Good News: Showing Up - A Ballgame Saved, A Life Reclaimed

This episode highlights good news on Good Morning Wake County, we travel from Massachusetts to North Carolina to South Carolina — and meet the good neighbors who showed up when it mattered most.

First, the Murdock High School Blue Devils in Winchendon, Massachusetts thought their final baseball game was lost to lightning and Memorial Day rain, until Pastor Jason Cox at the United Parish of Winchendon helped organize one last, unforgettable exhibition game. With help from community members like Adam LeBlanc, Jenna Hirons and Justen Hires of Castle Road BBQ in Rindge, and Tim Shufelt at Shoefly Graphics in Athol, the team played a joyful final matchup against local heroes known as the Honey Badgers, including police, firefighters, veterans, and alumni, at Allen Field in Ashby.

Next, we meet 22-year-old Kai Ritchie of Cary, North Carolina, who survived a devastating head-on crash on I-40 in Raleigh just before his birthday. With strength, support, and love from his mother Stormy Schumann-Ritchie, his grandmother, his first-grade teacher, and the team at WakeMed, Kai endured four surgeries and weeks of therapy, and walked out of the hospital a month later, calling his survival “a miracle.”

And finally, in West Columbia, South Carolina, a group of volunteers from Dominion Energy’s transmission team, including Tyler Claytor and Mary Sale, gave the Good Samaritan Clinic a much-needed refresh. With funding from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, nearly 20 employees painted, landscaped, and added safety features to help restore pride and warmth to the space. Clinic executive director Mike Young shared how much that love and labor means to the staff and patients they serve.

Three towns. Dozens of names. One shared truth:
When people show up, healing happens.

Voices and organizations featured:• Levi Woertz• Pastor Jason Cox, United Parish of Winchendon• Adam LeBlanc, Murdock High School alumnus• Jenna Hirons & Justen Hires, Castle Road BBQ, Rindge, NH• Tim Shufelt, Shoefly Graphics, Athol, MA• Kai Ritchie & Stormy Schumann-Ritchie, Cary & Fuquay-Varina, NC• WakeMed Hospital, Raleigh, NC• Tyler Claytor & Mary Sale, Dominion Energy• Mike Young, Good Samaritan Clinic, West Columbia, SC• Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation

🎖️ Hat tips to the original reporting by:🧢 The Gardner News🎨 Southwest Lexington Ledger

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