Commonwealth University students gain hands-on experience during MLB Little League Classic game in Williamsport

This year, Commonwealth University sent more than 20 students from the Lock Haven and Bloomsburg campuses to the MLB Little League Classic in Williamsport to volunteer during game-day operations. 

During this experience, the volunteers were able to participate at Journey Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field, which opened in 1926 and was renovated in 2017 to fit the scale of an MLB field. This year marks the eighth year of the MLB Little League Classic.

Abbey Hengst, a CU-Bloomsburg student from Drums, acted as the directional host in the media room. “As a former Little League baseball player, it was quite nostalgic to work the event as it was a dream in my past to play in the LLWS,” Hengst said.

CU-Lock Haven student, Nita Imeri, of Montgomery, helped with many tasks during the event including ensuring the fans knew where they were going and checking players’ families into the stadium to watch the game. 

Dr. Todd Shawver, dean of the Zeigler College of Business, joined the students, working side-by-side with them as a volunteer at the event. “It is an amazing event – meeting families from around the world from teams represented in the Little League World Series,” Shawver said. “This time each year, Williamsport is a place where the world comes together in a fun and peaceful atmosphere. This was a great learning experience for me and our amazing students who participated.”

Opportunities like these happen throughout the year at Commonwealth University as our Clubs at Lock Haven and Bloomsburg prepare to send students to the RMU Sport Business Conference at the end of October. Make sure to be on the lookout this month, as we are starting to do student highlights every month. 

In addition to Hengst and Imeri, CU students who attended the event, were Addison Sondberg, of Sewell, New Jersey; Ashton Sunday, of Carlisle; Aubrey Schilling, of Williamsport; Austin Colosimo, of Catawissa; Cayden Tindle, Charles Campisi, Christopher Algard, of Bloomsburg; Dominic Scicchitano, of Bellefonte; Geovanni Magana, of Harwood, Maryland; Jacob Dones, of Harrisburg; Jacob House, Jason Yeick, of Catawissa; Joshua Torrens, of Pottstown; Kelly Coyne, Kevin Magana, of Worchester, Massachusetts; Kinley Gioglio, of Bellefonte; Kyle Paladino, Logan Taylor, of Bloomsburg; Matthew Mellert, Nevan Quinn, Noah Gill, Preston Smith, of Jersey Shore; Ryan Fegar, and Zach Bumbarger, of Philipsburg.

The students were accompanied by Dr. Todd Shawver, dean of the Zeigler College of Business; recent retiree Dr. Tom Giligo, former athletic director at Lock Haven; and Dr. Peter Campbell, assistant chair of the Department of Business.