Editor’s note: The Ouray County Plaindealer started publishing profi les of nonprofits between Thanksgiving and New Year’s in 2020 as a community service. The purpose of these profiles is to highlight the meaningful work being performed by these organizations and let the community know how they can help them even more, as the holidays approach and we reach the end of 2024. Nonprofit organizations that are based in Ouray County and serve Ouray County are eligible for these profiles.

Year established as a nonprofit: 2020

What does your organization do for Ouray County?

Our nonprofit provides a program that allows for all area children to get the chance to play baseball, regardless of their ability to pay. Ridgway and Ouray schools do not currently offer baseball or softball, so we provide a chance to learn to play and love the game.

We organize the season, recruit coaches, schedule games and tournaments, and encourage teamwork and time spent outdoors Over the past couple of years, we’ve had nearly 100 kids aged 4-14 spread over seven teams in the program, and we’d love to continue to grow and have teams available for older players once the regulation baseball field is built in Ridgway at the Athletic Park.

What do you list as your greatest accomplishments in 2024?

In 2024, we have focused our efforts on continuing to provide a stellar program for our athletes while also working on a fundraising capital campaign to get the little league and high school regulation fields constructed in Ridgway at the Athletic Park. It is difficult to grow the program due to a lack of field space. We were also able to grant more than 30% of our players needbased scholarships in 2024!

What are some goals or projects you have planned for 2025?

Our main goal is to move forward with construction of the little league and regulation fields in Ridgway, along with more training for our volunteer coaching staff. This will require fundraising and donations from the community.

Tell us how the community can help you do more here in Ouray County.

We are focusing on 2025 OCB program- specific efforts on being able to continue the scholarship program for children. We also are focusing on fundraising $3.2 million dollars to help get the new fields built as soon as possible. Please contact us at ouraycountybaseball@gmail.com for more information on how to make a tax-deductible donation.

Thank you to Josey Scoville for providing this information.