Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Saturday, April 27, 2013
(BEDFORD) - The 2013 Devon Hensley Jamboree will take place Saturday, an annual rite of spring that brings hundreds of boys to Wiley Park to play Little League baseball in a fun, festive atmosphere while raising donations for the Devon Hensley Memorial Scholarship that goes to a deserving BNL baseball senior each year.
Jeff Bartlett of the Times-Mail reports that this season, however, will be the first one played under the merger that combined the two local youth organizations into the The Boys Club and Girls Club of Lawrence County.
The Girls Jamboree will take place a week later on May 4 at the fields adjacent to the newer club building.
The Devon Hensley Jamboree will get underway at 10 a.m., and before the day is done there will be action in T-ball, Rookie (age 5&6), Farm (7&8), Minor (9&10) and Major (11&12) leagues, with 30 teams playing exhibition games.
The opening ceremonies will take place at 3 p.m., with the American Legion flag corps on hand for the National Anthem, and ceremonial first pitches thrown on Bob Baugh Field.
Smoky B's Barbecue will be on hand once again to torment the taste buds with the wafting scent of slow-cooked succulence, but one of the best things attendees will find is a couple of new parking areas that have been cleared. They have yet to be paved, but gravel is down and it will help ease the parking glut that sometimes plagued the park on busy nights.
Boys and Girls Club Activities Director Jimmy Gratzer, who has busily assigned nearly 600 kids to teams and scheduled games for more than 50 teams between the boys and girls leagues.
The boys leagues currently have 410 players with the Junior League included(ages 13&14), while the girls have just under 200 players signed up for Coach-pitch (5&6), Machine-pitch (7&8), Minor (9&10), Major (11&12) and Senior (13-15) leagues for fast-pitch softball.
With the merger, the girls will now play under the Little League umbrella, which has added benefits with the Minor and Major league All-Star teams getting to play in district tournaments, just like the boys always do, and have more girls sign up for the 13-15-year olds, that can now have an All-Star team to play in districts.
Their games will be played at the fields over by Parkview, except for the coach-pitch league. The coach-pitch girls and the T-ball boys games will be played at the small field at Wiley.
1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com
© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.