LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Lexington youth baseball league claims it is still waiting for the Lexington Counter Clocks to pay them for a fundraiser they participated in earlier this year.
President of the Northern Cal Ripken Baseball League in Lexington, Justin Wiese, claims the minor league team has been withholding a payment to them of $6,500.
The money was part of an annual fundraiser many youth leagues participate in across Central Kentucky. Teams pay to reserve a large group of tickets, and in return, the Counter Clocks present a check to the leagues for the cost of the tickets, plus additional sponsorship money.
Wiese said Northern Baseball paid over $4,000 for tickets to a game in late April. On game day, the president and general manager of the Counter Clocks, Justin Ferrarella, presented the team with a ceremonial check of $6,500, according to a video shared by Wiese.
"Typically, in the past, it's as we leave, we're either handed the check then or we get it like within a week or so," Wiese said.
Nearly six months later, the actual check has still not arrived.
Wiese said the league has reached out numerous times to Counter Clocks officials, including the vice president of sales.
He claims they have been repeatedly told the money was coming, and that new ownership and a remodel complicated the payment process.
Wiese added that none of the other leagues he spoke with had received their sponsorship funding by mid-summer either.
After taking his concerns public on Tuesday with a Facebook post, an official with the Counter Clocks called him hours later.
"He asked that we take the post down, I said I would not until our part was paid. And then they offered to do a $1,000 good faith check, and we would receive the rest of the money in 60 days," Wiese said.
LEX 18 spoke with Ferrarella on Tuesday afternoon. He claimed the Counter Clocks had contacted all of the leagues affected and that their funding was coming in a "timely manner". He did not elaborate on how long that could be, or the reason for the delay.
Wiese explained the league, along with many others across the area, has been doing the fundraiser for years and receiving the funding has never been a problem.
The Northern Baseball League, he explained, relies heavily on the annual funding, as nearly half of its players are on a financial scholarship.
"We are a park that caters to low-income, typically single-parent homes and we just try to provide affordable baseball," he said.
He's hopeful the situation will be resolved soon. He points to new ownership at the Counter Clocks for the delay.
"At this point, I'll believe it when I see it," Wiese said of the team's response.
In the meantime, people are able to donate to support the Northern Baseball League on its website.
