Final 2026 Softball Donations Made to Dominican Youth

April 1, 2026

Softball News Report

     DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – The last slew of donations, made as part of the 2026 Caribbean Classic Goodwill Tour, were completed Easter weekend.

     Annually, senior softball players attending the Caribbean Classic tour in Punta Cana bring new and slightly used softball equipment to donate to impoverished youth on the island. This year saw some of the largest donations on record.

     The family of Jim Caterbone, 64, who died at the 2025 Northeast Championships in Syracuse, asked for donations to be sent to the Caribbean Classic for needy kids in the Dominican Republic. The $3,250 in donations benefited 240 children with new jerseys and caps across five Dominican youth baseball/softball schools.

• Punta Cana School: The kids visited the Barcelo Bavaro Palace resort, host of the Caribbean Classic, to receive their new uniforms.
• Laguna de Nisibón: Located 55 minutes outside of Punta Cana.
• La Romana: Two schools located an hour from Punta Cana.
• Puerto Plata: Located 6 hours from Punta Cana, on the north side of the country.

Map of the Dominican Republic with the location of the five youth softball school pinned.

     The funds were distributed with the help of Caribbean Classic co-director Tulio Ontiveros.

     “My guiding principle is to support as many children as possible,” said Tulio.

     “This work brings me immense personal satisfaction… planting seeds of hope and delivering a message of commitment to children who lack economic resources, but never stop seeking the support they need to grow,” he added.

Dominican kids with new baseball/softball jerseys and caps, from Puerto Plata school.

     Dominican players, who play against the USA teams at the resort, helped connect Tulio to several of the schools.

     For more information about the Caribbean Classic donations and other goodwill tournaments and qualifiers, please see the SSUSA newspaper story here, page 6: https://seniorsoftball.com/multimedia/2026-spring-newspaper---final.pdf.