Gardner-Webb University Baseball Team Serves Others in The Dominican Republic

Players Host Baseball Clinics, Visit Nursing Homes and Provide Food for Families

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.—“Preaching Jesus through baseball.” That’s how a member of the Gardner-Webb University baseball team summarized the group’s recent trip to the Dominican Republic. The 48 players were joined by 10 coaches and other chaperones, including Vice President and University Chaplain for Christian Life and Service Dr. Josh Parrott.

They ministered to groups of all ages for five full days. There are two things the GWU student-athletes had in common with the citizens of the Dominican Republic: baseball and faith. Every major league team has a baseball academy on the island, and 10% of the major league players are from the country.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs experienced the joy of playing baseball with children, as well as the excitement of contending with aspiring MLB players at the Pittsburgh Pirates facility.

“I am so proud of how our university baseball team represented both King Jesus and Gardner-Webb in the Dominican Republic,” Parrott praised. “Our young men not only competed at a high level on the diamond, but they also publicly professed their faith in Christ in word and deed in Santo Domingo. I was impressed with their testimonies at a baseball clinic for the young boys of a local village, with their prayers for needy and hungry families in a local church, and with their cheerfulness in serving young girls at a local orphanage. I am excited to hear of their continued spiritual growth since our return, and I am hopeful about God’s continued work in their lives.”

More than 40 percent of the people in the Dominican Republic live in poor conditions and are at risk of falling into poverty or human trafficking. They struggle to have food, shelter and clothing, and may not have access to clean water or sanitation facilities.

Plans for the trip to the Dominican Republic started taking shape after Head Coach Jim Chester and his wife took a mission trip to the country. Chester wanted his players to have the same life-changing experience. Raising money for the excursion was the next step.

Then, four months after he and his wife went to the Dominican, Chester received a significant donation from Burning Bush Ministries in Pittsburgh, Pa., with the stipulation that it must be used to do God’s work. They donated about 75% of the total cost to help pay for the trip. The rest of the funds were donated by GWU alumni and friends.

After receiving the gift, Chester started looking for a ministry to coordinate the trip. Within a few weeks, he met a coach who had just returned from his fourth trip to the Dominican. “He sold me on going through Score International,” Chester shared. “I don’t believe in coincidence. I think God was working through all of that.”

The mission trip was a first for Joshua Gentile, a senior sport management major, who has also never been out of the country. He noted that going on the trip was a chance to do God’s work and help other people. “It was definitely eye-opening,” he described. “Just being in a third-world country, it’s so much different and not what I was expecting.”

One of the most meaningful moments for Gentile was walking into the orphanage. He was overcome with emotion thinking about the children who lived there and the hurt, fear and pain of their past. “It kind of put a hole in your heart a little bit,” Gentile related. “But it was amazing to see when they got comfortable around us, how happy they got.”

The orphanage is managed by a mother and daughter with donations from supporters. They operate independently from the government to provide homes for children who have been physically abused or rescued from human trafficking. The children stay there until they are 18. They receive an education and learn skills to become employed when they leave.

Gentile remarked that he is grateful for the experience and for the even stronger bond that GWU team members forged on the trip. “We went through this together and were pretty much with each other for five-six days—breakfast, lunch, dinner,” he stated. “I think there is no other team that has a bond like we do right now.”

Nick Capozzi, a graduate student, agreed. He received a degree in business management in 2024 and is a graduate student pursing his master’s in sport management. He’s played with the Gardner-Webb team for five years and feels the close-knit team has developed a deeper connection while serving others.

Some of Capozzi’s favorite parts of the trip were playing baseball and holding clinics with the children. Driving into some of the villages was an adventure because the road was barely wide enough for the buses. “It was great to work with the kids, finding other ways to communicate with them, and then learn from all of them,” he reflected. “On Sunday, our whole team went to a church. It was basically a house right on the road. They were singing the whole time, and the windows were open.”

Capozzi and Gentile both recalled another highlight of the trip and a memory that will stay with them for a long time. As the buses were driving into a village, all of the children were lined up on the third base line. “They were watching us come in, and they were just so excited,” Gentile related.

The smiling faces of children, praying with nursing home residents, villagers gripping bags of food, believers worshipping in another language—these moments and many more are the reasons why Chester wanted his team to serve on a mission trip.

“I hope that at some point, whether it’s these two (Capozzi and Gentile) or someone else in the locker room, that they get involved in another missions trip through their church,” Chester asserted. “Or, maybe one day they lead one and I see them on social media doing that, and I hope we played a small part in that journey.”  

Gardner-Webb baseball opens its season on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, as it hosts St. Bonaventure in a four-game set at John Henry Moss Stadium. Davidson will come to town for a single game on Feb. 18, followed by four straight against Division I newcomer Mercyhurst starting Feb. 21. Learn more at gwusports.com or follow @gwubaseball on Instagram.

Gardner-Webb University is North Carolina’s recognized leader in private, Christian higher education. A Carnegie-Classified Doctoral/Professional University, GWU is home to nine colleges and schools, more than 80 undergraduate and graduate majors, and a world-class faculty. Located on a beautiful 225-acre campus in Boiling Springs, N.C., Gardner-Webb prepares graduates to impact their chosen professions, equips them with the skills to advance the frontiers of knowledge, and inspires them to make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of others. Ignite your future at Gardner-Webb.edu.