South Bend Cubs making annual kids camp a tradition
SOUTH BEND — For the eighth year in a row, the South Bend Cubs hosted a three-day baseball camp for kids aged 6-12 years old.
A total of 80 kids participated the last three days, culminating Friday at Four Winds Field. Wednesday and Thursday focused on the fundamentals of the game, with Friday being a day for the kids to compete in games against each other.
“The South Bend Cubs do a great job with this,” Cubs manager Lance Rymel said. “They run a first-class camp, and it’s always nice to see our players coming out to help with this. It’s good to give back to the community. … We might have some future South Bend Cubs running around here, we’ll see.”
South Bend Cubs players helped each of the three days. Two of them Friday, Jarod Wright and Frankie Scalzo Jr., were part of the combined no-hitter the Cubs threw Thursday against the Peoria Chiefs.
Part of the camp experience is receiving tickets to a South Bend Cubs game on the night of the second day, which means most of the players and their families were on hand Thursday night for the 10th no-hitter in South Bend franchise history.
More: These 4 Chicago Cubs pitching prospects combined to toss a no-hitter in South Bend Thursday
“They saw the no-hitter and were talking about it during stretches (Friday),” Rymel noted. “I think it was a little bit of good karma for us, given we’re doing the kids camp this week.”
Another player helping out Friday morning was outfielder Jacob Wetzel. The Walkersville, Maryland, native remembers going to plenty of baseball camps as a kid, but never one the scope of the camp the Cubs host.
“It’s been a blast,” said Wetzel of his experience altogether. “I’ve never been part of such a big camp. It’s kind of nice to see a bunch of little kids coming out and enjoying the sport. I love it. It’s the little things, like making kids smile. I want to do pretty much anything I can to make baseball a game that they love.”
Being able to be a mentor to younger kids is a responsibility Wetzel doesn’t take lightly.
“It’s making me appreciate the game more,” Wetzel said. “Hopefully, one day, these kids will do the same thing.” The Cubs will host one more youth camp in early August. Spots for that are already sold out.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Cubs players, staff host kids camp at Four Winds Field
