On Wednesday, Penn baseball set up its own barber shop on Locust Walk — shaving each others heads to help raise money for “Vs. Cancer” as a part of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
At the intersection of 39th and Locust streets, the entire roster of the “Quake Show” was present during the afternoon with clippers in hand and heads ready to be shaved. Taking donations from those walking by, members of the Penn community lined up for the chance to shave the heads of baseball freshmen.
“It’s a thing we take a lot of pride in, we talk about a lot as a team, and we look forward to this day,” Junior right-handed pitcher Thomas Shurtleff said. “We’re all here enjoying having a good time, having some laughs, and the biggest thing is that we are doing this for a good cause.”
While many passing by stepped up to shave the heads of players themselves, it was senior infielder Alex Gabauer who provided the equipment and expertise. Many players got their heads shaved clean, while some committed to more outlandish looks — hoping to clean themselves up later that day.
Directing all donations to senior outfielder Nate Polo’s Venmo for collection, the team is still actively raising money along with other Penn athletic teams. This tradition has been going on for as long as coach John Yurkow has been with the team.
“It’s a great organization to be partnered with, it’s awesome,” Yurkow said. “All the proceeds go right to [the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania], which is great, so it means a lot to everybody. I think the guys take a lot of pride in it.”
On April 20, the team will play a “Vs. Cancer” game against Yale, continuing its support for the donation drive throughout the season. The team’s first home game will be versus Delaware on March 7, and the first Ivy League home series will be against Harvard on March 22.
The freshmen that shaved their heads as a voluntary show of support were infielder Caden Fahy, infielder Michael Powell, catcher Ernie Echevarria, outfielder Connor McCabe, left-handed pitcher Aidan von Zuben, right-handed pitcher Connor Darling, right-handed pitcher Sebastian Haggard, right-handed pitcher Braden Fridgen and sophomore outfielder Gavin Degnan.
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