Our first game today was at 10:30am in Lakeland—it was Education Day at Joker Marchant Stadium, which meant that 2,000 kids from local elementary schools packed the park with a few chaperones helplessly trying to keep everyone in line. It was controlled pandemonium.

Joker Marchant Stadium originally opened in 1966 and was recently renovated in 2003. The stadium is named for the City of Lakeland former Parks and Recreation Director, Joker Marchant, who headed up the effort to build Tigertown. The entire Lakeland Flying Tigers facility, consisting of several sets of clubhouses and practice fields, was built on the site of a World War II flight school. (source)

Today’s game featured the Lakeland Flying Tigers versus the Fort Myers Miracle. The Tigers’ offense jumped all over the starting Miracle pitcher today, and before long it was 10-0 in favor of the Flying Tigers. Our raffle table was situated in the main concourse (luckily in the shade and out of the sun) and was flooded with kids and parents all day long. We did a lot better than we thought we did today, all of which was made possible by Zach and the rest of his Tigers staff. Thanks Zach!

Here is a picture below of our winner, Timothy, who took away a team-signed Lakeland Flying Tigers baseball.