James Clemens Baseball Host Madison’s Youth And Makes Special Donation
MADISON- The recently held James Clemens Baseball Youth Night was a chance to host the local youth baseball league to an exciting night of high school baseball, raise money for an important school system initiative and the chance to show off new additions to the baseball facility called the Jetsplex.
The Jets hosted area rival Sparkman in the regularly scheduled game and invited all of the Madison Baseball Association’s players and coaches to attend with free admission with the opportunities to partake in the opening ceremonies and extra fun activities for the entire family. The youth players were invited to the field of play to stand alongside the Jets during the National Anthem and then watched as one lucky player was chosen to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Ten-year old Wyatt Willis was selected for the toss. He is the son of Patrick and Allison Willis and plays for the Twins in the MBA’s 10-Under division.
“Our entire program assisted with the MBA tryouts back in February and our players were looking forward to seeing those same young players on our home turf,” said Cory Hamrick head coach of James Clemens.
The evening included events away from the Jets’ baseball diamond with a baseball photo booth, face painting, special prize giveaways and a special from the concession stand titled the Jets Refuel, which included a hot dog, chips, cookie and water for just $2.
“We also elected the Youth Night to include a special fundraiser,” said Ron Burchfield president of the James Clemens Baseball Grand Slam Club. “Proceeds from sales at the concession stand and fan donations went to our baseball program’s participation in the Madison City School’s Safety and Security Initiative.”
A check of $910 was presented to assist the new program set aside by the school system. Members of the Madison City Schools and Madison School Board were on hand to accept the check from the baseball organization.
“Our baseball program would like to challenge all athletic teams within the Madison City Schools to host a fundraiser to match or exceed our $910 we generated from our special night,” added Burchfield.
Besides having a top-notch, winning baseball program, the vision of the Jets’ is to have one of the best baseball facilities in the state. Phase one of making that happen began in January and were just recently completed. Through donations and hard work by the Grand Slam Club, new and improved backstop netting was installed. In addition, brick walls down each foul line were installed to accent a fan-friendly atmosphere, which was a high priority when the improvements were first designed.
“We want a baseball facility that encourages fans to attend and make the overall environment of exciting baseball,” said Hamrick, in his second season with the Jets. “We all look forward to seeing the next phase of our facility improvements and the continued growth of James Clemens baseball.”
As for the actual game, the Jets came up on the short end of the game against the visiting Senators 10-6.
