YSU Baseball’s First-Pitch Breakfast to Feature Clint Hurdle, Wally Bell

[IAA Fan]

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle and Major League Baseball umpire Wally Bell will be featured speakers at this year’s Youngstown State Baseball First Pitch Breakfast, which will be held on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, at McMenamy’s Restaurant and Banquet Center in Niles, Ohio.

Individual tickets are $15 apiece and will serve as both a raffle ticket and an entry ticket for the breakfast buffet. Corporate and family packages, which include eight breakfast tickets as well as one ticket to an exclusive dinner with Hurdle, Bell and the YSU Coaching Staff the evening prior to the breakfast at Michael Alberini’s Restaurant and Wine Shop in Boardman, are also available for $500.

The First Pitch Breakfast is in its third year, but this will be the first time that the event will include featured speakers in addition to an opportunity to meet the Penguins players and coaches. All proceeds for the event benefit the YSU baseball program.

“Our goal was to expand the size and scope of the already-successful breakfast, and we believe we have created an event that will be interesting to all baseball fans as well as expand our fan base,” YSU first-year head baseball coach Steve Gillispie said.

“Clint Hurdle and Wally Bell are two of the most dynamic personalities in Major League Baseball today, and we feel extremely fortunate to have them as part of our program.  They will be very entertaining to hear as speakers, and they will be even more engaging and personable in their interactions with our guests.”

The two raffle prizes include a suite at Eastwood Field catered for 20 fans for one of YSU’s Saturday home games during the 2013 season and $250 cash. The program will also feature live and silent auction items as well as a 50/50. The emcee for the event will be Bob Hannon, President of the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.

“We’re extremely grateful for the support that we’ve received from McMenamy’s Restaurant and Banquet Center and Michael Alberini’s Restaurant for partnering with us to provide the menus and venues for this event,” Gillispie said. “We’re also appreciative of the businesses who have committed to corporate packages.”

As of Dec. 12, corporate sponsors for the event include Baird Brother’s Fine Hardwoods, Compco Industries, Cox Enterprises, Diamond 9 Development, Hill Brother’s International and City Printing Company.

For more information on the program or to purchase individual tickets or corporate packages, contact associate head coach Kevin Smallcomb at (970) 978-0504 or kdsmallcomb@ysu.edu.

[IAA Fan]

This is a huge event. The opportunity to expand relationships with the Pirates organization is fantastic. I would love to see some other co-op affairs with the Bucks ...maybe instructional opportunities for the community. Talk about a recruiting dream. (Look how successful our kickers camps are ...people love to be able to talk and work with former NFL kickers Paul McFadden and Jeff Wilkins). Or maybe even have a baseball team workout with the Pirates position coaches.

You know, Strollo is as much of a topic of conversation as any player or coach, on this board. For all the bad things we say, I think we need to offer compliments to things that he has done so much better than the average AD. Simple things like this go a very, very long way to establishing our baseball program. Also, look at the facilities that are changing the landscape of the city. Nice job.