Benefit to help send Albany all-stars to World Series

ALBANY — Sometimes it’s hard to find entertainers willing to help young athletes raise funds for tournament trips, but when your coach is the lead singer of a popular local band …

Davis Kinney, who coaches the Albany 12-Under Dizzy Dean League all-star baseball team that won the league’s recent Southern State Championship tournament in Leesburg, and Relapse, the band Kinney fronts, will perform at a fundraiser Saturday that will help the Albany all-stars defray the costs of a trip to the Dizzy Dean World Series in Southhaven, Miss., that will be held July 24-30.

The All-Star Summer Jam featuring Relapse will be held from 5-9 p.m. in the Harvest Moon restaurant’s parking lot.

“It’s going to be crowded, but it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Kinney said of Saturday’s show. “When we came up with this idea, one of our key concerns was a venue. I talked with Bo Henry (managing partner of the Stewbo’s restaurant group), and he stepped up as he always does. He’s such a great community advocate.

“We got the word out on Facebook, and we’ve already gotten an incredible response. We have more than 40 corporate sponsors and have already sold more than 500 tickets. This is great because the World Series could last as long as a week, and we’ll use the money we raise to pay our entry fee in the tournament, and for housing, travel and food for the players.”

Kinney, a local chiropractor, said the Albany all-star team is one of the best he’s seen in his 20 years of coaching locally.

“We’ve never won the whole series, but I think our team this year has a chance,” he said. “We played in a travel-ball tournament in Thomasville last weekend and won it. We have some talented players.”

The Albany all-stars who will play in the World Series include Will Denham, Drew Reich, Charlie Barnett, Cole Lewis, Robert Stevenson, Jacob Boyd, Drew Dixon, Jake Kinney, Nick Singletary and Davidson Mock. Eddie Dixon and Dan Reich are the other coaches for the Albany squad.

Persons interested in contributing to the Albany all-stars’ World Series experience or in buying tickets for the All-Star Summer Jam can contact Kinney at (229) 869-9009.