Stacy announces formation of River City Baseball
Rob Stacy, Clinton High School head baseball coach and co-athletic director, has announced the formation of River City Baseball.
Stacy created a River City travel baseball team out of necessity in summer 2020, as a direct result of the COVID-19 Pandemic ending the CHS Dragons’ spring 2020 baseball season after only a few games.
He wanted to give his team the baseball season they deserved, thus giving birth to River City Baseball, an unsanctioned team that allows the players the opportunity to play and develop together at a more-competitive level during the fall and summer months.
“In forming this team, it became apparent that there is something special about a community-backed baseball program,” Stacy said.
He went on to say, “My vision for River City Baseball is the same as it is for the high school team. I want to provide a platform for the baseball players in our community to experience baseball at a high level and teach them more than just baseball, instill in them a sense of community, so that they will become great men, husbands, fathers and leaders.
“We do that by leading by example and by giving these young men a good foundation to build upon.”
The River City baseball team finished second this summer in the high school league they competed in.
In looking toward the future, Stacy wants to build upon that success and provide these boys with more opportunities to play in competitive tournaments, with aspirations to play in the Legion World Series.
River City Baseball’s mission is to produce high school ready, competitive athletes.
And in order to do so, Stacy has elected to adopt the same philosophies for the middle school unsanctioned team to be known as River City Middle School Baseball.
Currently, TMSSA does not provide an abundance of opportunities for middle school baseball players, thus forcing talented middle school boys to seek better opportunities and advanced competition in surrounding counties playing travel baseball.
“Not to discredit travel baseball, but for us, we find value in our players playing with each other, building a brotherhood rooted in trust and accountability, under the same invested coaching staff,” Stacy said.
“In addition to the fact that travel baseball is becoming incredibly expensive, it is dedicated to the amount of games you can play year round, shifting further and further away from player development,” he said. “Let’s keep the talent here in Anderson County, develop the players and foster team unity at the middle school level.”
He envisions a future in which the sanctioned middle school teams will work side by side with the high school teams and River City, as well, he said.