Last Friday afternoon, American Legion Post 98 and Big Rapids Baseball announced an affiliation agreement for a summer league team beginning this May.

Tabbed as the “Rubberducks”, the team will be coached by Big Rapids High School head coach JT Scarpelli and be composed of players aged 19 and under from the greater Big Rapids area.

“We haven't had Legion ball here in the local community for 40 years,” Post 98 Commander Mark Brejcha said. “We were waiting for the right person at the right time and it’s JT. He knows the players, he knows the parents, and he knows the schools. We're going to support JT and his team.”

The team will be playing a schedule composed of different competitive leagues and national exposure tournaments. According to Scarpelli, most of the games will be played central and west Michigan with the potential of playing in a national exposure tournament out of state later in the season.

“Our intention is to bring the best talent of baseball in the area to compete at a regional and national level within American Legion baseball,” Scarpelli said. “We’ll be playing in many exposure tournaments throughout the summer culminating in the AA Legion Tournament at the end of July.”

When asked about what inspired Scarpelli to pitch the team to Post 98, he said it came from a full circle moment with an introduction and connection spanning over 40 years.

“It came last summer after our team played in the annual American Legion Post 110 tournament in Mt. Pleasant named ‘The Iron Duke’,” Scarpelli said. “Keith McDonald heads that program and tournament. I was introduced to Keith by Rick Sellers earlier in the year, who is the single greatest influence on my baseball career both playing and coaching. Keith and I spoke a few times about the pros of Legion baseball and it just made sense. I floated the idea by Post 98 Commander Mark Brejcha and he was all in, as Mark was a part of the Post 98 team back in the day. Additional support from Jake Reichert and everyone at the AMVETS Post 1941 have been crucial as well.”

Many local standout players have already committed to play for the newly announced team. There is a mix of both full-time and part-time players to help fill the roster for the duration of the summer.

When asked on how he assembled the roster, Scarpelli said he considered players’ commitments and availability.

“For the part time players, namely pitchers, I offered flexibility. These guys know what they’re doing so I trust they are ready to play when they are available. The handpicked arms I’ve spoken to are the area’s most competitive arms and players. These efforts are ongoing though, as the goal in building this team continues to be to bring together the area’s best talent onto one roster. We have the players to make a run in the Legion tournament at the end of the summer, we just need a unified effort. The Post 98 ‘Ducks’ are intended to be that.”

There are a reported 10 full time players committed to the team at this point, including Big Rapids’ Ty Gielczyk, Philip Wilber, and Caiden Schuberg as well as White Cloud’s Mason Ruether. For part-time players, Reed City’s Max Hammond and Big Rapids’ Isaac Zocco are reported players that will play at their convenience.

“For Max, (whose) an immense talent, (he) has been committed to a different summer program for years,” Scarpelli said. “I’m not looking to change his relationship with that team. I’m only asking him to pitch for the Ducks when his schedule is available come Legion play, especially at the end of the summer. Zocco is another great talent from our area committed elsewhere. Isaac is always looking for extra innings and will sub when his schedule is available. His presence is an immediate boost both offensively and defensively.”

Gielczyk, an all-conference player for the Cardinals last season, said he’s excited to play for the team due to his connection with Coach Scarpelli.

“I've been playing summer baseball since I was probably eight years old and I've always had a true passion for playing baseball,” Gielczyk said. “I connected with (Scarpelli) well my freshman year when he was the JV coach and I played under him. Some players drive to Grand Rapids to play. Why do that when I can just play for a hometown team coached by my high school baseball coach? So, it was an easy decision to play for him (this summer).

He also tabbed exposure to college baseball coaches and the focus on baseball without school as key factors.

Support for the team is expected to be made by multiple fundraisers, including a unique raffle idea starting soon by the Legion.

“Our first one is going to be a raffle leading up to Valentine's Day,” Brejcha said. “Coming from the Legion, you're thinking (it’s probably) rifles and guns and things like that. Oh, this one is a Louis Vitton purse. If we sell all 250 tickets at 25 dollars a ticket, we should have about a 4,000-dollar profit for the team’s kickstart. We intend to also have some meals along the way to open it up to the community served by the players. We've even talked about maybe even having a duck race because of the team’s name. That might be a good way of raising some money.”

“We learned in the military to serve and for those of us that are out of the military, we're still serving and that stays with us for the rest of our life. Baseball is loved by all. It's like a farm team here to the youth, exposing them across the state and region. It can't help but bolster the talents of the local youth and bring people out to watch them.”

More details about the team schedule and fundraisers will be announced in the near future.