Smoky Mountain High School baseball team held a special “Youth Night” Thursday night to give the kids a wonderful experience with the varsity players.

Little League and youth players enjoyed an on-field experience at the Smoky Mountain baseball field just prior to the game between the Smoky Mountain Mustangs and the Tuscola Mountaineers. 

Last September, when Hurricane Helene brought flooding to much of the region, the little league baseball field behind the Waynesville Elks Club was swamped by several inches of water, dugouts were destroyed and lights were carried downstream along with tons of other debris. But now, hundreds of thousands of dollars and hundreds of person-hours later, action has returned to that hallowed diamond. 

 Watching Cal Raleigh win the final round of the T-Mobile Home Run Derby on TV last week was a special kind of thrill for Steve Wilson, who works in Purchasing, Shipping and Receiving for Southwestern Community College. 

Mountaineer Little League Baseball has been around since the 1970s, but like everything else, once Hurricane Helene hit, its immediate future was uncertain.