From an early age, Nick Schavone wanted to make a difference by giving back to the community. As a sophomore at Middle Creek High School, he got the chance to bring together his love of baseball with the opportunity to provide community service.

The Apex resident started a baseball clinic for the Raleigh Boys Club, sponsored by the Middle Creek baseball team each year. The project goes hand in hand with Major League Baseball’s Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) Program, which celebrated its 21st anniversary this year.

Now in its third year, Schavone’s clinic has brought baseball knowledge and skills to Raleigh children. Schavone hopes the kids have picked up his love of the sport as well.

“I love the game of baseball,” Schavone said. “I love it just about as much as anything else in my life.” Schavone said it took nearly 150 hours of planning and work to make the clinic possible. In addition, nearly $3,000 in baseball equipment was donated to the club.

For his senior project, Schavone decided to write a paper on the deficit of minorities in the game of baseball. He showed how the baseball clinic has helped ease the problem by bringing the game to inner city kids.

Nick has a major support system between Coach Thompson and his family, especially his parents, Pete and Jodi Schavone. They have made an impact on his life, something he has already paid forward by giving to the children of Raleigh.

Schavone said he couldn’t have done it without the help of his coach and school mentor Jeremy Thompson as well as his community mentor Rodney McClamb. McClamb is the Health and Physical Education Director for the Raleigh Boys Club and was a major supporter throughout the process. “He’s done a lot to help,” Schavone said.

Now that Schavone graduated, he passed the project on to two sophomores on the Middle Creek Mustangs baseball team.

However, Schavone isn’t leaving baseball behind. The recent graduate played in the 2010 Powerade State Games last week, pitching two innings. He gave up only one hit and no runs and struck out three batters while on the mound. He played along with 39 other baseball players from across North Carolina in Charlotte.

Scouts from Barton College in Wilson and Piedmont College in Georgia approached Schavone after his great game. While he was accepted to Appalachian State University for academics, Schavone said he isn’t sure where he will end up this fall. He is still looking over his options.