First baseman Shawn Wright stretches to stay with a throw in the Marysville High School field house. Baseball campers have to work indoors due to heavy rain that has fallen on the MHS varsity baseball diamond.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Evan Wortman hits off the tee at the Ed Starling indoor batting facility Monday morning. Wortman is one of about 75 youngsters who are participating in the Marysville youth baseball camp this week.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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The recent heavy rain has put the left side of the Marysville High School varsity baseball diamond under water.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Marysville youth baseball campers utilized the high school parking lot to work on base running skills. In the above photo, Collin Burris runs through a base.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Baseball players have to adapt when the weather turns rotten.
That was the case Monday during the opening day of the Marysville youth camp.
The heavy rain that fell over the weekend is keeping youngsters and instructors off the diamonds at the Marysville High School complex.
Campers and coaches are instead utilizing the space they have at their disposal with the high school parking lot, the Ed Starling indoor hitting facility and the MHS field house.
“We’re just using the space we have available,” said Marysville High School head coach Nick Blake, who is coordinating the camp. “We’re just adapting as well as we possibly can during a week that sounds like it’s going to bring a good deal of rain.
“I don’t think we’re going to get on the varsity diamond this week,” smiled Blake. “The entire left side of the infield is under water and I think there may be some fish floating around in there.”
Base running and outfield drills are being held in the parking lot, infield instruction is taking place in the field house and the indoor batting cages are being used for those working on their swings.
“I don’t know what we would do if we didn’t have the indoor hitting facility,” said Blake.
Campers worked on base running and outfield drills in the parking lot Monday morning during a break in the precipitation.
If rain falls during the camp, those activities will also be moved into the field house.
“Since we have the hitting facility and field house, I don’t believe we’ll miss anything as far as getting the camp in,” said Blake.
The camp has attracted approximately 75 youngsters.
Morning sessions from 9 a.m. until noon are for those ages 9 U-14 U.
The afternoon camp runs from 1-3 p.m. for 6 U-8 U players.
“We are running the camp through Thursday for the older players,” said Blake. “The younger guys will go through Wednesday.”
The camp is being used to promote the two “Fs” of baseball… fun and fundamentals.
“We’re instructing the guys on the basic fundamentals of the game,” said Blake. “We want to teach them the skills they will need to translate into our high school program during the coming years.
“We also want to make this a fun time for them.”
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