Kimball summer baseball/softball program has begun

KIMBALL -- The Kimball summer baseball/softball program began this week.  

One of the boys’ teams had their first game in Gering on Tuesday, and their second game is tonight at 6 p.m. at the Kimball Ball Fields. 

Kimball parents Craig Markum, Tiffany Johnson, and Beth Brown organize the program, which encompasses T-ball, Coach Pitch, Baseball, and Softball. 

The program is run by parents to get their kids involved in athletics and do something fun over the summer. 

T-ball is for boys and girls ages 5-7. There are four co-ed teams that play against each other in Kimball. 

Coach Pitch is for eight-year-olds and some seven-year-olds. Not enough girls signed up this year to make a girls' team, so there are three boys' teams that play against each other in Kimball. 

T–ball and Coach Pitch play throughout June once per week for four weeks. 

Starting at 9-years-old, the kids enter the minors which is where they travel to the surrounding cities to play against other teams. 

The boys' baseball teams are split up between 9-10-year-olds, 11-12-year-olds, and 13-15-year-olds. 

The 9–12-year-old boys have 11 games in total while the 13–15-year-old boys have 12 games. The baseball teams have two home games and play the rest in Gering, Scottsbluff and Mitchell. 

The 10-13-year-old girls have 10 games, one being a home game. 

Markum said they can make teams that go through high school age, but they haven’t had interest from girls above the age of 13 or boys above the age of 15. 

If they can get enough older kids to sign up, then they will make a team for them. 

T-ball and Coach Pitch cost $20-$30 per kid and $50 for travel-age kids.

Everyone is provided with all the equipment to play. The travel kids are provided with jerseys, and the T-ball and Coach Pitch kids are provided with T-shirts.