The Wiffle ball field built by Stevin Huttenstine and his two sons, Caleb and Dakota, sits on a field adjacent to their house.
Neel Madhavan | Laurinburg Exchange
Stevin Huttenstine and his two sons, Caleb (left) and Dakota (right), show off the Wiffle ball field they’ve built.
Neel Madhavan | Laurinburg Exchange
The fence lines the outfield of the Wiffle ball field.
Neel Madhavan | Laurinburg Exchange
LAURINBURG — An idea for a summer project has turned into a local summer charity event.
Stevin Huttenstine and his two sons are planning to host a charity Wiffle ball tournament in the field adjacent to their house on July 10, with proceeds going towards the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office’s youth outreach efforts, including activities like “Shop with a Cop.”
“The kids don’t have a lot to do around here (during the summer),” Huttenstine said. “So we talked about having a tournament and I said well why don’t we do a charity tournament? So we went through a few charities and (the boys) chose “Shop with a Cop” with the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office to help kids in the area during Christmastime.”
The tournament will be open to the public and teams of almost all ages are welcome to join. Huttenstine said he currently has seven teams confirmed to participate, including a team from the Sheriff’s Office, and has received interest from four or five other teams.
The entry fee is $5 per player or $30 per team and each team should have six players. 50% of the total entry fees collected will go towards the Sheriff’s Office, and the other 50% will be pooled together as a prize for the winning team.
Huttenstine said ideally, they’re hoping to have 12 or 16 total teams participate. First pitch will be at 9:30 a.m., and the all-day tournament will be double-elimination. He added that concessions will be sold, with food donations including 30 pounds of barbeque from Revels Barbeque in Bennettsville, SC, 250-300 hot dogs, chili and slaw from Mamie’s in Laurel Hill, NC and 30 cases of water. Also, local businesses have donated gifts and items for a 50/50 raffle and auction with all proceeds raised by concessions, the raffle and auction going towards “Shop with a Cop.”
“We don’t want to put an age group on it, but I’m telling these teams to be mindful of the younger kids,” Huttenstine said. “I’m suggesting 11-12 years old and up. Everybody’s going to be in the same group. It’s going to be a fun, family event. Sheriff Ralph Kersey’s even going to be there to represent the sheriff’s department.”
Huttenstine’s 15-year-old son Caleb first became interested in Wiffle ball after seeing highlights of Major League Wiffle ball (MLW) on YouTube.
“I just started watching it, and it caught my attention immediately,” Caleb said. “I love watching baseball, and it’s a little bit different — it’s a little more enticing.”
Caleb added that the faster pace and more compact action of the Wiffle ball games also helped draw him to the sport.
Huttenstine said Caleb wanted a summer project, and Caleb suggested that they build a Wiffle ball field — a full regulation field in accordance with MLW measurements and specifications.
It took Huttenstine, Caleb and his oldest son Dakota, 17, about a week or two to cut the grass the right length, paint the lines on the field, build the outfield fences and install the other necessary parts of the field.
“We’ve been working on it for a week and we’re trying to get everything else ready and cleaned up,” Huttenstine said. “We’ll probably be working on it nonstop all the way up to probably the day before.”
Huttenstine said the ultimate goal ideally would be for the tournament to spur the creation of a local wiffleball league during the summers.
The North Carolina Wiffle Ball Tournament has been held every year for 40 years, and this year is returning to its original site in Kenly, NC from July 17-18. The professional MLW league currently has eight teams, which are based in the Midwest and northeast — the Coastal Cobras, Midwest Mallards, Downtown Diamondbacks, Pacific Predators, Western Wildcats, Eastern Eagles, Great Lakes Gators and Metro Magic.
“Every kid has taken a bat and ball just and hit around their yards,” Huttenstine said. “If this grows and keeps going like it has gone so far, then maybe it could be something for Scotland County to actually have and do.”
For more information or to sign up for the tournament, contact Stevin Huttenstine at 910-706-7903 or [email protected] There’s also an event page set up on Facebook, “Charity Wiffle Ball Tournament,” that has details and information.
“It’s been fun to build and it’s going to be even more fun to play,” he said.
To support the Laurinburg Exchange, subscribe at https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/subscribe.
Reach Neel Madhavan at 910-817-2671 ext. 2751 or [email protected] Follow on Twitter at @NeelMadhavan.
"ball" - Google News
July 01, 2021 at 05:33AM
https://ift.tt/361Lq3l
Family to host Wiffle ball tourney for charity - Richmond County Daily Journal
"ball" - Google News
https://ift.tt/39CKzGV
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
No comments:
Post a Comment