FSCC baseball to host benefit games

Fort Scott Community College will host exhibition baseball games at Dave Regan Stadium Sunday afternoon with proceeds to help defray medical costs for Blake Shepard, an FSCC baseball player who was injured earlier this month.

Shepard, a freshman from Ponca City, Okla., was involved in a vehicle accident as he was returning to practice at FSCC on Sept. 20. The initial prognosis is that he will be paralyzed from the neck down.

"He has shown progress but still has a long road ahead," Fort Scott assistant baseball coach Ian James said in an email to the Tribune. "We are putting this together to help his family a little with the medical costs. We are hoping to get as many people out to the ballpark as we can and are very grateful to the people of Fort Scott, who already helped us raise $478 at the football game Saturday night."

The event will begin at noon. Admission is a donation in any amount to help offset medical expenses. There will also be a silent auction with items from different college and professional teams.

The first game will be an exhibition (scrimmage) between Fort Scott and Neosho County, which includes Fort Scott High School graduate Mason Knopp. There will be a presentation between games about what is being done to assist Shepherd. Then there will be a second game between the Greyhounds and Independence, which has FSHS grads Chase Brown and Alex Fink on its roster.