Inaugural TCU baseball fundraiser is a home run
Mike Mallow photo
Brody Schmidt of Le Center nails the ball to win the 3rd-4th grade age division of the home run derby held as part of the TCU baseball event on Saturday.
“We had no idea what to expect. We’re happy,” Greg Westerman said about the great turnout at the inaugural Meet TCU Baseball fundraising event that was held Saturday at the TCU High School Gym.
The indoor venue proved advantageous with a steady downpour outside.
The event included a home run derby, wiffle ball tournament, concessions and TCU baseball merchandise.
The TCU Baseball Booster Club, established late last year, organized the event to raise money for TCU baseball and engage younger athletes.
“The idea of the event was less about raising money and more about promoting our players by getting them out around the kids,” Mike Jirik said. “We wanted them to engage with them and get them excited about the season in hopes they want to come out, see some of the players they talked to, got autographs from, and watched play.”
The home run derby led off the evening with around 48 kids in three age divisions participating.
The winners of the home run derby were Brody Schmidt in the grades 3-4 grade group, Grady Nusbaum in the 5-6 grade group, and Nolan Hunt in the 7-8 grade division.
City wide garage sales will be on May 3. The Montgomery Messenger will have a special section and special price for anyone wanting to place an ad for $20. Deadline for submitting is April 30, and a form to fill out and return will be in the Thursday, April 17, Messenger.
After a short intermission, the wiffle ball game was played between high school baseball players. The teams went by the Homerun Hooligans and the Wiffle Whackers.
During the game, the younger participants got to participate by standing in the home run zone area and catching fly balls.
In the end, the Homerun Hooligans defeated the Wiffle Whackers 35-22.
The evening concluded with awards and autographs.
The event and other fundraising in the last months were successful enough that the boosters will be able to provide the players with after-school meals for all road games.
“We were able to raise some funds that will help us cover away game meals for seven to 12 players, pay for a charter bus on a drive to Marshall, and just help supplement a number of other smaller ticket items that the team needs,” Jirik said.
“It definitely exceeded expectations,” Westerman added.
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