna be a part of the journey. And I'm looking forward towards I'm looking forward to that. And any anything that I can ever do, you all you gotta do is call. And I promise you, Randolph Sports Central, the borough buzz, sports in the borough. But I'll be there as a friend also, and you know that.
SPEAKER_04And I appreciate that. And this guy's gotta head out, but he wanted to uh be here for the first half of this so we could uh he could see. I mean, that's a rare appearance right here, Mr. Scotty, not Scotty Fagler. Appreciate it, brother. All right, let's dive back in. Um one one thing I want to go off to. We just talked about the bats. Um, you talked about the facilities. Um, what I think is intriguing is you mentioned D2, D3, JUCO. Um, those kids don't have a lot. And what's cool is you're not competing with what we have here in Randolph County. I've I've mentioned to you about the zookeepers. I'm like, hey, is are you like this isn't competition, right?
SPEAKER_02No, not at all. They have a whole different product that they're offering, a different uh format. I mean, they play in stadiums, they travel all down to the East Coast to play in the CPL, which is a great college at Summer League. Yeah, that's not what I'm trying to do. I'm not trying to compete with them. I'm just trying to give kids that are here, local kids. And there's some out-of-town kids, don't get me wrong. I got four or five that have seen it on Facebook or on X, and hey, we'd like to come play. And I'm I'm happy to have them. But a majority of our kids are local kids within 45 minutes of here. Uh, Northwest Guildford, Southwest Randolph, Random, and Ashborough. You know, any familiar faces we're gonna see this summer? Um, you'll you'll see uh Connor Adams from Ashboro High School, you'll see uh Ethan Willard from um Trinity, uh Elijah Prince from Randall and uh Andrew Thomas from Providence Grove. So there's a lot in uh Christian Gentrip from Northwest Guildford High School. I said Coach Lux.son, the youngest luck. Well, I hope so. We're we're we're still talking with Ben, but I hope so. Um Camvin Winfrey, Camvin Winfrey from uh Southeast Guildford is uh so there's some there's some talent there, a lot of young talent, a lot of talent from this area that'll be out there playing the summer. And that's just the give them the opportunity to play, to continue to play. Um Ethan had a great a great collegiate season down at Pfeiffer University. Happy to have him. I'm excited to have him come through and continue to play here in the in the community uh this summer. So I'm looking forward to that.
SPEAKER_04I like that. You talked about that, but it's still kind of fun because you said you're gonna you mentioned to me you're getting charter buses, hopefully.
SPEAKER_02Hopefully, I I gotta find a few more sponsors, and then I obviously I'm looking for sponsors, but you know, I'm gonna take care of the kids. We're going to uh on the long trips, we're not driving passenger vans, hopefully not anyway. Yeah. We'll get a bus and uh I know we go to uh Wilmington to play the ghost crabs. Nice and uh they play at UNCW at Brooks Field, so that'll be a pretty good trip. So we'll we'll we'll bust down there. I don't feel like driving. So we'll bust down there and uh hopefully uh have a good game, get something good to eat and come on back.
SPEAKER_04And uh on the schedule, can you before we get deeper into uh the team as a whole, the learning and all that, but uh what what's some some teams on your schedule that you got right now?
SPEAKER_02Uh I got uh the Hollywood Salamanders, the new Zebulon Dirt Devils, I believe that's what they're called. Um that's the team that's in the CPL, new CPL team. Every player there is from Australia. Oh wow. Yes, every every player on that team is from Australia. Crikey, mate. There you go. But they've redone that ballpark. It's a brand new turf field. I think we play the second game on that field on uh May 24th. Okay. Um we play Y'all start early May? Early May 24th. May 24th. Not well, not early May, but I'm saying May. It's not June. Okay. So we play um the the Flying Pigs in Lexington, Danny Kirkman, Eastern Randolph guy, owner of the Flying Pigs. He and I got a home and away series together, looking forward to that. Danny's been a big help to me starting this journey. I've I've talked to Danny several times about, hey, what about this? What about that? He's given me some good guidance, so I appreciate it. Um I look forward to going down there to Holt Moffat and playing them. And I've I enjoy, I'm looking forward to hosting them at our Providence Grub as well. Danny is a uh is an Eastern Randolph guy, so it's like a homecoming game for him. So he was excited to book it with me and I appreciated that. Um playing the Raleigh Red Oaks in downtown Raleigh at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. They uh they called and said, Hey, can we do a when you're in town, we probably want to do a breast cancer awareness game. Oh, that's awesome. Can you down with animals? Absolutely. That's what it's for, that part of it. So, hey, can you wear your pink jerseys? Absolutely. We'll wear the pink jerseys. So uh a lot of good good teams on the schedule, and I'm looking forward to it. I got the Greensboro Ducks a few times, so uh I think we play four, he's playing in Greensboro, and I'm playing here. So that game's those games are fun, they're local, and uh you know, get a little rivalry going right there. We play them several times. So speaking of your schedule, what uh what are you what's June 13th? June 13th is called the second the safe at second base game. This game is important to me, and it's a should be important to everybody. Um we are bringing out the uh mammogram bus from the Greensboro Imagery Center, Cancer Center. They're gonna come out. We're offering mammograms before the game starts. Setups first one is at 5 30. They're available uh to anyone that needs one. If you have insurance, they will file in, file on your insurance for you. If you cannot afford uh a mammogram, there are scholarships available. I'd encourage anybody that needs a mammogram to come out that day, no matter if your ability to pay or not. If you can't pay, we'll make arrangements to uh get scholarship funding for you, or we have some donations to cover that the expense. But that is called Stafe at Second Base, and I strongly encourage anybody that wants to uh to get a mammogram or needs a mammogram to please come out, uh sign up and go to our website, uh Mellamastersbaseball.com and email us or email me at uh Carter at Mellomastersbaseball.com. I will get you set up with uh a time. Also, if you need uh scholarship or funding, I'll send you the form and we'll be more than happy to help you out. We're tag teaming with um Sherry Nance on that.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02The Ready Lady Foundation. Is that Coach Nance's wife? Coach Nance's wife, yes. So we want to get it out there. It's an educational piece, it's an awareness piece. We'll have uh Sunset Slush show try to be out there. Uh the high patrol's bringing out their pink cancer car. So we have some different stuff going on. We're looking forward to it. Try to make uh make fun with it and and and make it a meaningful event, but that part of it is very important. And you know, if you come out and get a mammogram, your your mission's free. So Oh, really?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_02Wow. Yeah, if you're gonna come out and do that, we'll let you watch baseball for free. We want you to we want you to have a good experience. So um putting that out there now. Anybody that needs it, please email me and I'll put my phone number out there after this. If they need it, they can call me and we'll make arrangements. But safe at second base, June 13th versus the Greenbird, Greensboro Ducks. Uh, mammograms are at 5 30. First pitch starts at 6 30.
SPEAKER_04Okay. I love the slogans, man. Uh tell us a little bit with the shirts and all the slogans that you're coming up with, man.
SPEAKER_02So, you know, you this was never really in my my thought process when I came up with Melon Masters. Melon Masters was obviously based 100% off of uh the breast cancer awareness tongue-in-cheek playing off that. Um obviously the jersey behind you is caught looking. The two two young ladies that worked for me on the weekends, they said you've got to come up with some sort of cool uh logo for the girls, for girls. So I came up with that. That is a bikini. I got my caught looking. That's exactly what that means. Caught looking backwards K. So um And you're teaching baseball with it. Correct, exactly. That little scorekeeper's version right there. But that is a uh that logo on that jersey behind you is uh pink bathing suit, the clasp is the the breast cancer awareness ribbon, it's two female baseballs, watermelons with hats on, so caught looking. So I thought that's a pretty good, pretty good phrase for baseball. Uh, because a lot of people get caught looking on strike three. So um then we have uh another one that's gonna be called Touch Em All. That t-shirt will be out shortly. Um obviously a baseball term is you hit a dinger, you touch them all. So it kind of goes hand in hand. Another tongue in cheek, playing off of it. My mom will probably be mad at me about those, but it's okay. Hopefully she'll get over it. We'll see. Especially if she's the t-shirt sell scary. That's right. So we'll see what happens. She's the reason that we have and the cowboy, the one on the hat, his name is Knocker. Knocker the cowboy. So I had to I had to come up with that logo because mom was like, I can't believe that you got Melon Masters. I mean, I raised you better than that. I'm like, it's for a cause, mom. So I had to come up with a cowboy logo of some sort to uh to get past you know, get past the goalie on that one.
SPEAKER_04Didn't you have don't you have another one that's pretty humorous for uh the females that go on to wear don't touch or something?
SPEAKER_02For my for my female staffers, is their their back of their shirts will say no mashing allowed. So um, but yes, that's uh just tell the young ladies no mashing allowed, and I'll make sure that's clear in the in the player meeting when we start before we start the season.
SPEAKER_04And and that's that's awesome, man. And uh that that's hilarious. And what I love about it is you it's for a good cause, and end of the day, I'm sure the goal is one, have them get their reps in over the summer before to go back to college, but two, to teach them the awareness and importance. Correct.
SPEAKER_02So part Of it, and I've talked to most of those kids. Well, I've talked to all of those kids, and I say, hey, it's baseball, but there also is a community piece that we're going to be out in the community doing things uh involving breast cancer awareness. Uh the June 13th event, we may do some other events throughout the throughout the season. Hey, a putt putt event or a bowling event or something like that where we do awareness to raise money, and we are gonna probably turn safe at second base into a foundation so that we can make contributions to that and people need help, financial assistance with mammograms or anything dealing with breast cancer that we can offer them help. And those kids that play here will be a big part of that.
SPEAKER_04Man, when I think about this, I did a documentary I want to say like eight years ago on uh the K Yellow K Al Foundation. So I maybe that's something you may need to reach out to them. I might.
SPEAKER_02I'm learning all this as we go. So uh and I and that's what I told the kids hey, on the baseball side, this is our first year team. So some of the things you'd be like, hey coach, but maybe we'll do this a little differently. And let's speak about coach for a second. So I'm not the coach. Shane Worth is the coach. Can't you ain't gonna be out there at all? I'll be out there, but I'm not gonna be coaching. So uh, but Shane is my coach. Shane coached last year in the old North State League. We're playing at Providence Grove using the facilities out there. So Shane is the coach. That's his home field. That's correct. That's exactly correct. And the field looks really good right now. So uh, but he's the coach. He he talks to these kids and he has some connections, so that's kind of where we went with that. And be able to use Providence Grove is big for us. Providence Grove being, excuse me, in a vicinity of Greensboro, Solar City, uh, Asperger Roundeman. So it's it's a good place to play and it's a good location.
SPEAKER_04And what I love about it is you mentioned that the locker rooms are like college similar to college.
SPEAKER_02That the locker room out there is crazy. I was like, oh my gosh. So I'm looking forward to that too, and give the kids the opportunity to uh build a camaraderie in the locker room uh before the game. These guys come from all over the country in all reality. Um granted, like I said, 80% of them are uh uh locally, but there's some coming out from out of town, Michigan, West Virginia, Pennsylvania. So get in there and get a little camaraderie. That's the best part of college sports. I mean, playing the games is awesome, but the camaraderie and making friends that you'll have for the rest of your life.
SPEAKER_04And that uh I'm excited. I I that's one thing I told my wife was like, we gotta go watch these games, you know.
SPEAKER_02I hope so. I hope so. Hope so I can sell some tickets and get some crowds because I think it will be fun. Uh it'll be good baseball, and it'll be a lot of kids that everybody around here has heard of or knows. So that's a very important and get out there and enjoy it and support the kids.
SPEAKER_04And speaking of support, if I was a business watching this, how how how can I get it? Well what kind of sponsorship opportunities are you a asking for? What can I do to support?
SPEAKER_02Well, I mean, sponsorship-wise, I'll take anything. I mean, yeah, obviously, it's a first-year team. There's a lot of startup that goes into it. Um, uniforms, bats, balls, insurance, travel expenses. Um, so if you if you're looking to to uh to be a sponsor, I'd love to have you, love to talk to you about it. Um we got stuff from $500 up to you know big money, yeah. Which I'm not really expecting that, but I think we're gonna be able to do that. Well anything helps. I mean it's for the kids, right? Between supporting the kids and supporting when we need to add provide financial assistance for for people, that's what I use that money for. Um it'll go to good use no matter what you you want it and what your sponsorship level is, if that money will go to good use for a kid playing baseball or for somebody who needs assistance with the their battle with breast cancer.
SPEAKER_04Can they do anything else besides it? Let's say I'm a business and I don't have the financial support to give. Can I give anything else?
SPEAKER_02Sure. If you want to provide a meal, uh provide stuff to to survivors or the kids, hey, um, come in and get a you know, even a discount at one of the players from out of town. Can I go to X restaurant? Here, I'm a Mellow Master player, uh, we'll give you 15% off. Uh if you're a haircut place and kids need a haircut, anything like that would be helpful. Um, you know, these kids come, they want to play ball, they're chasing their dream. More than likely, they're not working and having a job income in the summer. So any any way we can help them would be great. And like I said, any way that you want to provide any assistance for for treatment or for awareness, we're down to take anything you got.
SPEAKER_04That's awesome. And uh, I think you uh he spilled the beans when we were coming on air. He said that uh if you share this video, we're gonna select a few people, give away some free uh swag and tickets. Does that sound good to you? Sounds good to me. All right, so as we wrap up, um tell us where we can find you. I know you're on you said what Instagram, Facebook. Instagram, Facebook, uh Gotta get some TikTok.
SPEAKER_02X, yeah, you keep telling me TikTok. I'm uh I'm struggling hard enough with the three that I got. So that's not me. Our our website is uh Mellonmasters baseball.com. Um my email address is Carter at Mellamasters baseball.com. Be more than happy to talk to you, love to hear from you. Uh if you're looking for a sponsorship opportunity, if you're looking to buy tickets, uh if you know a pitcher that wants to throw some innings this summer, please give me a give me a call or give me a ring. And I can always be reached on my cell phone. Uh 336-736-6044. If I don't answer, leave me a message, send me a text, and I'll get back to you. Awesome. And uh when's uh official first pitch? May 24th is our first game. Maybe the 24th. Yes, sir. N Zebulon versus the Dirt Devils. Uh we look forward to that. They've redone that stadium out there. It's beautiful. They got a brand new turf all around. So we're looking forward to making that trip and getting the season started. And uh when's your first home game? Good question. I don't know off top of my head. I I had to I had to wait a little bit on uh home games to see how far Providence grows goes goes in the playoffs. I don't want to cross their schedule. So it's probably first week of June, to be honest with you, because I think the playoffs are over May 30, 31st, but I did not want to take a chance. So it'll probably be the first week of June. But I I I I can figure that out and let you know for sure.
SPEAKER_04And uh what you got a love for baseball, Carter. Like I know we're doing this for breast cancer awareness, this team, but like, I mean, dude, you you coach, you've been around it all your life. Where does that love come from?
SPEAKER_02Well, I mean, I grew up with it. My dad uh was my coach as a kid, and from the time we were five years old playing T-ball, I remember the YMCA in Hampton, Virginia had a purple jersey, and so I've I've been around it since I was five years old, and before that, my dad played softball, so we were always out at a field. So it's it's just a natural love of the game. Um so it's just continued to grow. Now that I have two kids that really love baseball, it's kind of reinvigorated in me or you know, really relit the fire is the best way to put it.
SPEAKER_04You couldn't talk them into doing basketball too or anything like that.
SPEAKER_02You can't Houston likes basketball, Carter does not. So I think right now Houston probably plays hockey if I ask, if I offered it to him. That's his favorite right now, it seems like. But uh but baseball's a big love of the family. Um, my wife's, you know, she's full board full on board with it. She's definitely a baseball mama. We're traveling like today. Uh I got a middle school game, yeah. Houston's got a JV game, Carter's got a college game. So we're all over the place with baseball. I'm not sure how she's gonna make, she'll probably just make one, probably make Houston's game. So, but it's it's cool, man. She has a good time with it. We we we love baseball. We we go down to the Braves all the time. So it's it's a it's a good trip.
SPEAKER_04That's awesome.
SPEAKER_02It's a good it's a good family life. We we wouldn't change a thing.
SPEAKER_04That's awesome because you told me you're in Chicago watching baseball.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was in Chicago a couple weeks ago. We took Houston out there to uh watch the White Sox and the uh Blue Jays, saw Blady Guerrero. Uh I have a White Sox fantasy league team, so I have to go out there and check things out a little bit. And then I went and did the tour at Wrigley Field, which was really, really cool.
SPEAKER_04That's awesome, man. And uh I just want to thank you for what you do, man. I know it's it's a it's a cause, man. Uh, I didn't mention earlier, but I uh a player of mine's mom passed away due to breast cancer this past year in the middle of the season. So um what you're doing to me, that's why I wanted to bring you on the Borough Buzz, and we've been texting so much about it because it hit home for me as a coach to watch that because I've not experienced it to immediate family, sort of, but like to watch a player go through it, it's a lot. So the fact that you're giving these kids something, let's say a kid has a mom with breast cancer or knee cancer, you're giving them that distraction, but also helping them support and learn about the cause.
SPEAKER_02Correct. I mean, again, you you get that call, it slaps you in the face and makes you realize what's really important in life. Uh, baseball's a game. I you can teach life lessons through baseball, but baseball is a game. When you look at, you know, your wife, the mother of your children, you're like, okay, we gotta, we gotta figure this out and we gotta fight it.
SPEAKER_04It really puts things into perspective. That's and dude, you got a service heart because uh anytime I see you give, give, give, man, even coaching, trust me, I coach middle school. You don't do it for money, man.
SPEAKER_02No, that's for sure. That's for sure. And I love these kids. I mean, my middle school kids are great. Uh, I love them. Um, my son's not there anymore, and I'm still coaching them because I feel like I owed that to those kids at Random and that have been with me since they were eight years old. Um, so uh I do love it. I love the kids. I love watching them grow and get better and you know achieve their goals and continue to get better to for bigger goals. So it's important to me to watch that and be able to facilitate it and help any way that I can.
SPEAKER_04Well, I appreciate that, man. And uh my uh just for our viewers to watch that are watching or listening, um, if I wanted to invite you guys to come help me an event that I have for breast cancer awareness, do they just email you at your email?
SPEAKER_02Is that email me at my email address, Carter at Mellomastersbaseball.com or give me a call and we'll set something up for sure.
SPEAKER_04Cool. Well, I want to thank you for being on this episode, man. This awesome dude. I'm telling you, man, I've never looked good in pink like I have lately.
SPEAKER_02Well, I appreciate it. I did I do want to give one shout out real quick, though, to people that know, um, or will know. The new breast cancer center or that over off of Preston Street, excuse me, not Preston Street, off of Spiro Road. Um that's a major facility that Cone Health has over there. My wife has received excellent treatment from the doctors there, the staff there. She did her uh radiation treatment there. We are very blessed to have that facility in this community. Um it's a it's a class A organization, it's run very well, and the people are great to deal with, they're very caring, and they're very knowledgeable. So Renoff County is lucky to have that facility.
SPEAKER_04I love it, man. You're so passionate, man. Uh, we actually have one of our sponsors is uh Blue Luna Tattoo. I think you gotta get a Mellon Masher tattoo.
SPEAKER_02I don't know about that, but I don't know. I I don't really like needles all that much, man.
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SPEAKER_04Well, dude, I appreciate everyone tuning in this episode of The Borough Buzz. Like, subscribe, share, share, share. Get this message out, and hit up Carter for some tickets, man. You're gonna see Jay in front of the borough there. I promise you that. Appreciate it, man. Thank you for having me. Ready to dominate social media? Meet Core AI Media, your expert team of videographers and digital strategists powering data-driven campaigns with cutting-edge AI. We analyze, target, engage, monitor in real time, and deliver results that surprise industry standards. From skyrocketing engagement to crushing your goals, we are measured by results. Contact Core AI Media today at info at coreaiimedia.com. Let's grow your brand fast. This episode is sponsored by Just Keep Swinging. From top quality equipment to custom apparel like hats, shirts, and more. They're more than just sporting goods store. They are here to support our athletes and community every step of the way. Whether you're gearing up for game day or looking to rep your team with fresh merch, just keep swinging has you covered. Give them a follow today.