MLB youth camp coming to Beckley
Sep. 14—Tim Epling's quest to help area youth baseball players improve fundamentally and become prepared for the next level never ends.
It will continue at the end of this month with the MLB Youth Baseball Camp at Linda K. Epling Stadium. The camp will be held on Saturday, Sept. 25, and again on Saturday, Oct. 2.
The camp will teach players how to prepare to get scouted and will cover pitching, hitting, infield/defensive play, outfield play, base running, catching and mental approach.
"We're going to have it structured into different topics," Epling said. "We're going to go over not just infield play, but how to take feeds in the middle. Your foot movements when you're fielding ground balls. How to really understand what your goals are in the outfield. Outfield play, infield play. Pitching from a playing perspective, not development. Development takes time, as far as teaching the kids to play. Kids don't know how to bunt. They don't know how to bunt in college now.
"So all these things that I know are disconnects in the game that they need when they get over. It's really a chance to be able to enhance those high school coaches that are out there with their players and they're expecting those kids to have a certain skill set, and they're not getting it. That's what's so good about this. It's going to help this kid to be really prepared."
"We are going to prepare (the older kids) to go into the college arena. That's what you have to do. You always have to prepare them to go to the next level."
There will be two sessions each day.
Session one is for players 12-under (to 9 years old). Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the camp will run from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
Session two is for players 18-under (to 13 years old). Registration will start at noon and the camp will run from 1-3:30 p.m.
Instructors for the camp will be former Cincinnati Red and two-time Prospect League Manager of the Year Steve Larkn, Kansas City Royals scout Rick Clendenin, former Pittsburgh Pirates catcher and WVU hitting coach Paul Ackerman, West Virginia Miners manager Tim Epling and Miners assistant A.B. Brown.
Cost of the camp is $40 per day or $65 for both.
To register or for more information, please call 304-252-7233.
Email: gfauber@register-herald.com and follow on Twitter @GaryFauber
