Youth baseball-softball clinic set for Garrett Coliseum on Wednesday

No less than 150 participants are expected during Wednesday’s clinic at Garrett Coliseum. (File Photo)

By TIM GAYLE

The fifth annual Montgomery Baseball-Softball Skills Camp will be held on Wednesday at Garrett Coliseum. Admission is free. 

The clinic is open to boys and girls in grades three through eight with a morning session from 8:30-noon and an afternoon session from 1-4:30 p.m. Registration is from 8-8:30 a.m. for the morning session and 12:30-1 p.m. for the afternoon session and includes a liability waiver that must be signed.  A free lunch will be provided.

The camp will focus on the fundamentals of each sport and will be conducted by area coaches and players. There will be inspirational speakers at each session as well.

“It’s for grades 3 through 8 because 80 percent of those kids in grades three through five have never played before,” said organizer David Thomas, who has spearheaded  the camp in each of its first four years. “Plus, the YMCA is going to have kids to come in. I’m expecting at least 150 participants.

“The YMCA is bringing kids and all nine community centers are going to bring in kids. The biggest thing I used to worry about is whether I’ll have anybody show up, but since the city has gotten involved (with participants from the community centers), I asked if they could treat it like it’s a field trip and last year it worked real well.”

The clinic is part of a group of events Thomas has organized over the last few years to bring more attention to the middle school baseball and softball programs in the city. Last year, he coordinated the Montgomery Middle School Baseball All-Star Game at Gateway Park, featuring MPS middle schools that are divided into east and west teams.

Earlier this year, the group launched the David Thomas Baseball-Softball Invitational Tournament at Fain Park on Feb. 27-28.