WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — As the Conard High School softball team prepared to play Wednesday afternoon, the Chieftains traded their usual shades of red and white for pink. Though they didn't come out with the win, Conard could consider this game a success.
"Today we played for breast cancer," said Conard head coach Carrie Hess-Marcoux. "We had a good game until one inning and that kind of brought us down a little, but knowing that we raised over $1,000 (for Bloomfield charity Cut Out Cancer) is the most important thing for us today."
The team rallied around junior outfielder Rachel Giroux, whose mother Shellie Cicero-Giroux has been in a two-year battle with breast cancer. In her honor and to raise breast cancer awareness, they made their tilt with Southington a Pink Out game.
"I'm so overwhelmed," said Cicero-Giroux. "I feel so grateful and I think it speaks volumes about their character as young women, and also the coaches who were of course behind the initial designation of this day."
The Blue Knights also lent their support on the field by wearing pink socks with their uniforms. Battling with breast cancer hits home for them too.
"Our senior captain last year, her mom beat breast cancer," said Southington softball head coach Davina Hernandez. "One of my best friends who came today, she had a double mastectomy at 31 years old. I lost one of my closest cousins at 37 to breast cancer."
"I get emotional talking about it because...this is why we do this."
Nkwa Asonye is a sports reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at nasonye@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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