Hiwassee Dam The Eagles held their annual youth baseball camp, where youth from across the area came and improved their skills.
Kids from the Hiwassee Dam area came to the school’s baseball field for the two-day camp Thursday and Friday evening and participated in various drills led by Hiwassee Dam varsity baseball’s coaches and players.
To start the camp, the youth players loosened their throwing arms by playing catch. After they warmed up, they were split into two group by age. One group worked on fielding and bunting, while the other worked on hitting in the batting cages.
The fielding drills were led by Eagles varsity baseball head coach Tommy Strickland and assistant coach Josh Barton. The batting drills were led by assistant coaches Ronnie Davis and Mike Taylor. Hiwassee Dam Principal Daniel McNabb also assisted with the camp.
Varsity baseball players Braden Trow and Nick Sorbera helped run the drills and assist the kids in attendance. Day one of the camp was dedicated to infield fielding drills, and on the second day they did outfield drills.
The infield drills consisted of retrieving ground balls with both the backhand and forehand using foam fielding mitts instead of their regular glove. They did multiple drills on retrieving ground balls as that is a key skill for all infielders.
The fielding group also worked on bunting with various drills. One of the drills they did was with a lacrosse stick. A player or coach pitched the ball to them from short range, and they had to catch the baseball in the pocket of the lacrosse stick to work on bunting accuracy and feel.
Another bunting drill they did as one group was placement of the ball when bunting. A coach pitched to them, and they had to aim for a box in the infield down the first-base line.
For the batting drills, they went into the batting cages and worked on hitting off a tee to improve their accuracy. They then had the coaches pitch to them so they would work on hitting balls thrown to them.
The two groups alternated between fielding and hitting. At the end of the day, they gathered as one group to work on a few final drills all together.
Each day of camp, they ended how the varsity team ends their game. They gathered around the pitchers mound in a circle and said a prayer.
Strickland said after the first day of camp that he was pleased with how it went.
“We’ve had these kids for, some of them, four years now coming back. There’s a lot of progress being made, and I’m thrilled with it,” he said.
One of the main goals of the camp is to get the kids more experience while they can, Strickland said. With new rules being implemented next baseball season where middle schoolers can potentially play on the varsity team, he wants to help them gain experience and improve on their skills.
Strickland said his favorite moment from the first day of camp Friday was the prayer at the end. That’s something they will continue to do because it’s important.
The varsity team also does the prayer with the other team after their games.