HICKORY, N.C. — The Catawba Valley Community College baseball and softball programs are coming together to host the second annual First Pitch Banquet on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Tarlton Complex.
The First Pitch Banquet will be headlined by former Major League All-Star and Hickory Crawdads pitcher Matt Capps, who spent 11 seasons pitching professionally for the Pittsburgh Pirates (2005-09), Washington Nationals (2010), Minnesota Twins (2010-12), Cleveland Indians (2013-14), Atlanta Braves (2015) and Arizona Diamondbacks (2016) organizations.
"We are so excited about the community support for our program that we are able to put on an event like this — not to mention being fortunate enough to have someone like Matt Capps to be our keynote speaker," said CVCC head baseball coach Paul Rozzelle. "A lot of time goes into our program from the players and coaches so it's nice to take some time to acknowledge how special this place is and give our players some perspective on how they can leave their own legacy here at Catawba Valley."
The 2020 calendar year marks the start of the first-ever spring season for the Catawba Valley softball program, and the First Pitch Banquet will serve as an unofficial kickoff for its inaugural season.
"The First Pitch Banquet is another first time thing for me here at CVCC that I am excited to experience," said Red Hawks head softball coach Josh Bumgarner. "To be able to come together on this night to kind of kick off season one for our program is going to be special. I can't wait for January 30."
The First Pitch Banquet will start with a meet and greet with the current 2020 Red Hawk softball and baseball teams at 6 p.m. followed by the dinner and program at 6:30 p.m.
A silent auction will also be held during the event. All proceeds benefit the CVCC softball and baseball programs.
Registration is $25 per person or $175 for a table of eight.
Checks should be mailed to: Attn: Nick Schroeder, CVCC Athletics, Catawba Valley Community College, 2550 Highway 70 SE, Hickory, NC 28602
For more information on the event, contact Cody Dalton at cdalton880@cvcc.edu or 828-327-7000, ext. 4133 or Terri Livingston at tlivingston652@cvcc.edu or 828-327-7000 ext. 4510.
Checks should be mailed to:
Attn: Nick Schroeder, CVCC Athletics, Catawba Valley Community College
, 2550 Highway 70 SE
, Hickory, NC 28602
Already registered? Pay online by clicking here (scroll to bottom and select either Baseball or Softball and put "First Pitch Dinner" in comments).