FREEHOLD – Play Ball, a new community service project founded by Ryan Tietjen, a current Freehold High School student, collects pre-owned baseball gear and offers and donates the equipment to players and teams in need of equipment, free of charge.
In a press release dated Oct. 14, Ryan said Play Ball has received donations of bats, gloves, helmets, cleats, clothes, practice balls, equipment bags and everything else baseball players and teams may need.
On a rolling basis, a full inventory of gear is collected and then offered and donated to children in need from Monmouth and Ocean counties.
Ryan said the objective of Play Ball is to remove barriers to entry, such as the expense of quality baseball gear, and make the sport accessible to all children regardless of their financial standing.
“Our project was formed on one simple idea: no kid should ever be prevented from playing
baseball because they can’t afford it.
“Local baseball families have shown overwhelming support of this project by privately contributing tons of gear and I am thrilled to be able to offer players and teams quality baseball equipment for the first time to kids who want to play the game,” Ryan said.
Play Ball’s first official equipment donation and collection event will be hosted at the USABL
Frazier Halloween Havoc Baseball Tournament to be held at Clutch Park, 16 McLean St., Freehold, on Oct. 17.
For more information, visit www.playballexchange.com or Instagram
@playballexchange.com