Seniors (and teammates) from 32 Kansas high schools will play together one last time

High school seniors from 32 Kansas teams will have one final chance to shine on the diamond before going their separate ways.

Midwest Sports Productions on Thursday announced a “One Last Game” sendoff event, set for Wednesday, June 24, at the Blue Valley Recreation Sports Complex in Overland Park.

Senior players and teams around the country, including those across the Midwest, were denied their finals seasons of high school this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Next week’s event will feature 16 games and two banquets as a means of recognizing their efforts and sending them off in style.

“As you all know, we had our 2020 season taken away from us and we were pretty bummed about that,” Bella Grivat, a 2020 graduate of Piper High in KCK, said in a Midwest Sports Productions (MSP) news release. “So I decided to email MSP about it hoping they would email us back and they did.”

The event spearheaded by MSP, the nation’s largest fastpitch and baseball organization, will consist of 16 seven-inning games, one for each team. Half of the games will take place in the morning at 9 a.m. followed by an 11:15 a.m. banquet for those teams, and the other half will be played at 11:45 a.m. — again, followed by a banquet at 2 p.m. for those teams.

“We know that this whole (pandemic) situation has not been fair and when we saw how many seniors would not be able to make those final memories, we knew we had to do something,” said Jeremy McDowell, chief executive officer and founder of MSP. “We’re pulling out all the stops to make sure that these players get the chance to say goodbye to the sport they love but also to their teammates that they’ve been with throughout high school.”

Fiorella’s, owned by Jack Stack Barbecue, will provide the banquet ceremonies for all senior participants, filling the void of missed senior banquets that most members of the classes of 2020 were unable to enjoy. All players and coaches will receive free meals and parents will have the opportunity to purchase tickets.

Teams participating include:

Ark City, Blue Valley, Blue Valley North, Blue Valley Northwest, Blue Valley Southwest, Blue Valley West, Bonner Springs, De Soto, El Dorado, Eudora, Flint Hills, Gardner Edgerton, Holton, Jayhawk-Linn, Louisburg, McLouth, Paola, Olathe East, Olathe North, Olathe South, Olathe West, Piper, Royal Valley, Shawnee Mission North, Spring Hill, St. James Academy, Tonganoxie, Topeka Hayden and Wellsville.

For more information, go to PlayMSP.com or call 913-543-6116.

This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 3:09 PM.