In the past, Homewood and Flossmoor youth baseball and softball programs held opening day festivities on the same day. This year, there will be a week between the season starts.
Flossmoor Baseball and Softball will hold its opening day parade on Saturday, April 18. Parade lineup will begin at 8:45 a.m. at the Parker Junior High parking lot and the parade will step off at 9:30 a.m.
Teams march east on Flossmoor Road to the ball fields at Flossmoor Park. The ceremonial first pitch and opening day remarks take place on Bronco Field, sponsored this year by D-Bat Shereville.
FBBSB President Carlo Gozzi said this year’s grand marshal is a former player in the program.
“We are really excited to announce that Jacob Schroeder is our grand marshal for the parade,” Gozzi said. “Jacob grew up in the Flossmoor baseball program and went on to play at H-F high school.
“Jacob continued his baseball journey at John A Logan, a perennial (junior college) powerhouse. He concluded his baseball career as one of the most prolific hitters in the program’s history while attending the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He was named all Big Ten as a catcher. Jacob currently serves on the varsity staff at H-F while attending graduate school.”
Homewood Baseball and Softball will hold its opening day parade and first pitch ceremonies on Saturday, April 25.
The organization was founded in 1951, so it will be celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
The parade will start at 11 a.m. from Irwin Park. Teams march east on Ridge Road to the ball fields adjacent to Izaak Walton Preserve.
Organization President Angie Brandt said the first pitch ceremonies will be different than usual this year.
“This Spring we lost two of our most cherished volunteers, so we will be honoring John Hurtubise and Mike Nussbaum at this year’s ceremonies with their children throwing out our first pitches,” she said. “HBSL is a 100% volunteer-run organization so we hold our long-time volunteers in high regard.”
