Play Ball Vermont: A Home Run of a Morning in Montpelier

The bases were loaded, with kids, at Montpelier Recreation Field this morning as the Vermont Mountaineers and the Red Sox Foundation brought Play Ball: Vermont to the Capital City.

More than 150 kids ages 5 to 12 signed up for the free clinic, rotating through stations that included a Home Run Derby, base running, and a modified bat-and-ball game. With every piece of equipment soft, plastic, and provided on-site, gloves and helmets stayed home — and nerves stayed low, no matter a kid's experience level.

The turnout speaks for itself: Play Ball events exist to lower the barrier to entry for youth baseball and softball, and Montpelier showed up in a big way. From first-timers picking up a bat for the first time to kids who couldn't wait for their next turn at the plate, the morning was full of big swings and bigger smiles.

Huge thanks to the Red Sox Foundation for backing this event, to the volunteers and coaches who ran the stations, and to every family who came out on a Saturday morning to give baseball a try.

Batter up, Vermont, we'll see you at the ballpark.