ROCKINGHAM — Some new dugout hardware was added to the Richmond Raider baseball team’s arsenal Tuesday, along with a fundraiser check.
In the school’s lobby, William Mercer and Trey Webb presented head baseball coach Eric Brown with a $3K check and a Raider wrestling belt.
Owners of World Class Elite Wrestling, Mercer and Webb hosted a fundraiser for the Raider baseball team last month. The two RSHS alumni also decided to donate the company’s portion of the War Games event back to Brown and the players.
Also present to accept the donation were assistant baseball coach Ryan Mercer and Richmond assistant principal Wendy Wallace.
“We’ve wanted to make a name for ourselves as a group that likes to help the community,” Webb said. “We’ve helped Shop with a Cop and Crime Stoppers and we thought what better way to help one of our schools than by having a fundraiser with one of our programs.
“We all love Richmond Senior, the baseball and football teams and all of the athletic programs,” he continued. “This was all about being able to give back to the kids, in this case the baseball team.”
“Our goal is to be a community-oriented business that is also family friendly,” William Mercer shared. “We wanted to make this all about the kids. They’re champions and that is the most important part for us.”
In addition to the money and the belt, WCEW donated several signed photographs of wrestlers who participated in the fundraiser. That included members of New Breed Trey McKenzie and Tripp Stewart, both of whom are Richmond graduates.
A signed photo of Julius Weatherford, who officiated War Games, was also donated. He is a RSHS graduate, too.
“I’m very grateful for (William and Trey) for reaching out to plan the event,” Brown shared with the belt draped over his shoulder. “It’s great they want to help the school and community, specifically the baseball program. It was a great event and I know all of our boys enjoyed it.
“The belt looks great and it’s awesome,” he added of the belt. “Anything with the Raider diamond on it looks good. I grew up a wrestling fan so I’ve always wanted a legit belt, and now we have one for the team. We’ll figure out a way to incorporate it and let the boys have fun with it.”
Webb said “another big show at the high school” is being planned for later this year.
