When it comes to supporting at-risk youth in the area, the Fredericksburg Nationals have stepped up to the plate.
Partnering with local activist Eunice Haigler, the team provided a “generous” number of free tickets to Friday’s matchup against the Delmarva Shorebirds, its first of the season donning its Fredericksburg Frogs jerseys. That donation is one of the first steps in Haigler’s “….A Village” project that seeks to provide experiences to area youth and their families that they otherwise wouldn’t have.
The free seats at Friday’s Frogs game were some of the first steps in that effort, one Haigler launched in coordination with other local outreach initiatives after April’s shooting in Old Greenwich. The incident left three area teenagers dead, three more in custody and many asking questions about how to help.
Haigler hopes that moments like Friday night will help open young minds to their potential and the opportunities open to them. She tips her hat to Fredericksburg Nationals owner Seth Silber and his “pure and beautiful heart.” Silber not only provided the seats, but also arranged for the stadium’s media team to visit the group and interview several of the kids. One child called it the “best night of his life.” Haigler says that many in her group of nearly 60 had never been to a baseball game before.
Unveiled earlier this spring, the Fredericksburg Frogs jerseys and identity pays homage to the 1919 African-American amateur baseball franchise that would field a team until the 1940s. Friday’s face-off with the Shorebirds was the first of four Frogs games to be played this summer.
The Frogs will next appear on Friday, July 18th and then again on Friday, August 15th before finishing out the summer on Friday, September 5th. Haigler says that the the team will provide free tickets to each remaining game for other local youth and their loved ones to enjoy the experience.
