For four days, boys and girls participated in baseball and softball camps in Howe. The Howe Bulldogs Baseball camp was run by Howe’s varsity head coach, Torrey Ognoskie with the help of some players, such as Winston Mosse and David Crees. The Lady Bulldogs softball camp was led by varsity head coach Adam Rupert with help from players such as Emily Sanders, Madisyn Hargrove, and others.
The camp allowed the baseball program to raise money for equipment and to help maintain the field. The money raised from the $30 camper’s entry fee will be used for seeding the baseball field and for the purchase of general baseball equipment.
“The age groups were split up for developmental purposes. The younger ones participated in the morning, while the older players had their time in the mid-afternoon.
“The little ones were excited and fired up.” said Ognoskie. “That made me excited and fired up to help them.”
Ognoskie said he ran the older players camp more like practices to get them acclimated to the environment and terminology of what they’ll be doing soon. “It’s nice to have somebody who’s already done it and can show them what it’s supposed to look like.” said Ognoskie of Mosse and Crees.
Ognoskie said the kids learned a lot from day one to day four and that some of the younger ones went from playing fetch to playing catch. He said that some others wanted to be pushed to the max, such as young third grader Anthony Lowder, who wanted Ognoskie to make him run far in order to dive for the ball.
“On the last day, we did infield drills where I would roll the ball out there and they’d have to dive for it, get up and throw.” said Ognoskie. “They were fired up. No kid in that little camp went home without a little dirt on them. So that was good. Mom has to wash their pants and shirt.”
