More than 100 young Chickasaw baseball players learned tips of the game from the pros during the seventh annual Chickasaw Nation Winter Baseball Camp conducted Dec. 21-22 at Ardmore (Oklahoma) High School's indoor baseball facility.
Coaches from several area high schools and colleges and professional baseball players assisted with the camp.
A few, like Chickasaw citizen Leslie Wesberry, attended the camp as a player and have now returned to coach.
Wesberry is now a collegiate player at Lon Morris College in Kansas.
"Its pretty neat you get to be the guy that gets to help. When I was younger I really looked up to these coaches and now I am the one who gets to give back to the kids," he said.
Coach James Martin was one of the coaches Wesberry looked up to.
"You get to see the results of the camp," Coach Martin said about Wesberry and other former high school players who are now coaching at the camp.
"It really makes you proud, (Wesberry) is a hard worker and takes the game seriously, and he is still listening," he said.
Martin played 10 years for the several professional baseball teams.
Third-year baseball camp veteran Ty Rambo said, "the more you come (to camp) the more you learn."
"They teach you a lot," said the freshman catcher.
Caleb McDonald, from Kingston, said he looks forward to the camp every year. He has attended for the past seven years and plays short stop.
Conner Kuykendall, of Bethel, attended camp for the first time this year.
The six-year-old said his favorite part of camp was hitting the ball off the T.
"The coaches are really cool, too," he said.
Several first-time baseball campers including Logan Jarrett, Ada; Toby Taliaffero, Davis; and Matthew McAngus, Pauls Valley said they learned new skills.
"I learned to really hit a baseball," said Logan.
Camp instruction focused on improving the fundamentals of hitting, pitching and fielding. Warm weather allowed campers to practice fielding outdoors.
Besides baseball fundamentals, life skills such as goal setting, dedication and self-discipline were also stressed by the coaches.
Coaches at baseball camp included Zack Birth, Dave Martin, James Martin, Ead Simon, Brad Miller, Chuckie Caufield, Keanon Simon, Shane Coker, Neb Brown, Tyler Gillum, Dusty Rowland, Micha Noland, Zack Crabtree, Danny Baldridge and Leslie Wesberry.
Many of the coaches had extensive experience at the college and professional level, including Caufield, an Ada High School graduate, who is currently a farm-hand for the Milwaukee Brewers and Drew Miller, a Latta alumnus, who plays in the minors for the San Diego Padres.
During the closing ceremonies, Joseph Johnson, Lone Grove, and Austin Lambert, Coalgate were named top campers and received a gift certificate.
