The San Luis Obispo Blues are finally getting their entire team assembled and moved in.
With college baseball reaching the College World Series, many teams that couldn’t make it to Omaha are now preparing for next year, including Heston Tole and Miller Pleimann from the University of Arkansas.
Nancy Bodily and Geoff Straw of Los Osos are one of many families stepping up to host Blues players.
Toles and Pleimann are staying with Bodily and Pleimann this summer.
Blues Pitcher Heston Tole said, “It’s been awesome they’ve been very nice getting us anything we need. Anytime they go to the store, they ask if we need anything. They welcomed us with open arms.”
Host family member Nancy Bodily said, “It’s a chance to meet young people from places across the country. We get a lot of players from the south and I’ve never been to the south.”
SLO Blues General Manager Adam Stowe said, “It saves us an amazing amount of money and allows us to bring in talent from all over the country.”
Host family member Geoff Straw said, “It’s a real gem having the community baseball and the events they have for the kids, it really is a family-focused program.”
Bodily and Straw have hosted Blues players from across the country for five seasons.
Bodily said, “I encourage folks to be a host family, it’s a really great time. We just sat last night and talked to Heston about his career.”
Tole said, “They just do a good job of keeping it stress-free and giving us a place to come back and rest.”
The impact of the host families carries on well past the summer season.
Stowe said, “They’re going to be traveling all over the country, staying in multiple spots with multiple families if they choose baseball as a career and this is the perfect proving ground for them to grow a little bit.”
Straw said, “We tend to stay in touch with some of the kids that have come through which is fantastic seeing what they do throughout their college career.”
Bodily said, “We like to call them our summer sons. We have one daughter, so I’ve never had a son.”
The Blues recruit roughly 35 to 40 families in order to create a comfortable space for their players.
While the Blues have every player situated for this summer, they are already taking calls for host family volunteers next year.
