PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — If you’re out walking or riding your bike, stop by this Saturday, July 22, at the Palos Baseball Organization fields, 7701 W. College Drive, Palos Heights. The annual Bats for Brains Wiffle Ball Tournament will be taking place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. benefitting the American Brain Tumor Association.
In addition to some great ball playing, Bats for Brains features raffles, split the pot, food for purchase and live music from Strat & Taylor.
This is the first year the tournament has been held at PBO, formerly played in the Cook County forest preserves. Bats for Brains was founded in 2017 by Zach Szykowny, who was inspired by his youngest brother Max’s brush with a brain tumor.
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“We realize Max was a very fortunate young man, and circumstances for so many other families out there are not as fortunate,” said Zach, 31, and a first time-dad.
A few years earlier, Max started experiencing blinding headaches and sudden vision impairment in middle school.
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“Other times I’d puke out of nowhere and not remember it an hour later,” said Max, now 21.
Thinking her son had a stomach issue, Suzanne Szykowny’s maternal instincts kicked in. She took her son to the pediatrician, thinking it was a stomach problem. The pediatrician suggested getting an MRI.
“I called 15 places and got an MRI the next day,” Suzanne said. “I just thought it was a backup thing.”
Suzanne and her husband, Dan, instead were given the grim prognosis that their son had a juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma brain tumor, which makes up 15-25 percent of brain tumors seen in children.
Max underwent a 10-hour surgery at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn. Midway through the surgery, the surgeon came out and told Suzanne and Dan that the tumor was malignant. By the time Max came out of the surgery, the cancer was mysteriously gone.
“I think it’s because so many people were praying for us,” Suzanne said. “We had a Mighty Max Prayer Chain going all across the country. To this day I believe it was prayer that saved him.”
Her son had a second round surgery at Advocate Children’s to correct bleeding on the brain from the first surgery. Max healed and entered Shepard High School. Today he’s about to enter his senior year at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where is studying film.
“My dream is to write and star in my own series and be showrunner at the same time,” he said.
Since the tourney’s inception, Bats For Brains has raised $66,000 for the American Brain Tumor Association. On Saturday, the Szykownys will be raffling a 70-inch flat screen TV, silent auction, raffle baskets and split-the-pot all day long. Among the prizes are autographed pictures of White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease, and Luis Robert Jr, the only Sox player to make the MLB All Star team in the American League. Winners need not be present to win.
The teams have already been lined up, who will play a round robin tournament. For anyone who broke a window with a wiffle ball as a kid, expect some competitive games. Many of the players are there because a friend or family member had a brain tumor, but you can still come out and watch, buy some raffle tickets, or have some food.
“We felt very fortunate that Max came out of it okay. Zach said we were the lucky people,” Suzanne added. “It’s good just to get together with people.”
The 2021 Bats for Brains wiffle ball tournament participants.
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