Baxter Springs Lions senior third baseman Derek Barnes said the community supports the high school baseball team so much that people often show up to watch practice.
After an EF-2 tornado hit the town and damaged about 100 homes and 12 businesses on Sunday night, Barnes and many of his teammates believed it was time to pay the community back.
Several members of the Baxter Springs baseball team gathered near Ninth and Cherokee streets in Baxter Springs on Tuesday to help with the clean-up effort. Members of the softball team, as well as students throughout the school district, also were spread throughout the town to aid the recovery.
“Whenever we’re on the baseball field, the whole town is out there to support us,” Barnes said. “So I mean we felt like it’s something we had to do to support them and help out any way we can. Being a tight-knit community with everybody knowing everybody, it’s good to come out and help them.
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