RHS Staging Inaugural Zach Clapp T1D Benefit Baseball Game In April

VERNON, CT — The Rockville High School baseball team next month will be raising money for the fight against Type 1 Diabetes while honoring a former member of the program who died too young.

The inaugural Zach Clapp T1D Benefit game is scheduled for April 12 at 11 a.m. at RHS.

"The game is basically the equivalent to the Pink Games Fall sports play, but this is for Type 1 Diabetes and in honor of a former player we lost due to it," RHS coach Matt Woodtke said. "Zach Clapp was a student-athlete affected by T1D who graduated in 2021 but recently passed away unexpectedly. We are putting on this game to honor his life and raise money/awareness for T1D."

Entry to the game is free but RHS will be selling food and drinks and accepting direct donations with proceeds going to Breakthrough T1D, an organization dedicated to advancing T1D Research.

Clapp died on Aug. 5 at the age of 21, according to his obituary from the Tierney Funeral Home. He was a 2021 graduate of RHS and was an honors student who also excelled in athletics. He was known for teamwork and talents on the soccer and baseball teams. He was a student in the school's Agricultural Science and Technology Education program and enjoyed making maple syrup on his grandparents' farm.

In 2022, Clapp earned a certificate in advanced welding from Asnuntuck Community College.