Marquette bar helps pay for state Little League tournament trip

A Marquette business is stepping up to the plate to help a local Little League team pay for their trip downstate, where they’ll compete in a state tournament.

The Wooden Nickel is donating half of the money from their sales tomorrow to the Marquette Little League Majors to help pay for their trip to the Little League State Tournament. There will be appetizers from The Rice Paddy, 50/50 raffles, and a donation bucket.

“Half of the proceeds, (The Wooden Nickel) is giving to Marquette All-Stars Baseball for this trip, and we couldn’t be happier,” manager Don Erkkila said. “It’s exciting and it’s going to be fun for the kids.”

Eleven team members and their families will be traveling to Muskegon Thursday and staying through Sunday.

“Travel, meals, cost of equipment…it’s expensive,” Erkkila said. “And thank goodness we have local businesses willing to help us because otherwise I don’t know if we’d be able to afford it.”

The fundraiser runs from 4:00 to midnight tomorrow night. The Little League team plays three games over the weekend, with its first game slated for Friday morning.