Buddy Baseball April 2018 Newsletter

Hello Buddy Baseball Fans,

What a great season we had! Wonderful weather and no rainouts. Thanks to all of the buddies, coaches, volunteers and sponsors that made it a success. We appreciate those who completed our Buddy Baseball survey and for your suggestions and the nice comments.

Congratulations to our three Sarah Otteson Buddy Scholarship winners: Katie Whitaker, Joseph Skelton and Hannah Douglas. Each of the winners received a $1000.

Our fall season will start on September 29th. Registration will open in July. Watch your email and Facebook for updates.

Have a great off season and we will see you in the Fall.

Russ Oberbroeckling

Executive Director

Link to our website

Sarah Otteson

Buddy Scholarship Winners

Katie Whitaker, Joseph Skelton, Hannah Douglas

Congratulations to Katie Whitaker from Brandon High School, Joseph Skelton from Seffner Christina Academy and Hannah Douglas from Durant High School as this year's Sarah Otteson Buddy Scholarship winners. Katie, Joseph and Hannah will each receive a $1000 check for their college expenses.

Scholarship applicants submitted essays and responded to questions describing their extracurricular activities, community service involvement, why they chose to participate in Buddy Baseball, a highlight of their Buddy Baseball experience and how they thought their Buddy Baseball involvement will help them in the future.

Both Katie and Joseph have participated in Buddy Baseball for over 10 seasons. Katie will be attending Hillsborough Community College and Joseph will be attending the University of Central Florida. Hannah has participated in Buddy Baseball for seven seasons and will be attending Hillsborough Community College.

For the second straight year, Dr. Howard and Donya McLeod donated generously to the scholarship fund. Their donation enabled us to award all three winners a $1000 instead of $750. In addition to the three main scholarship winners - we awarded $100 to seven other worthy Buddy scholarship applicants who received and "Honorable Mention."

Player Spotlight - CJ Santos

Christopher (CJ) Santos

CJ has been playing Buddy Baseball for a many years. He is 16 years old and attends Leto High School. He likes everything about soldiers and he wants to be a soldier. CJ's favorite musical group is Triple 7. His favorite baseball team is the New York Yankees and his favorite restaurant is McDonalds.

Buddy Spotlight - Caitlin Cimeno

Caitlin Cimeno

Caitlin attends Steinbrenner High school and was a four year varsity swimmer. She has been a buddy for four seasons and will turn 18 next month. Her favorite thing about summer is traveling to see family. Caitlin's favorite subject in school is History and she wants to be a judge when she is older.

Rookie Spotlight - Brandon Wayne

Brandon Wayne

This is Brandon's first season with Buddy Baseball. He is 8 years old and attends Buckhorn Elementary. Brandon loves music and dancing. His favorite food is Chicken and Rice and his favorite candy is Gummy Bears.

Coach Spotlight - Jonathon Bertic

Jonathon Bertic

Jonathon has been a coach for almost three years. He works for a remodeling company that specializes in bathroom and kitchen remodels. Jonathon enjoys working with his hands and learning as much he possibly can. He values his family time each weekend, as well as time with his girlfriend Kaitlyn and other close friends. Jonathon loves anything that has to do with being outdoors. (Buddy Baseball being one of those things!) He has enjoyed every season that he has helped with Buddy Baseball and considers it a privilege to be a part of the organization that gives what the world sees as "the least of these" an opportunity to shine and be themselves.

Volunteer Spotlight

Temple Terrace Juniorettes

Juniorettes - Alexandera Schaffer and Ashley Birdsong

The GFWC Temple Terrace Juniorette Club is a service club for girls in grades 7 through 12. They focus on leadership development through community service. We have several Juniorettes that are buddies. The club also helps out for the last game of the season with the cookies, drinks and sorting out the team photos and awards. Some of the Juniorette's projects include bingo parties at Hope Lodge, Dr. Seuss program at the library, holiday parties for a Girl Scout troop with special needs, Relay for Life, and their annual Easter Egg Hunt. They are part of the General Federation of Women's Clubs and work closely with our local Woman's Club and Junior Woman's Club. The Juniorettes meet the first Monday of every month during the school year, and their meetings are at Woodmont Clubhouse in Temple Terrace. For more information on the Juniorettes contact Joyce Johnston at 813-985-3533.

Sponsor Spotlight

Tracy Johnston & Associates, Inc. (TJA) is family business offering printer supplies and business printing since 1982. TJA provides businesses with original and compatible toners, inks and ribbons for printers and copiers. As a print broker, TJA delivers quality, customized business printing. For a quote, call 813.512.6720.

Tracy Johnston and Associates