March 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 63

NRPA Update
Pitch, Hit and Run with
Major League Baseball

ach spring, NRPA encourages agencies to host a free Pitch, Hit & Run
(PHR) Presented by Scotts local competition from March through early
May. The event offers boys and girls ages 7 to 14 the opportunity to
compete and advance separately through four levels of competition based on
the skills used in baseball. Seven hundred and twenty youngsters nationwide
will advance to one of 30 team championship events in Major League ballparks, and the top 24 competitors nationwide will earn an all-expense paid trip
to MLB All-Star Week to compete at national finals.
In 2013, eight of the 24 PHR national finalists began their journey
by competing in local and sectional
competitions hosted by their local
park and recreation departments.
From big cities to small towns, the
once-in-a-lifetime opportunities these
finalists experienced can be attributed to their local departments. The

towns of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, and Frankenmuth, Michigan,
became two of the most recent recreation departments to place youth
players on the field during MLB AllStar Game festivities.
Eight-year-old Banks Hartman
competed in Fuquay-Varina's local
competition and continued to advance
to the national finals at Citi Field in
New York City. " The experience that
Banks had from his first competition
in our town all the way to the finals
in New York was absolutely phenomenal, " says Fred Hartman, Banks' father. " I hope the town chooses to host
a local competition again because
they did a terrific job last year, and I
fully expect a huge turnout this year!
Banks is excited to get back out there
and take another swing at it! "
Similar excitement was experienced in a small town in northern
Michigan where 14-year-old Laura Farnsworth advanced from the
Frankenmuth Parks and Recreation
local competition. " We are very
blessed to have such an active recreation department for such a small
town " says Laura. " PHR is one of
the best opportunities I have taken
advantage of, and the reward was
more than I expected. "

With some of the largest softball
and baseball tournaments in Michigan, the town welcomes visitors for
the event organized by the park and
recreation department. " PHR adds
so much to the program, " says Laura's father, Mark Farnsworth. " Now
that someone from Frankenmuth
has won, girls and boys are practicing to make it to the national finals
like my daughter did. It is a great
feeling to see kids practicing every
day to meet these goals. "
Below are the 2013 national finalists who participated in their park
and recreation department's local
competition:
Jaden LyBurtus: City of Santa
Maria Recreation and Parks, California*
Haley Loffer: Hayden Community Services Department, Idaho
Laura Farnsworth: Frankenmuth
Parks and Recreation, Michigan*
Banks Hartman: Town of
Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
Jacob Hufnagel: Upper St Clair
Recreation and Leisure Services,
Pennsylvania*
Jackson White: St. Andrews
Parks, South Carolina
Parker Lee: Friendswood Parks
and Recreation, Texas
Colten Shumway: Cedar City
Leisure Services and Recreation,
Utah
* = Participant was national
champion in his/her respective age
and gender group
Register to host a local competition for your recreation department
at www.mlb.com/phr.

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