Whether you’re a child or you’re 90 years old, if you’re a fan of baseball, Opening Day is one of the most anticipated days of the year.
That’s not just for professional baseball. There’s equal excitement for local Little Leagues across the country.
And it’s not any different for the youth Little League in Mt. Pleasant.
For the last few months, community members have been hard at work preparing for this weekend’s events which will kick-off the Mt. Pleasant and Union Township Little League season—of which 180 area youth athletes ages six through 12 will be participating.
The collaborative Mt. Pleasant and Union Township Little League (MPUTLL) was formed only last year, as the two individual local Little Leagues, Union Township Little League and Mt. Pleasant Little League, teamed up to form a joint program.
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Courtney Jerome / Epicenter Mt. PleasantMcDonald Park is a community park located adjacent to the Union Township Hall at 2010 S. Lincoln Road in Mt. Pleasant.
“Over the past 40+ years Union Township and Mt. Pleasant Little League were operated and chartered independently. This was done primarily due to boundaries and team limits with high participation numbers. The leagues always enjoyed the ‘cross town rivalries’ and played a lot of great baseball,” shares Alex Edwards, who is serving his last season as president of the league, with co-president Eric Hall at his side.
“As our numbers came back down (due to other sports taking place in the same season) it just made sense to combine the leagues,” Edwards explains of their 2024 partnership. “Most all other communities have all of their kids play together in the same league from tee-ball to high school. Our kids did not have that opportunity as we were restricted by residency boundaries until school of choice came along. These are just a couple of the many advantages of combining leagues.”
Prior to being president of the MPUTLL, Edwards was president of the Union Township Little League, and served on the Board in various positions since 2016, while simultaneously coaching numerous teams for his sons over 20 years.
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Courtney Jerome / Epicenter Mt. PleasantMcDonald Park is the largest Union Township Park that includes 6 ball fields and supports several leagues, including MPUTLL.
“I have stayed involved over the years not only to give back to the community but to ensure that the kids in our community have the best possible experience while learning the game of baseball that we all love!” he shares. “Little League opens many opportunities for the kids. They get the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the game, learn how to be team players and most importantly make lifetime memories. It is very hard to find volunteers willing to take on this type of responsibility, but I have been blessed with fantastic past and current Board members who relentlessly give to our league and community.”
In fact, this year alone, outside of the voluntary Board and coaches, the area community has stepped up to support the league and its youth athletes in several ways.
On Saturday, April 5, the league hosted an annual field clean-up day, where over 40 community members attended to assist in preparing the fields at
McDonald Park and
Pickens Field for play this season.
On Wednesday, April 23, Buffalo Wild Wings donated a portion of their proceeds to the league and hosted their restaurant for jersey pickups.
Plus, spectators will see the financial support of local businesses throughout the season via banners on baseball field fences, and their logos on player jerseys and ball hats.
“We had a lot of sponsors this year support our Little League program. We have over 16 teams this year that were sponsored by area businesses,” says Edwards. “The support we receive from area businesses year-in and year-out is amazing; we cannot thank them enough for everything they do for the Little League program.”
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Courtney Jerome / Epicenter Mt. PleasantTurf is being installed at two Pickens Field batting cages. “This furthers their skill and fine tunes fundamentals for their future teams. It enhances the safety and functionality as well,” says Chris Rowley with the Mt. Pleasant Area CVB.
New this year to the MPUTLL facilities is another show of support that’s driven by Mt. Pleasant High School sophomore Ryan Ferguson—turf that's being installed within the batting cages at Pickens Fields to be utilized by the league and community.
Ferguson is a pitcher on the Mt. Pleasant High School JV baseball team and chose this initiative as his Eagle Scout project.
“When it came time to choose an Eagle Scout project, I wanted to find something that had to do with baseball or the Little League because I spent a lot of time at the Little League fields growing up and wanted to give something back,” says Ferguson.
“Once I started working on the project I quickly learned that there was more involved with it than I expected, but felt that I had committed to do it and that it was worth doing,” he continues. “I put together the budget and found that I was going to need about $7,000 to complete the project. I started applying for grants and funding from local organizations and received $5,000 from the Mt. Pleasant Area Convention & Visitors Bureau as a destination development grant, $1,000 from the Mt. Pleasant Jaycees, and $500 from the Lions Club. In addition, the local Home Depot provided $500 as an in-kind donation for supplies we needed. Fisher Transportation has also provided the gravel at a discounted rate.”
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Courtney Jerome / Epicenter Mt. Pleasant
“Enhancing the Mt. Pleasant and Union Township Little League batting cages with turf allows for a more enjoyable experience for youth baseball players in our community and for our visitors,” shares Chris Rowley, executive director at the Mt. Pleasant Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Improved facilities draw more teams and make Mt. Pleasant more competitive when teams are looking where to go for tournaments. This then leads to more sporting groups coming to the area, driving overnight stays and related tourism spending creating more economic impact in our area. It also contributes to the long-term development of the city’s sports infrastructure, fostering a sense of community pride and encouraging participation in local sports activities. So, our residents and visitors both benefit!"
With the help of this assistance and a handful of volunteers, Ferguson’s batting cage project is moving forward, however he does note he could benefit from a volunteer with a front loader who can help him move gravel and hopefully complete the project this weekend.
“We plan on being at Pickens Fields from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday in case anyone wants to come out and help,” Ferguson says.
For those in the community looking to support the MPUTLL for Opening Weekend, Friday night at 5 p.m. a player parade will take place on Main Street from Town Center to Pickens Fields followed by 7 p.m. Major Division games under the lights. On Saturday, April 26, various divisions will have games starting at 1 p.m. at the Union Township fields at McDonald Park and starting at 3 p.m. at Pickens Fields.
For more information and game schedules for the Mt. Pleasant and Union Township Little League, visit them on
Facebook and at
mtpll.com.