A fundraiser for the newly-formed Cleveland Baseball & Softball Association, the second annual Cleveland Youth Baseball camp, which was held at the ball fields on May 19, was attended by 38 first through sixth-grade kids.
With head varsity baseball coach Charlie Haugen supervising, varsity baseball players and summer coaches ran the three-hour camp.
“It’s a great opportunity not only for the little kids but also with all the high schoolers being involved,” Haugen said. “It is showing the kids not only the baseball fundamentals but also how much we care about them: how excited we are for them to keep going through the baseball program and for them to be a part of growing our program in the right direction.”
Split into age groups, the kids used three of the four fields to work on hitting, fielding, throwing and baserunning.
Second grader Jett Hastings liked the camp, especially since in the scrimmage he played, he almost hit an in-the-park home run.
He said his big takeaway, which he hopes to be able to apply during his games this summer, was to challenge the pitcher when he reaches third base.
“I learned that when you are on third and the pitcher looks to first, then run home.”
While the camp’s goal was to teach fundamental skills, the Cleveland Baseball & Softball Association’s objective is to ensure that players at all levels have quality fields to play on.
“We are working with the school and the city, and our very top priority is to focus on field conditions, and especially safety related to field conditions,” said association member Nikki Smith.
Those safety initiatives include anything from field irrigation to leveling, maintenance that has to do with repairing gaps or swales, Smith said. The group would also like to extend the fencing between fields upwards in order to keep balls confined to the fields they came from.
Beyond that, the group would like to improve the scoreboards and spectator conditions.
“We want to give our athletes a place to play that they can be proud of,” Smith said.
Besides the camp, softball players sold a coupon book, and baseball is currently selling raffle tickets for five cash prizes from $1000 to $250. The drawing for that will be held on June 20 with the winners announced that day during the Legion baseball game at 6:00 p.m.
The bathroom facilities at the fields have recently undergone a major upgrade.
For more on the Cleveland Baseball & Softball Association, visit its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559349343316
Above: Third grader Brock Pearson takes a swing while Carson Lyons catches.
