Royal Oak Leprechauns in Lucky Place thanks to NY Yankee’s Help
(Mark H. Stowers, June 5, 2021)
Royal Oak, MI -The Lucky Corner – Memorial Field at 13 and Coolidge has sprung to life with the arrival of the Royal Oak Leprechauns. The Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League team has long been the dream of General Manager Mark Sackett. But he needed a bit of luck – and the fabled pot of gold to make the dream a reality. When hometown hero and New York Yankees second baseman, DJ LeMahieu heard about the team, he wanted to help make it happen.
“I heard about this and saw his (Mark Sackett’s) passion and I got super excited and wanted to be part of it as well. He’s done a ton of work so far and this is going to be a great thing. I’m excited for the community. It’s going to be a really cool atmosphere. One of Mark’s mission for the fans is to have an interactive experience and good times at games. I’m excited for all of it. Everyone will benefit.”  DJ LeMahieu
LeMahieu notes, that as a player, you’re always looking up to get to that next level, no matter your age.
“This field is a special place for the whole community where a lot of them grew up playing. Having a collegiate team with fans and lights and new scoreboard is cool. When I was 10, I wanted to go the 12-year-old games and when I was 12, I wanted to go to the high school games. You’ve got the little league (ROSL) here and for them to see a collegiate team will inspire them. There’s nothing like collegiate baseball.” DJ LeMahieu
Sackett and his team have been manicuring the home field and fan area with the addition of field turf to the infield. There are also new dugouts, a renovated press box and seat back seating added to the general admission seats. With 21 home dates, the Leprechauns will host a tough slate of opponents but rookie Manager Kyle Kolb knows he has plenty of talent to curate and help find a path to the Major Leagues.
“It’s our job to help them grow in every way possible. It’s their time to develop and get ready for professional baseball. It’s our job to put these players in a position to succeed. The wins and losses will come from how much talent we have and how hard they want to work.” Royal Oak Leprechauns Manager Kyle Kolb.
The team has a need for host families for the players and interns to work home games. Contact Sackett if you have an interest in hosting. Game day activities will include plenty of giveaways and between inning entertainment as well as food trucks, beer and much more.
The Leprechauns are part of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League that has been in existence since 1987. The league consists of 12 teams throughout Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and one in Ontario, Canada.
The Leprechaun team is a division of the USA Prime Michigan organization which originally began in Birmingham, Michigan in 1999. In 2005, with expanded growth, the organization became a nonprofit and began to include players from all over Oakland County. In 2015, USA Prime Michigan added the Leprechauns and Sackett signed with the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League and began this program at Siena Heights University. He moved the team to Royal Oak and to Memorial Field in 2018. For more information, go to: www.leprechaunball.com.
USA Prime Michigan started to provide players motivation for an education. Playing baseball will keep kids in school and motivated to continue their education.
More info:  http://leprechaunball.com