A 14U baseball team woke up to an email saying their season was canceled. Now they're looking to save the season at the last minute.
- Coach Josiah Hollibaugh plans to take legal action against the organization.
- The team is planning a meeting this week to discuss next steps.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Just before 8:00 in the morning, one email ended a youth baseball team’s season before it started, leaving 10 young players and their families out thousands of dollars.
The Omaha Nighthawks 14U baseball team had practiced together, bonded as teammates, and each family had paid over $1,200 in fees. Then came the shocking email: the organization was shutting down.
"I was completely blindsided," Coach Josiah Hollibaugh said.
The news devastated both parents and players who had been practicing throughout January for travel ball league season.
"I felt like I wasn't going to play baseball this season. I thought like our team was just out of it," said Landyn Dillman, one of the 10 players on the team.
Some team members had played for the Nighthawks in the fall, which made it easier to overlook warning signs, according to Hollibaugh.
"When we paid our fees we paid them through venmo, well that's the way that he wanted was through venmo and my wife got a warning when she tried to send our initial payment saying this is a fraudulent account you shouldn't be sending it and of course we ended up paying through paypal because we're like oh whatever maybe it was just an error," Hollibaugh said.
While they plan to take legal action, they're still thousands of dollars behind and are turning to the community to help find a new organization.
"The Omaha youth baseball community is fantastic… I've heard from coaches that I've coached against previously I've heard from Millard united like all of them are coming out of the woodwork," Hollibaugh said.
However, joining a new organization can cost around $16,000, with most fees due upfront. The team has turned to GoFundMe for help.
"My biggest hope is just to be able to go out and play and just have a good time," said Josiah’s son Hudson Hollibaugh.
So far the GoFundMe page has raised over $3,000 as the team's search for a season continues.
I tried to reach out to the organization manager and Omaha police department but did not get a response.
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