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IABL Volunteers with PHR Winners
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June 11th 2009 - The IABL would like to thank the following members for volunteering their time to help out Playball Indiana in putting on their annual Pitch, Hit, and Run event at Victory Field.
Phil Belcher of the 18+ Hurricanes
Jude Burger of the 18+ Hurricanes
Matthew Burke of the 18+ Braves
Drew Furry of the 18+ Arrows
Jerry Greer of the 28+ Pirates
Andy McKibben of the 18+ Astros
Jon Nolen of the 28+ Orioles
Eric Norcross of the 28+ Orioles
Don Pollard of the 28+ Pirates
Jason Shirrell of the 18+ Astros
Dan Taylor of the 18+ Dodgers
Michael Toscano of the 18+ Astros
It was a beautiful morning to be at Victory Field. There were over 100 kids from ages 7 to 14 that participated in each of the three events. The kids started off with stretching and warming up. Then the IABL members helped coordinate the kids into their age groups and alphabetical order.
The first event was the run event, where the kids were timed in running from 2nd base to home plate. Dan Taylor and Andy McKibben made a wager with the kids that if any of them ran under seven seconds they would sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” over the PA system. With the fastest time at 7.33, Dan and Andy got off the hook but are scheduled to perform at the IABL All Star game.
The pitch and hit events were held simultaneously. For the pitch event the kids were given 6 throws to hit a target. Each time they hit a target they were given 50 points. Dan Taylor, Jude Burger, Andy McKibben, Jon Nolen, and Eric Norcross helped out with this event. Jude Burger was giving the kids pitching tips and his autograph, and Andy McKibben fell victim to a wild pitch that left a nice baseball stitch mark on his leg. Needless to say, Andy moved over to the hitting event to help out.
For the hitting event the kids got to hit off of Victory Field’s home plate. They were given three swings to try and hit the ball as far and as straight as they could, up the middle of the field. Don Pollard did a great job of calculating the hitting distances for the kids. Phil Belcher, Matthew Burke, Drew Furry, Jerry Greer, Jason Shirrell, and Michael Toscano helped shag balls in the field. Towards the end of the hitting event Andy, Drew, and Phil turned a couple of double plays with the ground balls hit by some of the kids.
At the end of the day Matthew Burke said, “ I had a great time and felt like a kid again, being out here at Victory Field.”
Thanks again to all those who helped out. It was a great time.
-Jason Shirrell
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