The crack of the bat and the pop of the glove are two common sounds you hear inside the Marucci Clubhouse training center in Ozark.
“We’re beyond blessed to be able to just walk in and hit, have hit tracks and have a free weight room, it’s unreal,” said former Ozark Baseball Player Jake Skaggs.
All month long, kids from across the area are using the training center and US Baseball Park to try out for several youth teams.
“Some of them have never been on a turf field before, and they look up at the jumbotron and they see the stadium and it’s a pretty cool environment,” said Founders Club Midwest Co-Owner Randy Merryman.
The tryouts are also the first of their kind.
That’s because the Ozarks have offered several programs for years, including the Missouri Titans, 417 Baseball and the Midwest Nationals.
Now all three have combined into one program: Founders Club Midwest.
“You know, bringing all the resources together. Being able to use each other’s strengths, use each other’s knowledge. Keep learning, new ideas, new ways to do new things is what we’re after,” said Founders Club Midwest Co-Owner Chris Dralle.
Merging into one organization will give ball players from kindergarten through college a place to work on their game.
“[It’s] for the guy who is just getting into baseball, for the guy who’s wanting to make his high school J-V team, to the guy who wants to play Division I college baseball to the guy who wants to get to the big leagues,” Merryman said.
Some of those college players are using the tryouts as their chance to give back.
“Just looking back to when I was playing baseball at that age, if I had a guy on the field my age, I’d be like eyes open just kind of looking up to them,” Skaggs said after volunteering during Saturday’s tryouts. “So, for me to help them out, it’s what I would want so why not give it to these kids.”
The merger also brings tryouts for several new softball teams.
“My daughter is now a competitive softball player at a very young age,” Dralle said. “She’s excited but it also opens up opportunities to meet new people, to play with different people from different schools and it opens up doors.”
They’re doors this new organization plans to keep open for years to come.
For more information on the new organization, click here:https://fcmidwest.com/
