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Do it for Jax: Moose Jaw Giants catcher MacDonald homers for fallen son in first at bat of season

Rambler Park Fastball Association season kicks off with Giants taking 7-2 win over Canadians at Lyle Helland Ball Diamond
When the Rambler Park Fastball Association season kicked off at Lyle Helland Ball Diamond on Tuesday night, one player had a special reason for taking the field.

Moose Jaw Giants catcher Joe MacDonald had lost his son Jaxon in a tragic accident on Madge Lake three months earlier, almost to the day.

In fact, the anniversary of Jaxon’s passing was the night before the Giants took the field against the Canadians in the opener for both teams.

“It was a bad day,” MacDonald said. “Then (Tuesday)I was driving out in my truck and talking out loud to myself, saying ‘give me a sign tonight, I just need to know you’re here’. And then I said ‘let’s hit a home run tonight, not in the second at-bat, the third at bat or the fourth at bat, let’s do it in the first and show me you’re here’.”

MacDonald was hitting third in the line-up and saw his team leading 1-0 when he took a change-up from Canadians starter Blake Dixon on a 2-2 count and put a charge into it, sending the ball long over the centrefield fence for a solo home run.

“The first game of the year, the first at bat and you’re not season ready, and that happens,” MacDonald said with a tone of awe. “It’s pretty special.”

Funny thing is, MacDonald doesn’t traditionally have a lot of luck with off-speed pitches, but this time around, he had a little help.

“Usually those aren’t what I’m going after, I usually miss them,” he said. “But I stayed back on it and got hold of it… something like that, it’s something else. Rounding second base I was pretty emotional.”

The Giants would go on to a 7-2 win, adding a further three runs in the second inning and riding a solid pitching performance from Al Muhle the rest of the way.

The MacDonald family has created the Jax Mac Foundation to provide scholarships to those who most exemplify what Jaxon himself was like.

“He was just a super kid, he gave to the community and was a leader on all his sports teams, and I wanted to give others the chances he had,” Joe said. “All the kids gravitated toward him, he was a leader in school and stood against bullying and things like that. He was driven and self motivated and that’s what we’re looking for.”

The first $500 scholarship was presented to a young athlete, with further awards going to someone interested in business, another for travel, along with a handful of others in the future.

For more on the Jax Mac Foundation and to donate, visit www.jaxmacfoundation.com.

As for the game, MacDonald would finish with two runs scored for the Giants, while Terry Danberg also homered and crossed the plate twice.

Dane Roy had a solo home run for the Canadians, Riley Almasi scored their other run. Blake Dixon and Xavier Tremblay split time on the mound.

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