Deer Park Baseball Plays for a Cause
April 22, 2026
By:
David Birdsell
(From left) Assistant coach Eli Lee, head coach Darren Snyder, keynote speaker Corey Widman and his wife, Kelly Widman, from Widdy's Work, assistant coach Kevin Krepcik, and assistant coach Brandon Talmich at the Deer Park Stags Baseball Marathon Day For Mental Health at Deer Park High School on April 19. Photo courtesy Stag Baseball.
Many months and hours of preparation came to fruition on April 19 as the Deer Park baseball team hosted their third annual Marathon For Mental Health at Dave Franklin Field at Deer Park High School.
Players collected pledges for every inning played and local merchants donated items for a silent auction.
The day also featured games involving the high school, junior high, and Tri-County Little League teams as well as the high school softball team. Many former high school baseball and softball players also returned to participate. Fundraising totals were not immediately known. Fifty percent of the proceeds stay with the Stag baseball program and the other half is shared with Widdy's Work and Helinski's Hope.
The initial event occurred in 2024 with the help of the Washington State Baseball Coaches Association who challenged high school programs statewide to host events in conjunction with Helinski's Hope. The organization was started by Kym and Mark Helinski to raise awareness of mental health concerns in the athletic community as well as the larger community overall after their son and Washington State University football quarterback, Tyler Helinski, took his own life in January of 2018.
As their movement has grown, they have partnered with organizations nationally and worldwide to be speakers at events. This year they partnered with Widdy's Work, which is named for Reese Widman, who ended his life in January of 2023 while a senior at Steilacoom High School. The underlying message of the presentation on Sunday by the Widman family were words that Reese shared, "Do what I couldn't do, get help.”