CJ Bates
84 posts
On May 29th at the SPFHS Scholarship Night SPFBL officially changed the name of our annual scholarship to honor an amazing man. The Kirk Citsay Memorial Scholarship honors a friend we lost too soon. Kirk was a pillar in this community, and he set the bar as a husband and father. The winner of the 2025 Kirk Citsay SPFBL Memorial Scholarship is a young man who has dedicated his life to SPF baseball. Always putting others first on the diamond and in life. This recipient began his journey at the age of three in the Scotch Plains Fanwood Rookies program and played in the program through eighth grade on both rec and travel teams. He moved through the program with a stellar reputation of being valued by both his teammates and coaches. He was always respectful , coachable and positive. When he wasn’t playing, he was always found at the field, either watching another teams game, working the snack stand, prepping the field for a game, umpiring, working with the younger Raiders to help their game or even occasionally pulling weeds. After a full career in the SPF baseball league, he then went on to high school, where he was a three-year varsity starter. This is a fitting recipient for the scholarship, as Kirk had a strong interest in this player and would often check in on him. Kirk was always interested in not only how the player was performing as a player but also as a teammate and a student. He would closely follow this young man and anticipated seeing how each pitching outing went. This year’s winner of the Kirk Citsay Memorial Scholarship is CJ Bates. CJ will be attending FDU in the fall, fulfilling his lifelong dream of playing college baseball and majoring in Sports Management. Congratulations, CJ. We know Kirk is smiling down from the bleachers in Heaven and couldn’t be prouder that you’re the recipient of this scholarship in his honor. @CJBates25 @spfhsbaseball We will be adding a plaque at Booth Field in Kirk's honor and display the annual winners.
Congratulations to CJ Bates, ‘25 RHP/1B from Scotch Plains- Fanwood HS, on his commitment to further his academic and athletic career at Fairleigh Dickinson University! The two way competitor proved how he belongs with the best of them for the past
