The Barton Community College baseball team will celebrate its continued support of Great Bend's Lincoln Elementary "Watch Dog Program" this Friday evening as the Cougars begin a weekend series with Pratt Community College.  The Cougars will recognize the participants of the program in a brief welcome at 5:45 p.m. at Lawson-Biggs Field, as well as enjoying an evening at the ballpark with concessions and free prizes given away throughout the evening.  Barton and Pratt will undergo a four-game weekend series to conclude the regular season with first pitch of Friday's nine inning game slated for 6:00 p.m.

"Moms are usually the ones that attend school events," said Kylee Graves, Family Support at Lincoln.  "The Watch Dog Program encourages Dad's and male role models to become more involved with their children."

A program set up in 2013 to encourage more male participation in the school setting, the Cougars have become active participants in the program providing additional male role model support.  Lincoln has found the program to be a huge success with continued growth."

Having male role models in the classrooms has really decreased behavior issues," Graves said.  "The program also allows our kids to bond with a lot of different individuals."

Barton Baseball Head Coach Mike Warren orchestrated his team's involvement in the program to attend nearly every Watch Dog event, as well as, involving 4-8 players each Tuesday and Thursday mornings to volunteer in the program.

"Having the baseball team involved in the program has been great in forming bonds with the kids," said Graves.  "Both the kids and staff have really enjoyed all they have done."

Lincoln has quarterly events with Dad's and their children and encourages volunteering during the school day.  Events such as the hot dog cookout to kick off the school year and a chili cook-off were just a couple of the fun events providing interaction of male role models and the kids. 

The Barton-Pratt series will resume on Saturday with a twinbill of seven innings games set for 2:00 p.m. and will conclude with a single nine inning game at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Coach Warren, who picked up his 900th win at the Barton helm on Wednesday, could possibly reach another milestone over the weekend.   Warren stands at 997 career collegiate victories with the opportunity to reach the 1000 plateau against the school Warren began his head coaching career at, coaching the Beavers to a 35-48 record during the 1979-81 seasons.

For more information regarding Lincoln's Watch Dog Program, contact Kylee Graves, Lincoln Family Support, at (620) 793-1503 or kylee.graves@usd428.net.