WASHINGTON - During the fall semester the Georgetown baseball team practices several times a week, preparing for the upcoming spring season. When they are not on the field, the Hoyas also make time to give back to the local community. This fall, the Blue & Gray took part in several community service projects.

At the end of October, several Hoyas went to the Nats Youth Baseball Academy and spent a day helping out with the Challenger Divisions ââ'¬" a part of Little League designed for special needs youth, especially those with severe intellectual and physical disabilities. Members of the baseball team were on the field and in the dugouts, helping instruct the kids and making sure they were having fun playing America's Pastime.

"This was a great event for all of us," said senior right-handed pitcher Jordan Chudacoff (Highland Park, Ill./New Trier/Lawrenceville). "It is always a special opportunity when you can give a helping hand, especially when it is around the game we all love. We had an awesome time interacting and forming relationships with the kids and hope to see many out at Povich for our games this spring"

Over the first weekend of November, the baseball team split up between two different locations. A few Hoyas volunteered their services at Volunteers of America/Mary Marshall Assisted Living, assisting and hanging out with the elderly. The other members of the team went to Martha's Outfitters, a clothing bank and thrift store that was gearing up for the winter clothing drives.

"This was a very rewarding event," Chudacoff said. "We had a variety of jobs that included organizing the clothes on the selling floor, accepting drop off donations, organizing the donations to be priced, and then racking that merchandise. We were able to see people come in and buy affordable clothing, and that money goes to a great cause."

The Hoyas open the 2016 season on Friday, February 19, playing Wake Forest at the Wake Forest Invitational in Winston Salem, N.C. The Blue & Gray are coming off of a memorable 2015 season that saw the squad qualify for the BIG EAST Championships for the first time in 29 years.