Baseball Doubleheader to allow 2020 ENC Seniors to play one last game in high school uniform

The Down East Wood Ducks announced plans to host the inaugural 2020 ENC High School Senior Sendoff, Presented by Lenoir Community College on Saturday, June 27th at Grainger Stadium in Kinston. The event is a celebration of all recent 2020 graduates, but will be highlighted by a doubleheader of baseball games featuring recent 2020 graduates from various Eastern North Carolina High Schools. Gates will open at 11am with Game 1 scheduled to start at 1pm and Game 2 at 6pm.

The Wood Ducks have been working with high school baseball coaches throughout ENC to identify 2020 seniors that wanted to play one last game in their high school uniform. The recent decision by NCHSAA to lift the dead period for high school athletics has made it possible for coaches and the recent graduates to participate.

The event will also give the players a chance to have a proper Senior Day Send Off, which most did not have a chance to experience due to the cancellation of spring sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As is the custom for Senior Day games, players will be joined by their parents on the field for pre-game introductions and photos. The pre-game ceremonies are tentatively set to begin at Noon for Game 1 and 5pm for Game 2 (or approximately 1 hour prior to First Pitch of both games)

In addition to the graduates who will take part in the baseball games, the Wood Ducks are encouraging all 2020 graduates (high school or college) to email their senior photo. The photos, along with the graduates’ name and school will run on the video board throughout the day. Any 2020 graduate that is interested can email their photo and information to: [email protected].

“We are really excited that we can give these recent graduates a Senior Day Send Off”,” said Wood Ducks VP Wade Howell. “Like a lot of these kids, I knew that my senior year would be the last time I played competitive team sports, so I relished every practice and game of each sport that season. These kids didn’t get that chance since their seasons were cut short so we are going to do our part to make the last memory of their high school baseball season a positive one ”

A limited number of tickets will be on sale to the public starting this Friday, June 19th, at 10am. Tickets are $10 and are available in the Grainger Stadium front office Monday-Friday from 10am-4pm or by calling (252) 686-5172 to reserve your tickets today.