WORCESTER, Mass. — More than 9,000 fans attended the inaugural MayeDay Family Foundation Celebrity Softball Classic Sunday at Polar Park, the home of the Worcester Red Sox, organizers said. Drake Maye and his wife, Ann Michael Maye presented an $80,000 check to Boston Children’s Hospital before the game and pledged additional donations tied to home runs.
The couple donated $1,000 for each home run in the derby and $2,500 for each game homer. The event produced 70 home runs, yielding $94,000, bringing the evening’s total raised for Boston Children’s Hospital to $174,000, organizers said. A local high school also received a $5,000 check.
Drake Maye hit six home runs in the opening round of the derby to advance to the finals alongside New England left tackle Will Campbell and San Jose Sharks forward Will Smith, a Massachusetts native who played at Boston College. In the final round Maye and Smith each finished with nine home runs; Maye conceded the win to Smith after a ball-shagger caught a line drive that might have been a 10th homer.
The seven-inning celebrity game saw Christian Gonzalez’s Team Sox edge Drake and Ann Michael Maye’s Patriots Team 17-16. Receiver Mack Hollins, playing barefoot, hit the game’s first home run and added another later. Drake Maye hit a homer earlier in the game and later had a would-be go-ahead shot caught on the other side of the fence in the final inning. Ann Michael Maye, batting left-handed, delivered a line-drive single up the middle and also hosted patients in a suite and baked with them as part of the event; she went viral last December for her “Bakemas” trend.
Patriots wide receiver DeMario “Pop” Douglas won the golden arm contest, which required competitors to throw from left field and knock down upright bats at first base. Douglas, punter Bryce Baringer and safety Brenden Schooler advanced to the finals, with Douglas the only competitor to hit the target twice. Organizers issued about 70 media credentials, and Tommy Cassell, the Worcester Red Sox beat reporter for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, called it one of the park’s largest crowds since Chris Sale’s rehab start in July 2022. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, who served as coach of the Mayes’ team, was introduced before the game, and the night concluded with fireworks.
