Home|Sports|‘Jazz’ league begins playSports

A total of seven games were on the schedule on Saturday

Sheldon LongleySend an emailOctober 3, 2023 88 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

On the same day that Bahamian professional baseball player Jasrado ‘Jazz’ Chisholm Jr. and the Miami Marlins clinched a spot in the National League (NL) playoffs of Major League Baseball (MLB), the Jazz Chisholm Foundation Little League officially got underway at the Baillou Hills Sports Complex.

Seven games were on the schedule as the league officially opened on Saturday. League Commissioner Geron Sands said that it has been a dream of Chisholm.

“He wanted to come back in some way and start a league to help many more kids who hasn’t been helped,” Sands said. “Coming out here and seeing all these people support this is amazing. The games went well with four teams in each division. To see the players out here and the support of the fans here at this amazing event, is something that we need more of. Hopefully all these players come back one day and give something back to the younger kids. Our country is in need of it.”

The divisions that are a part of the little league are T-Ball (5-6), Coach Pitch (7-8), 12-and-Under (12U) and 14-and-Under (14U). There are four teams in each of the divisions. The league will look to wrap up on December 3 with their championships.

Jazz Blue and Jazz Black were the winners on Saturday in the 14U Division. Jazz Blue won 12-5 over Jazz Yellow. Jazz Black won 7-2 over Jazz White. Jazz Blue was dominant in the 12U Division with a 13-1 victory over Jazz Yellow. In the other game in that division, Jazz White got a slim 12-11 win over Jazz Black.

There was only one game in the Coach Pitch Division with Jazz Blue winning 11-5 over Jazz Yellow. Jazz Yellow won 20-13 over Jazz Blue in the T-Ball Division. In the other T-Ball game, Jazz Black got the better of Jazz White by an 11-4 scoreline.

One of the directors of the foundation, Kim Sweeting, was happy with the response they got.

“‘Jazz’ is thrilled – he is coming back and giving back to The Bahamas. We are excited to see where this whole season is going to go. We are excited to see how well the players develop since it is a developmental league. We are looking to see how these players develop under these coaches who know the game,” Sweeting said.

This is the offseason for baseball in New Providence. Sands said it was intentional that they chose this window to have league play.

“We want no issues with the other leagues or create any turmoil. We want to give these players more games to play and more instructions. We have good coaches out here. We wanted to do it when it was the offseason and have everybody attention. It is also during the offseason for Chisholm and other pro players,” Sands said.

Sands also spoke about the possibility of them branching  off into the Family Islands. “It is something that we should make known to the Family Islands and somehow get those kids down here from the islands. We just want to do whatever we can do to expand our horizon here in The Bahamas to these kids,” Sands said.

According to Sweeting, the foundation is planning to have a fishing tournament in December. They are also looking at putting on a toy drive.

Chisholm’s dad, Jasrado Chisholm Sr., delivered the ceremonial first pitch on Saturday.