Country singer lends hand to Badges for Baseball in Aberdeen – Baltimore Sun
This week’s Badges for Baseball session in Aberdeen was a little different than others this summer, as rising country music star Matt Stillwell was at the practice Wednesday to throw around the ball and pitch and catch.
The baseball fan and singer has a new single out, “Hey Dad,” and appeared with Badges for Baseball through his partnership with the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, which sponsors the program.
Stillwell played a concert in Harrisburg, Pa., Tuesday and was scheduled to perform before Thursday’s IronBirds game in Aberdeen, so he had some time to kill, Christine Sullivan, volunteer and community engagement coordinator for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford County, said.
Stillwell wasn’t watching from the sidelines, she said.
“Matt was literally teaching the kids skills, about the ball coming at them, how to come at the ball, how to approach a grounder,” she said. “Then he played a game of quickball and he pitched to them. He was interacting with the kids along with the police officers.”
Badges for Baseball is a program through the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation that brings together club members and police officers to learn not just baseball skills, but life skills.
“We work to enhance the relationship between law enforcement and kids in underserved communities across the country using baseball as the hook,” according to the foundation’s website.
Officers from Aberdeen Police Department work with members of the Aberdeen Boys and Girls Club, and members of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office work with the Edgewood club children, who were invited up to Aberdeen Wednesday to work with Stillwell.
Vi Ripken, wife of the late Cal Ripken Sr. and mother of Cal Jr. and Bill Ripken, stopped by Wednesday’s practice, as did Aberdeen Mayor Patrick McGrady.
Stillwell played baseball at Western Carolina University, where he was an all-conference player on the Catamount’s Southern Conference Championship Baseball teams.
Stillwell was scheduled to tour Camp Hidden Valley in White Hall Thursday morning and do an acoustic concert for the campers before appearing for Thursday night’s concert at Ripken Stadium.
Boys and Girls Club members have been invited to attend the concert and baseball game.
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