When Chase Jones was a young freshman baseball player at the University of North Carolina, he received news that nothing could have prepared him for.

Jones was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer. A traumatic time for him, his family and all of his friends was lying ahead, but they all wanted to do something more than mourn.

So, Jones and his teammates decided to shave their heads in order to raise funds to fight childhood cancer. On Saturday, the Georgia Southern baseball team chose to join that fight as well.

“I’m proud of our guys and I really appreciate everybody that supported and participated,” head coach Rodney Hennon said. “I don’t know many people who haven’t been affected by cancer in some way, shape or form. So I’m glad we can be a part of it.”

The Eagles have been raising money for quite some time hoping to reach a goal of $6,000. After counting all of the donations on Saturday, the team found out that they did more than reach that goal – they surpassed it. The Georgia Southern baseball team raised a total of $6,517.72 with Cal Baker and Aaron Mizell leading the way.

Each player had their own web page where family and friends could donate. The players shared their page through Facebook and Twitter to raise even more awareness for the fundraiser and the Vs. Cancer Foundation.

Collectively, Mizell and Baker raised over one third of the total. Nevertheless, after Saturday’s victory with family, friends and fans surrounding, each player lined up to have their head shaved.

One by one, the players took off their Georgia Southern baseball cap while sitting down in the chair and waiting for the cape to be in place. Next, each player took a deep breath and closed their eyes as they said goodbye to their hair.

“I’ve had all sorts of hairstyles throughout my days, so I’m not too worried about missing it. It’s all for a great cause and I mean, it’s hair so it will grow back,” Mizell said.

It is not just about shaving heads though. All the team really wanted to do was raise money for children who are not able to be on the baseball field. This foundation is a bit different form other cancer research foundations. Fifty percent of the donations that the Eagles received will go to national childhood cancer research, while the other half goes to a local children’s hospital to help children in this community.

“I think cancer is something we’re all affected by, whether it’s your own family or your friends. So, it’s a great cause,” Mizell said. “Something as simple as shaving your head to raise support for people going through this is great because they can’t be out here doing what we’re doing so it’s good to be able to give back to them.”