Sometime this summer, the inaugural season of the Higgins Middle School Baseball League is certain to get under way.
Opening Day was originally scheduled for Tuesday, May 27, but rain kept the players and coaches inside for the day. The rain hasn’t let up since, and the league has had to continuously push back its start date in anticipation of dryer weather.
Players and coaches thought the dry weather would finally arrive Tuesday, one week removed from the league’s original Opening Day. But, sure enough, an intense midday shower canceled games once again.
This time, however, the players would not be denied a chance to play.
“Yes, we want to play, we really want to play. We’re ready to play, I’m sick of waiting,” Dwight Martin Jr. pleaded while staring at a soggy, puddle-filled Higgins Field.
Higgins principal and league coordinator Kelly Little heard Martin and the other players’ cries, and hosted an “unofficial Opening Day” for the teams present at the field.
“During the rain (Tuesday) I had one coach tell me he received at least 20 calls from players asking ‘Are we playing tonight, Coach? Are we playing?’ So I’m glad the league has given the kids something to look forward to and I’m glad we could at least get in a scrimmage today,” Little said.
The festivities began with McComb mayor Whitney Rawlings throwing out an honorary first pitch, just as he was scheduled to do last week before the rain arrived. Unlike other honorary first pitches, Rawlings lobbed a strike over the plate and received a fist-bump from Little as he exited the field.
Finally, after a week of waiting, it was time to play ball, even if the games didn’t count in the league standings.
Little said the idea to form the league was derived earlier in the school year. The inspiration to form the league was three-fold:
• League administrators hoped to give Higgins students an outlet to spend their summer months productively. The league provides that outlet and encourages kids to stay active and play outdoors rather than spend the summer watching cartoons.
• Many Higgins students cannot afford the league dues of the McComb Dixie Youth Baseball League, “but many of them can simply walk over to Higgins to play,” said Little. The new league gives kids an opportunity to enjoy the game that they would not have had as recently as last summer.
• Little also said she hopes establishing the Higgins league grows the game of baseball in the McComb School District, eventually leading to greater success on the diamond at Denman Junior High and McComb High School.
“We are hitting an audience where this is something they need,” Little said.
Although Little and her fellow league coordinators were able to execute a quick turnaround from electing to form the league to last week’s intended Opening Day, the task was not an easy one. First, league administrators had to find sponsors to help fund the league, which does not receive any public funds from Mayor Rawlings’ office or the school district. Sponsors, along with community donations and volunteers, helped fund the team’s uniforms and equipment for the season.
Next, the league had to find volunteer coaches in the form of parents and community members. Little was proud to admit how easy it was to find willing coaches for the league, listing them off one at a time as a small tribute to their work and dedication.
“They’ve all been so helpful, and they’re as competitive as the kids are,” Little said of the league’s coaches. “I’ve been to every team’s practice at least once, and the coaches want to win just as much as they want to teach the game and have fun. And, of course, all the kids want to win and beat one another. It’s a great spirit and it starts with our awesome coaches.”
One of the league’s sponsors is the Spirit Riders Horse Club, an organization aimed at exposing kids to horses and horseback riding.
The Riders have their own team, coached by community volunteer _ Allen, who works frequently with the Riders. Allen and Little had crossed paths before — the Riders have given horse rides to Higgins students on the school’s campus in the past, and Little is a Spirit Rider herself — and both were excited about their new partnership on the baseball field.
“We like to help kids. They don’t have anything to do when school is out, so we try and keep them active,” Allen said. “If you keep kids active, their minds won’t wander.”
That was the intent Tuesday when the kids took to the muddy field to play, to keep kids active and keep their minds from wandering. After a week of sitting and waiting, it was time to play.
“My hope is the league gives these kids something to do,” Little said. “Give them a hobby, give them somewhere to set goals, something to be excited about.
