Baseball season is here and a taste of Major League Baseball is coming to Brookhaven starting Friday evening.

The Lincoln Civic Center Baseball Complex is kicking off the baseball season with a family fun night at the complex, including MLB’s Pitch, Hit and Run competition hosted by the KDMC Performance Center. Registration for the event will start at 5 p.m. and the official competition will start at 6 p.m.

The competition features three separate baseball activities. The “Pitch” portion of the program will test how accurate each participant can hit the “strike zone” from 35 feet away for softball and 45 feet away from baseball. The  “Hit” portion will test the ability to hit from the batting tee to see how far each participant can hit to straight-away center field. The “Run” portion features each participant’s speed running from second base to home plate, which is a total of 120 feet.

Players will compete by age group; 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12. The winners from each group will advance to the next round of competition.

After the competition ends, the baseball complex will be showing a movie on a 16-foot screen around 7:15 p.m. on Field No. 3.

“The main thing is where in any kind of youth program, your heart has to be with the children,” said Todd Peavey, director of fitness and performance at King’s Daughters Medical Center and host of Pitch, Hit and Run. “It’s a good way to help the kids kick off the baseball season. Friday will be a good fun way to bring the kids and their families for a little fun.”

Bringing the competition to Lincoln County has been in the works for a while, according to Quinn Jordan, the director of the Lincoln Civic Center Baseball Complex.

“This regional qualifier even can do wonders for the kids and the community,” Jordan said. “This will be a great way for the kids and their families to come and enjoy this great opportunity. Any time we can bring more people from southwest Mississippi to Brookhaven, it provides great exposure for us.”

Peavey and Jordan have worked together to make this happen and the hard work has paid off. The event will give the kids the opportunity to learn the skills of the game and at the same time have fun and compete while doing so.

“If they enjoy the game of baseball, they’ll really enjoy this,” Peavey said. “This will really help them learn the skills of the game and it’s a great way to get involved with the game of baseball.”

This is the first time Lincoln County will host this event, but Peavy would like to see it return to the baseball complex next season.

“This is the first year we’re hosting the event. We might not be perfect, but it’ll sure be fun,” Peavey said.

Opening day for the Lincoln County youth baseball league starts Saturday at 9 a.m. with the opening ceremony starting at noon.