Keepin’ it Weird – Rangers Youth Ball Park
Continuing on about the great Rangers community, they have this fantastic replica ball park right next to RBIA that is available for rentals. It’s a youth ball park so the fences are drawn in and the bases are 60 feet apart. Well, good thing Biking for Baseball puts on youth baseball clinics and games across the country!
We always want to create a memorable experience for all of the kids and volunteers involved with a Biking for Baseball event, so we shoot for the moon while selecting a field. We hit it this time!
Our goal is to create a crazy fun atmosphere for the kids that is filled with encouragement. Bigs, volunteers and B4B’ers support these great kids by being a positive influence in their lives at each event the Biking for Baseball team hosts. Each event is a microcosm of what each mentoring relationship is doing year round. It’s incredibly easy and readily accessible to become a positive influence in a kid’s life. Especially to a child that is in need of one. Get at it already!
There was actually a game that was supposed to end at 7 PM right before our event was to start. It ended a bit early, 6:38 to be exact, so we were able to take the field and start setting up and warming our arms even earlier then we expected. With so much extra time at the beginning, we were even able to hit some grounders and pop flies to our attendees for the day.
We found out Jacob was the star of his Little League team, as he jogged out to SS and gobbled up any grounder hit his direction.
Timothy, might be the fastest kid we’ve seen on the diamond yet this year. Every catch for him was a play worth diving and getting dirty for. Who doesn’t love hustle, honestly?
Robinson was a swimmer and a football player (just starting this year) and this was his first time playing baseball… EVER! He did great! He whacked a base hit down the third base line during our game that had him smiling from ear to ear. Hopefully this is just the start to his baseball career as well 🙂
Jaileena came in jeans and forgot her glove unfortunately. So we’re thinking that we might need to help her get into the swing of things. Pfbtftfbpftbpfpbtfpbtfbpft! She’s played softball her entire life! She was running down line drives at our ESPN highlight station then winging them back into Chase with a sidearm flick from across her body. Needless to say, we were VERY impressed!
Robert and Ryan, came up with the name for the team managed by Adam. Los Chupacabras! Robert LOVED the name and the slogan for the team,
Keepin’ it Weird!
Each time Robert smacked a hit at the plate, made a play in the field, or just wanted to give someone a high-five; it was followed with an emphatic, “Keepin’ it weird!”
Lefty Javarion, aka JJ, had a cannon for an arm. He was WAY too modest about it too. That ball came out like a rocket each time he threw it around the diamond. He took a couple wind-ups from the mound in between innings and we’d be surprised if we didn’t see him pitching for his high school team before too long.
The evening was a ton of fun. After storms had trickled in and out of the Arlington area over the last couple of days, they gave up for our night of baseball. Thank you!
We had several kids walk away with B4B bandanas won through the HR derby or Hit the Bucket. There were some ball players out there! Which led to a great game of baseball played with some stellar defense. The game ended with 2 men on and the winning run at the plate. It was intense! El Chupacabras over the Rangers 4-2. Great game everyone. Classic B4B pic putting the Bigs in the front and the Littles in the back. Down in front men!
Jennifer and BBBS of Texas have a great team in Arlington. Shoot us an email or head to the BBBS of Texas website to find out how you can become a big today!