Lockport High School baseball games Saturday to raise funds for brain cancer research

Help brain cancer research on Saturday by enjoying a full day of high school baseball and softball games in Lockport.

The CC2 Forever Foundation will host its annual Strike Out Cancer event from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Flink Field in Lockport. The cost is $5 for a full day of games or $20 for the games, including food and beverages.

The foundation has raised more than $500,000 so far, according to Ginger Christian, Connor Christian’s mother.

The CC2 Forever Foundation was founded shortly after 18-year-old Connor Christian, a Lockport resident and athlete, died 18 days after being diagnosed with a stage 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor.

Glioblastomas are incurable, according to the Mayo Clinic website.

[ Lockport teen athlete died weeks after brain cancer diagnosis. Saturday’s fundraiser aims to fight back. ]

“Together we can truly make a difference in the fight against brain cancer,” Christian said. “We are working hard and the community has been so very good, supportive, engaged, etc. It’s wonderful.”

The Strike Out Cancer tournament has taken place for more than a decade to honor people who are battling or have battled cancer, according to the CC2 Forever Foundation website.

The event was initially inspired by The Mark Staehely Pediatric Cancer Foundation, according to the website. Mark D. “Scoot” Staehely of Shorewood was 18 when he died in 2006 from pediatric brain cancer.

This is the fourth year the CC2 Forever Foundation has been involved with the event, Christian said. The foundation hosts two other fundraisers during the year – a golf outing and a holiday bear bash.

The CC2 Forever Foundation also awards scholarships to Lockport Township High School students “who embody the same values and outstanding character that Connor displayed every day at LTHS,” according to the website.

“It’s amazing the support and results we are getting to fund research for this devastating disease that has no hope for treatment or survival,” Christian said. “We will change this.”

In April, the CC2 Forever Foundation visited the team at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University to donate $25,000 and to learn about the progress in brain cancer research.

“Immunotherapy is the future of cancer treatment and that is what we are funding,” Christian said.

The Strike Out Cancer event will also feature raffles and an online auction, Christian said.

“Together we can truly make a difference in the fight against brain cancer.”

—  Ginger Christian, mother of Connor Christian, who died from brain cancer

To view the items on the foundation’s our OneCause site, visit one.bidpal.net/strikeoutcancer2025/welcome.

For more information about the CC2 Forever Foundation or to donate, visit cc2forever.org.