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BLACKSBURG – For the sixth straight fall, Virginia Tech baseball held its annual "Shave for the Brave" event as more than 50 players, coaches, staff members and friends and family of the Hokies had their heads shaved to bring awareness and raise funds for childhood cancer research.

The event was held in association with the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which supports childhood cancer research, and the “46 Mommas Shave for the Brave” organization. Thanks mostly to funds donated through the Internet – on the team’s official donation page https://www.stbaldricks.org/events/VTBaseball – the program is on pace to reach its targeted goal of $30,000 for the second straight year. In all, the team has raised almost $135,000 in six years.

The donation page, as of Nov. 2, showed a sum of $27,500, but does not include any cash donations made that still need to be submitted. Those donations include some made the night of the event, which began with the team’s annual Halloween game. Baseball players and staff dressed up for the event and played a slow-pitch softball game to entertain the crowd before the shaving began.

The Shave for the Brave is held in conjunction with the efforts put forth by Melina Brown, whose son Levi – an adopted member of the Tech baseball team – was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a highly malignant primary brain tumor, when he was four. Now 15, he is cancer free, but everyday 46 mothers in the United States are told their child has cancer, so the fight never ends. Levi was honored on the field after the event and was presented with some Tech gear, the same gear the players get.

Click on the right side of the page to see a photo gallery of the event or CLICK HERE to see video of it. For those still looking to support the cause, please click on the team’s donation page link above and then sponsor your favorite Hokie. The team is still raising money in hopes to win the “Battle of the Bald” and take home the Bald Cup - a college showdown to see which school can raise the most money by Nov. 30. The Hokies are currently in second place (see complete standings here http://www.stbaldricks.org/college-battle).

This was the ninth event of the 2015-16 academic year for 19 Ways - the baseball team's initiative to find 19 ways to make a difference in the community. For more information on the team’s 19 Ways program, please visit the Facebook page.

For updates on Virginia Tech baseball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Baseball