At Bat of Southfield Exposes Kids to Baseball and More Opportunity

The baseball diamond is a multifaceted playground, so why shouldn't the players on the field reflect that? Delrisha Hayes posed a similar question, and the answer became At Bat – a Southfield-based nonprofit that gives children in disadvantaged communities a way to grow in both sportsmanship and opportunity.

Started in 2015, At Bat targets Detroit youth ages 6 to 13 in hopes of providing needed resources for the game, from equipment to locations to play.

"There are a lot of programs for older kids," Hayes says. "If you don't start young, it'll be (harder) to compete."

That's why Hayes is hosting 10 pop-up summer clinics, mostly in the city, from May 19 to Sept. 1 in an effort to expose children to baseball – but, more than this, to give them something constructive to do besides staying indoors glued to electronic devices. "That's what the whole idea was about," Hayes says. "To see kids out there playing, having fun. I think it's making the community a little better."