GAUTIER, Dominican Republic – The Christmas spirit came to one small town a few days early with the help of the Wabash College baseball team.

Following yesterday’s rain out, team members packed more than 300 goodie bags with candy for local youth. Today’s task for 18 players was to head to Gautier, an old sugar cutters’ town, and through the streets inviting children to the local ballpark for some presents with a call–“Regalo en el pley”—of gifts at the baseball field.

“When it was proposed that we were going to walk through the neighborhood and convince kids to come to the ballpark for candy, I wasn’t sure it was going to work,” said Drew Neidig ’27 of Evansville, Indiana. “But it was so much fun. Getting to make this kind of quick and personal connection is really cool. It felt great for this small community and even better for us.”

True to form, the Little Giants brought in an ace—Santa Claus—to help with the convincing. By the time the team and jolly ol’ Saint Nick made it to the ballpark, there were about 30 kids strolling with the team in a makeshift parade and nearly 10 times that many waiting in the bleachers behind home plate.

“How cool was that?” asked Will McKinzie ’26 of Brownsburg, Indiana.

Once settled, Santa took a seat and gave a goodie bag to each child (all bags were distributed) while the team made a tunnel to exchange high fives and fist bumps. By the end, it was hard to say who was more popular, Santa or the players.

Many of the players took phots with the kids, exchanged hugs, and gave away a few hats. It was a small gesture that will have a lasting impact for all involved.

“I wasn’t planning on giving away my hat, but seeing the looks on those kids’ faces is priceless,” McKinzie said.“Nothing can beat that.”

Neidig agreed. “This is something I’ll take with me for the rest of my life.”