Pat Kelly from Sacramento MSBL Embarks on 6th Trip To Nicaragua With Goodwill Tour Baseball Group

Submitted by Pat Kelly, Sacramento MSBL

This is Pat Kelly from the Sacramento MSBL. I’m letting all of my baseball friends know we are making another trip down to Nicaragua in January 2027 to put on baseball clinics and give out baseball gear. We are once again collecting used baseball equipment (gloves, aluminum bats, catcher’s gear, helmets, turf shoes, and baseballs) for ages 8-16.

 (Following is an excerpt from a story published on the MSBL website in 2026 following their annual trip)

First and foremost, I want to give a shout-out to Hal Young and his late wife, Denise, who are responsible for developing the Worldwide Child Relief Foundation.  They developed the Community Center in La Calle Real, where they teach English, computer skills, cooking, health education, special needs, and business development.

Some of our proceeds from the trip go to help maintain and support the Community Center.  Hal makes numerous trips per year to Nicaragua and is responsible for organizing our annual Goodwill Tour.

Our first clinic was about four hours away from the airport, up in a little town called Somoto. They had the mayor come out and welcome us, and said how appreciative they were for us to make the effort to come up there.

Our second clinic was in a stadium in Esteli, where they just finished the winter league playoffs with Leon.  These kids were probably the most skilled out of all the places we went. We were honored to have Pedro Ramos, who played for the Yankees and the Senators, come out and watch our clinics. Pedro is 90, and it was fun to have him around at our clinics.

Our third clinic was in Telica, where they had a parade for us and took us through the town playing music, and many people came out to welcome us on our way to the baseball field.

The highlight of our trip was to spend a day with Dusty Baker and his staff at Roberto Clemente Stadium in Managua. Dusty was the coach for the Nicaragua team, who were going to play in the WBC.

We traveled out to Ometepe Island for our final clinic. The kids out there do not get off the Island. It is located between two volcanoes on Lake Nicaragua. The principal of the school was responsible for getting the 34 kids there for our clinic.

We took over 800 pounds of used, donated baseball gear down there, which we give away to the kids after our clinics. If the kids were not so respectful and appreciative, this would not have been my fifth trip on our Goodwill Baseball Tour.

This year, we will be helping build a baseball field on Ometepe Island. If anyone has any gear to donate or can help with a monetary donation, if they can drop it off at Tempe Diablo, Hal Young or I can pick it up.

As many of you know, our group of SMSBL players has held baseball clinics and donated much-needed equipment to children in various cities across Nicaragua for the past five years. Baseball is the national pastime in Nicaragua. Although the country faces significant poverty, the kids share an extraordinary love for the game.

We have continued this service thanks to the generosity of players in our league, who have donated equipment and provided financial support.

Next January, we plan to return—this time with a slightly different goal. We want to go back to Ometepe, (two islands connected by a narrow isthmus in Lake Nicaragua). The people in this impoverished area have a remarkable passion for baseball. Many children play without shoes or gloves. The southern island has no proper baseball field, and local residents have asked for our help in building one, especially for the kids.

Our goal for next January is to construct that field and conduct an in-depth baseball camp lasting several days. We deeply appreciate your past support and hope you will help us again—both with youth equipment and financial contributions—to make this project a reality.

You can contact Hal Young at 530-903-5153 for donation details, or email me, Pat Kelly, at pkcoach@surewest.net or call me at 916-906-2397.  You can find out more by visiting the Worldwide Child Relief Foundation website at WWCRF.org

Thank you,

Hal Young, Pat Kelly, and the SMSBL Goodwill Tour Baseball Group