It’s a double play for kids who play baseball or softball in Cambria County.  Not only do they get to have fun playing with their teammates, but they’re also helping to solve the community’s problems.

“We put food and supplies in backpacks and sent them to someone that needs things like food, pencils, and crayons,” Nolan Wyrwas explains.  Wyrwas is part of the East Taylor-Jackson baseball league.

“Little Leagues, Big Hearts” started with the Lady Dirtbags four years ago, “I thought it was easy for the girls to come, be able to provide some service activities, and have them understand they’re giving back to children in need in the community,” says coach Matt Hoffman.

Hoffman, who also heads “Little Leagues, Big Hearts,” says they volunteer with the Johnstown Backpack Project.  The program helps to feed kids on the weekends during the school year.

“It shows them that students around them may need this food, but they may not and that they are able to help those kids,” coordinator Megan Eckenrode says.

Six different leagues now partner with area nonprofits.  This year the East Taylor-Jackson League adopted the idea and helps the Central Cambria Backpack Program.

“We put snacks, cereal, and stuff they could eat and drink in it,” baseball player Hunter Forcellini explains.

The kids say it’s a way for them to give back to the community because at the end of the day, it’s not always the score that matters.

“It’s nice to do something with them that’s not softball,” softball player Mia Ruddek says.

“It feels kind of good to help them out,” Wyrwas adds.

It’s about helping to strike out community issues.

“We want to expand this to hockey leagues, soccer leagues, football leagues, and all of these other things, so it’s not just a baseball, softball kind of thing.  We want to take it broader to other sports as well,” Hoffman says.