VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – It’s time to fight for bragging rights at the 5th annual Yellow Bat Tournament in Virginia Beach! Stanton McDuffie founded the event to benefit the non-profit Families of Autism Coming Together (FACT).

“(FACT) gives everybody the chance to have a normal summer experience and have a blast going to summer camp with their buddies, and the dimension that FACT is able to offer is that there’s professionals who understand what these kids go through on a day-to-day basis, you know, what it’s like for them to be in social situations, and then their friends who they’re at camp with are going through the same struggles. So, they can relate to one another, and I think that’s something that every kid deserves is a normal summer camp experience,” said McDuffie.

He says the tournament is truly for all ages.

“We’ve had everything from six year olds who are just heating up with baseball and just want to, want to stay busy playing baseball over the summer to, you know, former Division 1 pitchers come out, and since the wiffle ball weighs absolutely nothing, and you can easily throw your arm out throwing it, it’s not guaranteed that if you were an amazing baseball player you’ll be an amazing wiffle ball player and vice versa. So, it’s very fun to watch a five year old strike out a really great baseball player who’s currently playing in college or did in the past.”

You don’t need a big team to play in the Yellow Bat Tournament.

“We do teams of four, all ghost runners. So, there’s no playing first, second, third base, no catchers. It’s really just a home run derby, and we get out here at around 10:00. It’s a double elimination tournament. So, everyone gets to play at least two games, and then there’s always a cash prize at the end,” said McDuffie.

Team registration costs $100. That gets you a spot in the tournament, four t-shirts, and lunch. You won’t have a lot of downtime, and all equipment will be provided.

“We’ll have three fields going at a time. So, six teams at once. You’re always either playing or about to play. Typically, we have a lot of parents, grandparents, friends come out and set up chairs in the shade and watch and cheer everyone on. We’ll have music going all day.”

McDuffie says over the last four years, the Yellow Bat Tournament has raised roughly $20,000 for FACT. He hopes to raise $10,000 more this year.

“I’m very proud. This year, the Yellow Bat classic is presented by Commonwealth Commercial Partners based out of Richmond. I’m personally very excited by that because I work for Commonwealth. So, it’s very flattering that they’re supporting me on this, and that they want to be involved and support the autistic community in Hampton Roads.”