After Slidell tornado, how do kids play ball again?

SLIDELL, La. ( WGNO ) — Standing at home plate in Slidell, 9-year-old Jeffery Hickman was just waiting.

Waiting for the first pitch of the season. And that’s when an EF-2 tornado ripped through the town.

That was April 10. And it caused the kind of weather delay at the old ballgame that only 120-mile-an-hour winds could create.

WGNO Good Morning New Orleans features reporter Bill Wood is taking with Brad Smith from the Slidell Bantam Baseball Association.

Smith knows the score.

It will take almost a million dollars to repair the baseball park.

Ready to let the good times roll again, here comes the Krewe of Titans. And the Krewe’s Chris Sturcken, who paraded in with a plan to raise spirits and money.

For now, it’s a time out. And time to reflect.

Jeffery Hickman says he’d “like to keep this baseball park going so other kids can have the same opportunity I did.

Soon, it will be time again to play ball.

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