Braintree Little Leaguer Honored by Council, Worked Fenway Park with Ground Crew

For the past few years, Gavin Erdody has arrived at  by 7 a.m. each Saturday, ready to help prepare the Braintree National fields for competition.

Recently, that hard work really paid off.

Before a Red Sox game on May 25, Gavin was invited onto the field at Fenway Park to help the grounds crew, an opportunity that Town Councilor Tom Bowes put together to thank the 12-year-old for his volunteer landscaping.

"It was really cool being out there for the first time," Gavin said on Tuesday evening before being presented with a commendation by the .

He might soon be back on the 100-year-old diamond, as grounds crew head Dave Miller said Gavin and his family could come back while the Red Sox are away for a tour of Fenway. And when Gavin is 18, he looks forward to the possibility of interning with the crew.

Gavin, a sixth grader at , plays for the Cubs and would like to be a landscape architect when he's older, or a firefighter because he lives near the headquarters.

Before the Sox game on May 25, Gavin helped take out the bases after batting practice, removed the field's protective covers and spray-painted the rubber on the pitching mound and home plate.

"Gavin had the experience of a lifetime," Bowes said.

He was presented with a certificate and a baseball, both signed by the members of the Town Council, along with a Braintree National Youth League sweatshirt.

"It's nice to hear about a young man in Braintree doing something for his community," Councilor-at-Large Charles Ryan said. "I really appreciate it."