Former Gamecocks Rally to Help Landon Powell's Family

A common bond brought some heavy hitters back to Columbia this week.

While the Gamecock alumni baseball team lost to the Columbia Blowfish, they won the hearts of many by helping a fellow Gamecock.

A silent auction helped to raise money for former Gamecock standout Landon Powell and his family. Powell and his wife, Allyson, a graduate of Eastside High, lost their five-month-old daughter Izzy earlier this year to hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a condition where the immune system attacks the bone marrow and in Izzy's case caused her liver to be too big for her body.

Powell told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, that he was very humbled when he learned from former teammate Trey Dyson that the alumni game was going to be played in memory of Izzy and that the auction was going to be held to help relieve them of some of the costs associated with her medical care.

“Trey told me they were going to play the game in my daughter's honor and donate all the money for her and her bills, and I'm very humbled by that,” he said. “I know I have a lot of great friends and teammates and when guys rally around you like that in tough times it shows you how much goodness is in people's hearts. I was very happy and proud to be a Gamecock that day.”