The Great Falls Voyagers professional baseball team came up to Havre to take part in a camp and a scrimmage against the Havre Northstars over the weekend. New Media Broadcasters caught up with three key contributors to this harmonious meeting.
Sean Repay is in his first season as the field manager for the Voyagers and gave his thoughts about what doing the camp meant to him in terms of outreach.
“Getting to know the community by talking to people is huge for us,” Repay said. “Being here in Havre, playing the Northstars, it’s something we know they’ve been doing (in the past), but for us, community reach is important.”
“The hospitality was great here in Havre and also running a kid camp (was) huge,” Repay continued. “At the end of the day, it’s about our guys giving back to baseball and teaching some of the young guys the right way that we do things and picking their brain and having fun.”
Jess Teesdale is the sales manager for the Voyagers. Her main goal in year two is to have an even firmer grip on Havre to let people know that the Voyagers are a local team and you don’t have to drive too far during the summertime to see professional baseball.
“From my said, I do work with some groups that come down from Havre,” Teesdale said. “A lot of the sports teams, but also there are a couple of churches that come down from Havre as well.”
“For me, it’s about getting the Voyagers name out to the Havre community because it’s not that hard to get to a home game, even if we have a Friday-Saturday that people can make it out to,” Teesdale continued. “Getting our name out there to this community (is important) for people to enjoy baseball throughout the summer.”
Terek Shipp is a blossoming pitcher on the Northstars. He has been in Havre Youth Baseball for the majority of his young life and looks forward to the Voyagers coming to town every year. Out of all the annual events that take place for the Northstars, he would rank scrimmaging with the professionals as high on his priority list to get better and doesn’t take for granted the time spent with professional baseball players.
“It’s definitely up there for sure,” Shipp said. “It’s crazy what these guys can do. It’s a lot faster paced than what we’re used to, so it’s fun to watch (the Voyagers).”
“It’s a great experience. I’m thankful they can come out and do this,” Shipp continued. “It’s really nice for the younger guys (on my team) and it’s just a good experience in general. I learned a lot of stuff from them.”
Make sure to keep up with New Media Broadcasters on HiLineToday.com for all the baseball content throughout the summer.
