Larry Gill has donned many hats during his 10-year tenure with the Meridian Youth Baseball Association.

At age 14, Gill first familiarized himself with the league as a scorekeeper. From there, he transition into the position of scorekeeper manager before being named secretary/vice president.

Recently, the 24-year-old Gill was named president of the Meridian Youth Baseball Association.

The newly confirmed president’s vision for the league is clear.

“I want to see more kids involved,” Gill said. “I want it to hit the max. I want to be able to say we can’t take any more teams and we have to play in two different places. I want more kids to get involved and stay involved, and to recruit good coaches to coach these kids at that age and give them quality instruction.”

Gill replaces eight-year Meridian Youth Baseball Association president Chuck Butler.

“Larry’s been my right-hand guy for quite a while and has a very working knowledge of our goals,” Butler said. “He will continue the tradition of a quality and fair league for our youth to learn the game of baseball.”

While Gill didn’t play in any of the Meridian Youth Baseball Association’s leagues as a youngster, he said his interest in the sport was piqued as a teenager during visits to Phil Hardin’s baseball fields to watch friends compete.

“I had just gotten involved in baseball, and I used to walk up to Phil Hardin to see friends who were playing,” Gill said. “From there, I started working the scoreboard. I would walk up there every day just to work the scoreboard, and that’s kind of how it started. It’s crazy, I didn’t really find an interest in baseball until I was 13 or 14, and now I’m a baseball coach; I host baseball tournaments, and I’m baseball everything.”

Over the last 10 years, Gill has seen the organization move from Phil Hardin to the Sammie Davidson Sports Complex, and he’s worked with three of its past presidents.

Gill, a Meridian High School alumnus, said the organization plans to return to Phil Hardin this upcoming season, a nod to the history the field has with the league, and with the expectation that it will renew local interest in the sport.

“Phil Hardin gives you a baseball feel,” Gill said. “When we were out there at Phil Hardin, I remember when I first started keeping the score, we had 20 teams playing out there.”

Last year, the organization drew between 120 and 130 players across three leagues: major (11 to 12 year olds), minors (9 to 10 year olds) and rookies (8 and under). In years past, anywhere between 14 to 16 teams have comprised the league. Gill expects an uptick in league-wide numbers this year.

“We have some new guys on the board who are reaching out to people and bringing people who used to play in our league back,” Gill said.

Gill believes his institutional knowledge of the organization and experiences accumulated over the years will help make for a seamless transition into his new role.

“I think I know all the insides and outs,” Gill said. “I worked on the lowest level, so I know what it takes at each spot. I know what it takes for us to get scorekeepers; I know what we have to have for the scorekeepers to do their jobs. (I know) what we need from the secretary and the vice president, and me, myself, what I have to do to push the league and make it as successful as possible.”

Gill said redirecting and keeping youth interest in baseball is of paramount importance to him and the association’s board members.

“We need a feeder system that leads those kids to Meridian High so they stick with baseball and you don’t lose them,” Gill said. “A feeder system is very important to the success of any organization — football, basketball, all of that. They have a system, and those kids stay around each other and play with each other and against each other. They end up getting to high school and junior high, and they play there.”

Registration for the upcoming season will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 22, and from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23, at the Phil Hardin baseball fields.

For more information, visit the Meridian Youth Baseball Association’s Facebook page or contact Larry Gill at 601-513-7262.