OBX News
The Outer Banks Daredevils are excited to announce the following players have been signed to our 2015 roster.
Evan Hanifee, Catcher, James Madison University;
Chris Cobb, Pitcher, University of North Georgia;
Chase James, Outfield, East Stroudsburg University;
Matt Carter, Pitcher, California University of Pennsylvania;
The Outer Banks Daredevils are excited to announce the following players have been signed to our 2015 roster.
Colton Harlow, LHP, James Madison University
Taylor Turner, C/1B, University of North Georgia
Harry Ferguson, RHP, Belmont Abbey College* **
Chris Childress, OF, College of the Albemarle**
**returning player
*local player
One of the key elements in the success of any collegiate summer baseball program is the willingness of local families to serve as Host Families. These families take the players into their homes for the summer, providing a safe and comfortable place for them to live and make it possible for us to have a local team. Collegiate summer baseball would not be possible without host families, and we appreciate those of you who have served as host families during past seasons. Your generosity and hospitality has made it possible for the Outer Banks Daredevils to exist year after year, and we are hopeful that once again, you, and many others, be willing to house a player this summer as well. For more information, visit our Host Families page.
Posted: Wednesday, March 25, 2015 12:00 am | Updated: 10:28 am, Wed Mar 25, 2015.
From an early age, Graham Barnes was a devoted Outer Banks Daredevils fan. Attending games with his father, District Court Judge Edgar Barnes, Graham would collect stray baseballs to the point where he’d be able to fill a five-gallon bucket by the end of the season. Even more important, recalls Edgar Barnes, “he thought those players were heroes…Graham absolutely worshipped those ball players.”
About a dozen years ago, the Barnes family began an annual and rewarding tradition of hosting the young players who came to the Outer Banks for the Daredevils season. “We had a great crop of young men that stayed with us during the summer. We met all their families,” Edgar Barnes says. “If you ask our children, it would be one of the best experiences of their childhood.
Then last summer, the story came full cycle. Graham, a student at Appalachian State, played left field for the Daredevils. “It was a dream come true,” says Edgar Barnes.
As the Daredevils, who debuted in 1997, prepare for their new season of collegiate summer baseball on the Outer Banks, they are not just an added attraction for the throngs of summer visitors. The franchise’s roots are deeply embedded in the community—through sponsorships, host families, events and fans. (Full disclosure: Several years ago, during a one week stay in the Outer Banks, my family went to three Daredevil games. And the Sentinel is a sponsor of the Daredevils this season.)
“We are very appreciative of the support of our sponsors and host families throughout the years,” says the Daredevils’ General Manager Mike Dooley. “We couldn’t do it without them.”
While the 2015 schedule has not been finalized, Dooley expects the Daredevils to play about three dozen games between June 1 and August 6. Games are played on weeknights and the games are at the First Flight Baseball Complex in Kill Devil Hills, where the team moved in 2005 after originally playing in Manteo. After the franchise went dark for the 2012 season, it was resurrected the following year after being bought by a group of local businessmen, led by Donnie Just, owner of Tranquil House Inn & 1587.
One of the many local organizations that has worked with the Daredevils is the Dare Education Foundation, which has also sponsored the team.
“The Daredevils stand for family, fun and drug-free and healthy lifestyles,” says the foundation’s executive director, Elisabeth Piff. “It was a good fit with the Education Foundation. They do so much for the community.”
Dan Hardy, president of Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates whose son plays ball for First Flight High School, also lauds the value of the Daredevils as a local institution. “We think it’s a good thing for the community and we’d like to enhance it and see it grow,” Hardy asserts. “It’s a nice family event.
Another perspective on the team’s value—as a tourist attraction—is offered by Tim Cafferty, president of Outer Banks Blue Realty and the chairman of the Outer Banks Tourism Board.
“I think it certainly fits into the fiber of our typical family-oriented vacation,” he says. “Put yourself in the [shoes] of the visitors who are with us,” during the summer months, looking for family entertainment at night.
And then there is, of course, the visceral pleasure of relaxing in a beach ballpark on a balmy summer night. Edgar Barnes says one reason for his devotion to the Daredevils is that “it gave me an excuse to sit for two hours and not think of anything but baseball. Watching baseball for me is like taking a cruise.”
And with preparations for the 2015 season well underway, Dooley is looking for sponsors and host families and the kind of community support it takes to keep the franchise flourishing.
“We are hopeful [that] our business community and local families will once again step up to the plate and join us in our efforts to continue the great tradition of collegiate summer baseball here in the Outer Banks,” he says, “and provide our local community and the thousands of vacationers who join us here each summer with the opportunity to enjoy America’s favorite pastime.”
mark@obsentinel.com
DARE COALITION AGAINST SUBSTANCE ABUSE!
Dare CASA’s Jim MacDonald Scholarship Award!
STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP- $1,000 !!!
Dare CASA’s Jim MacDonald Scholarship Award is offered to Dare County graduating seniors in honor of the coalition’s former leader, Jim MacDonald who passed in December of 2014. The Scholarship Award will honor Jim’s commitment to substance abuse prevention efforts to keep our community safe and healthy and will be awarded to a local student who has shown commitment to these same values. Recipients should be enrolling, or be enrolled in an accredited institution of higher learning with 2 or 4 year degree programs or accepted into a trade school profession. All scholarship details provided through your high school.
To Learn More: call (252) 449-2272 or visit them online at www.darecasa.org
We want to say thank you to Kelly’s and their great staff for putting together another great parade, and we appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this great Outer Banks tradition. We also want to thank the Dare Coalition Against Substance Abuse (Dare CASA) and the Dare Education Foundation for their continued help and support.
We also would like to say thank you to all of our great sponsors and fans who support us each year, and finally we want to say thank you for our great group of volunteers who helped us with the parade again this year. It was a beautiful day, and I have been told it set the new all time attendance record, and I would believe it, as the parade route was packed.
Thank you again and we hope to see everyone at the ballpark for our 2015 Opening Night, June 1, 2015. The gates will open at 6:00pm and the first pitch will be at 7:05pm. Come out and join the fun and help support our home team, the Outer Banks Daredevils.
Collegiate summer baseball provides great, family friendly entertainment for both our local residents and the thousands of families that join us each summer for their vacation. The generous support of our local business community provides the critical financial support necessary to bring America’s Favorite Pastime to the Outer Banks each summer. 2015 Sponsorship Opportunities are available, and a great way to receive effective, affordable advertising while supporting our local baseball team. Visit our SPONSORSHIPS page for more information.
We want to thank all of our fans who came out and supported us throughout the season. We also want to thank our presenting sponsor, Dare Coalition Against Substance Abuse, Dare CASA, and all of our great sponsors, including Skydive OBX, Metro Rentals, Mulligans Raw Bar & Grill, Island Snowball Co, Space Walk of Currituck, East Carolina Radio and Max Radio of the Carolinas, Dare County Schools, Green Gator Lawn Care, Dare Education Foundation, Interfaith Community Outreach, Southern Shores Realty, Outer Banks Blue Vacation Rentals, Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates and Resort Realty. We also want to once again say thank you to our host families, our interns, Richard Miller, our photographer, and all of our players. Thank you all for another great season of collegiate summer baseball here in the Outer Banks. Go Daredevils!!!
Friday, August 8, 2014 – Kill Devil Hills, NC
Dylan Harvey did all he could to give Daredevils a boost, but it wasn’t enough to get past Tidewater Drillers, as Daredevils lost 7-2 at First Flight Baseball Complex on Friday.
Harvey did his best to jumpstart the offense for Daredevils, reaching base two times.
Collin Ballard got it done on the hill on the way to a win. He allowed one run over five innings. Ballard struck out one, walked four and gave up one hit.
Tidewater Drillers was sparked by Turner Bishop and Kurt Sinnen, who teamed up for four hits and three RBIs.
Kyle Spruill took the loss for Daredevils. He allowed six runs in seven innings, walked two and struck out four.
Tidewater Drillers didn’t relinquish the lead after scoring one run in the fourth inning when it scored on an RBI single by Kyle Butler.
Tidewater Drillers increased its lead with two runs in the sixth. A error scored Sinnen to start the scoring in the inning.
One run in the bottom of the sixth helped Daredevils close its deficit to 3-1. A steal of home by Harvey gave Daredevils life. Ryan Galvin ended the inning by getting Chris Childress to ground out.
After pushing across one run in the bottom of the seventh, Daredevils faced just a 6-2 deficit. A sacrifice fly by Devin Daniels triggered Daredevils’ comeback. Finally, Gabriel Santana got Brad Keen to ground out to end the threat.
We want to thank all of our fans who came out and supported us throughout the season. We also want to thank our presenting sponsor, Dare Coalition Against Substance Abuse, Dare CASA, and all of our great sponsors, including Skydive OBX, Metro Rentals, Mulligans Raw Bar & Grill, Island Snowball Co, Space Walk of Currituck, East Carolina Radio and Max Radio of the Carolinas, Dare County Schools, Green Gator Lawn Care, Dare Education Foundation, Interfaith Community Outreach, Southern Shores Realty, Outer Banks Blue Vacation Rentals, Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates and Resort Realty. We also want to once again say thank you to our host families, our interns, Richard Miller, our photographer, and all of our players. Thank you all for another great season of collegiate summer baseball here in the Outer Banks. Go Daredevils!!!
Friday, August 8, 2014 – Kill Devil Hills, NC
ATTENTION FANS: Final Daredevils Game of the season is tonight. If you have been planning to get out to a game this year, tonight is your last chance, and your in for a great game as our Outer Banks Daredevils are taking on the Tidewater Drillers in game 3 of the 2014 Tidewater Summer League Championship Series. The series is tied at 1 game each and tonight’s winner will earn the 2014 Championship and we need all of our fans to come out tonight and help cheer on our Outer Banks Daredevils.
