January 23, 2024 2:50 a.m. 

Umpqua Valley Christian School is holding a First Pitch Dinner on Saturday February 3rd at 6:00 p.m.

High school seniors on their baseball team have been playing together since they were 3 and 4 years old, navigating through travel teams and all-star competitions. They were state runner-ups as sophomores and made it to the state semi-finals last year.

The history of baseball success dates back many years at UVC. That includes state champion teams in 2019, 2009 and 2002.

The team is raising money to compete on a national stage at a prestigious tournament in Arizona during spring break. Teams from over a dozen states will be attending the Coach Bob Pride Classic.

To make this a reality, players have many fundraisers underway. The pinnacle of the effort is the First Pitch Dinner at the Danny Lang Event Center on the Umpqua Community College campus. The evening will include special presentations, guest speakers, an auction and more. A number of items have been donated by local sponsors.

Tickets for the evening are $100 a person and include dinner. They are available from the UVC website at: https://www.simpletix.com/e/uvc-first-pitch-dinner-tickets-154216#smtx-click. Donations from those who can’t attend but want to help the cause, can be made through the same link.

Baseball coach Dave York and some of the UVC baseball players talked about the tournament and their fundraising efforts on the Morning Conversation Monday on News Radio 93-9 FM and 1240 KQEN.  That interview is a KQEN Podcast at www.541radio.com