Astoria High School and Astoria Junior State Baseball has been awarded a $3,300 grant from Friends of Baseball to fund the purchase of a new batting cage, screens and protective mats at Tapiola Park.

A newly-created affiliate of the Oregon Sports Authority, Friends of Baseball is a creation of Portland businessman Keenan Longcor, who has established a $1 million fund to support youth baseball in Northwest Oregon.

“This grant will spark community involvement in developing a hitting facility that will change completely the baseball experience for kids in our community,” said Astoria coach Dave Gasser.

The grant will be officially presented to Astoria Baseball at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Tapiola Park, before the second round state playoff game with La Grande.

For more information on Friends of Baseball, contact Longcor at Keenan@friendsofbaseball.org, or (503) 781-2249. Visit the Web site at (www.friendsofbaseball.org)