Sports

Rays' Matt Joyce Returns to Brandon Area to Help Little Leaguers

The Tampa Bay Rays outfielder and Armwood High product visited North Brandon Little League in Seffner to help raise money and teach baseball fundamentals, TBO.com reports.

 

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder and Greater Brandon native Matt Joyce paid a visit to his old stomping grounds recently, teaching kids the fundamentals of the game and raising money for the same Little League fields he once roamed.

Joyce held his Sweet Swingin' Baseball Camp on Jan. 27 at North Brandon Little League in Seffner, TBO.com reports. The 2002 Armwood High graduate brought along fellow major leaguers Grant Balfour of the Oakland Athletics and Jonathan Albaladejo of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Find out what's happening in Brandonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Together, they fired up the nearly 100 Little Leaguers in attendance for their upcoming season and helped raise $10,000 for the league. That represents the single-largest donation North Brandon Little League has ever received, vice president Rob Turkett told TBO.com, with the money going toward field renovations.

Joyce chatted with Patch last year about growing up in Brandon and Seffner and attending Colson Elementary, Burnett Middle School and Armwood High before working his way up to the big leagues.

Find out what's happening in Brandonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The right fielder enjoyed his best pro season of his career in 2011, batting .277 with 19 home runs for the Rays.

View more photos from Joyce's camp appearance at GameOn4Kids.com.

Did you attend the Sweet Swingin' Baseball Camp with your Little Leaguer? Upload your photos to this story and share them with our readers!


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