COLUMBIA, There is a baseball team playing at Dave Hall Field this summer, and if you have not made it out yet, you are missing something worth seeing. The Columbia Jumpin' Jacks are in their first season as members of the Volunteer State League, a collegiate summer wood bat league that places college players in communities across Tennessee while they develop between seasons. The name is new. The field is not. Dave Hall Field on the Columbia State campus has seen plenty of baseball over the years, and this summer it has a team to call its own again.
The Jacks opened their season on June 4 with a 7-6 win, a fitting debut for a club playing in a town that has always taken pride in showing up for its own. The Volunteer State League places college athletes with host communities, and the league's CEO Alec Allred has said they look for communities that value baseball, support local events, and take pride in their hometown identity. Columbia fit that description. It usually does.
Home games run through the end of July, with tickets priced from five to twelve dollars. Bring a blanket, bring your family, and plan on not spending much more than that for an evening under the lights. This is collegiate summer baseball the way it is supposed to work: young men far from home playing for the love of the game, in a town that has agreed to root for them. The Sandlot had a monster behind the fence. Field of Dreams had a cornfield. Columbia has Hampshire Pike, the Duck River, and a fresh set of bleachers waiting to fill up.
The schedule and ticket information are available at columbiajumpinjacks.com. Get out there before July is gone.