The theme for the day was the military and the Middle East wars, and the families of two Huber Heights servicemen were honored, including Army captain Dave Mathews and Marc Kimball, who is in his second tour of duty in Iraq.
Captain Mathews, home on leave, and his wife, Christy, were given a video of the 30-minute ceremony and a video will be sent to Kimball.
Mathews’ son, Alex, plays in the HHYBA’s 12-under circuit and the son of Mark and Clarissa Kimball, Landon Gump, plays in the T-ball loop.
“This was one of the most touching and memorable openers we’ve had in my 15 years with the program,” said Chuck Doran, who has served as president of the HHYBA for the past seven years.
Huber Heights Mayor Ron Fisher said “Huber Heights is a great community to live in and this well-organized program for our youth reflects that.”
Also honored, was Ryan Edwards, who played in the HHYBA program and at Wayne High School, and is now an Ohio National Guardsman while pursuing a criminal justice degree at Wright State University.
Jason Reedy, vice president of the organization and an Earlham College graduate who lost an eye playing baseball, called the ceremony “very touching ... have to admit I shed some tears because I played HHYBA ball, too, and also at Wayne.”
Doran’s son Marc, a senior outfielder on the Wayne varsity baseball team, also is a HHBYA “grad” and a prime-time product. He’s No. 1 and valedictorian in his graduating class at Wayne with a 4.5 GPA and has a scholarship in hand from Ohio State University.
The HHYBA consists of 12 T-ball teams, 28 recreational and seven travel teams.
Doran, a 1978 Wayne alumnus, went on to graduate from of the University of Dayton in 1982, earning a degree in political science and economics. He is employed at Infotel Distributing, a division of Systemax, in Fletcher.
“I can’t say enough about all our coaches and other volunteers who contribute regularly to the program,” he said. “It takes teammates and they have given us that.”
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