Chris O’Bryant remembers seeing the excitement of his players when they got the chance to take the field at the home of the Lansing Lugnuts in the Lansing Promise baseball tournament prior to COVID-19.
The Lansing Eastern varsity baseball coach will once again get a chance to watch his players take the field in a minor league baseball stadium.
The three Lansing School District baseball programs — Eastern, Everett and Sexton — will take center stage at Jackson Field on Saturday, May 23 in the Capital City Classic. The event will feature each school playing the other two in a round-robin format with 100% of the ticket proceeds going towards the participating schools.
The event will begin with Eastern facing Sexton at 10:05, followed by Sexton against Everett at 12:35 p.m. and Everett taking on Eastern at 3:05 p.m.
“It’s amazing,” O’Bryant said of the opportunity for his players and the others who will be part of the event. “Obviously I can only speak for my guys that are very hyped about it but I know some of the other kids from the others schools and it means a lot. Most of the city kids haven’t played on a field quite like that and a lot of them have been to several Lugnuts games and kind of saw the field. Now they get to actually play on it in front of their friends and families and peers and all that stuff.
“The city tournament as a whole is usually kind of a big deal. (There’s) a little bit of bragging rights and things of that nature. Obviously it’s kind of a two-fer special that they get to compete in the city tournament but then obviously more so competing in that stadium I think is a real big deal and a big opportunity for a lot of these guys.”
O’Bryant is the only of the current coaches at the city schools who was with his respective program when they last had an event at the Lugnuts’ stadium. Eric Kumor is in his second season as Sexton’s varsity baseball coach, while James Radick is in his debut season leading Everett.
The city tournament has taken place at one of the participating schools in recent years according to O’Bryant. With the event moving to a bigger venue, O’Bryant hopes the event helps each program generate more interest in baseball.
“Eastern has done pretty good on their numbers for the last several years,” O’Bryant said. “Everett is doing well and Sexton is hanging tough but bbviously we all could use a couple of extra bodies and kind of revitalize and excite baseball in the city again
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and Bluesky @briancalloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Capital City Classic provides ‘big opportunity’ for Eastern, Everett, Sexton
Reporting by Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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