Releasing blue and white balloons into the air, T-ball players paid tribute on Friday to their coach, also an officer, who died while riding his motorcycle on a Southern California freeway.
Little League baseball players remembered Shaun Jarvis, 30, who mentored baseball players with his colleagues on youth baseball teams in Beaumont.
Each player wore a jersey emblazoned with Jarvis' name and his son’s jersey number 8 during a game between the 5 and 6-year-old players for the Yankees and the Angels. Jarvis' son is on the Yankees.
"It's somber. It's sad, but this is our way of showing that the game is going to go on," said Lt. Rich Lawhead, a department spokesman and friend of Jarvis. "We know he's watching us from upstairs."
Jarvis, a San Bernardino police officer whose dream was to become a cop, crashed while riding his motorcycle on the Riverside (91) Freeway on Thursday.
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Flags were lowered to half staff and players held a moment of silence. Firefighters massed together with their families and the police department. A helicopter flew overhead to pay the coach homage before the game's first pitch.
The boys “will be learning lessons bigger than baseball out there, as they play on without their head coach,” Lawhead added.
The San Bernardino Police Officers Association has set up a memorial fund to help Jarvis’ family. Donations can be sent to the San Bernardino Police Officers Foundation, c/o Shaun Jarvis, P.O. Box 2967, San Bernardino, CA 92406.
Another is available online, here.
