Jake Hodge Wiffle Ball Tournament raises more than $41,000 for scholarships

The Jake Hodge Wiffle Ball Tournament raised more than $41,000 for scholarships, turning another weekend of wiffle ball in Princeton, Kentucky, into direct support for students. The annual event returned to Princeton on Friday and Saturday and again showed how a local tournament can translate into real educational dollars.

The Jake Hodge Memorial Foundation was established in 2008 in memory of Jake Hodge, who was born in 1995 and died on June 21, 2008. The foundation says its scholarship program is designed to help graduating seniors attend college or technical school, with awards aimed at students who display honesty, character and integrity.

Eligible students include graduating seniors from Kentucky high schools in Crittenden, Lyon, Livingston, Trigg and Caldwell counties. A GuideStar profile lists a slightly narrower scholarship pool, naming graduating seniors from Crittenden County, Caldwell County and Livingston County, along with one member of the Kentucky High School Rodeo Association. Taken together, the foundation’s materials show a program built to keep the scholarship mission closely tied to western Kentucky.

The more than $41,000 total adds to a fundraiser that has shown staying power. Last year, the tournament raised over $56,000 for scholarships, a mark that underscores how firmly the event has settled into the summer calendar. A 2017 account described Little Busch Stadium as ready for the Jake Hodge fundraiser, another sign that the tournament has been part of the community landscape for years.

That consistency matters in a sport like wiffle ball, where the appeal is as much about the event as the competition itself. The low barrier to entry helps bring in families, alumni groups and neighborhood teams, and the scholarship mission gives those games a direct purpose beyond the final out. For the Jake Hodge tournament, the scoreboard is only part of the story. The bigger result is the money it sends toward students who will carry that support into the classroom and beyond.