WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
SPORTS
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
+ermiston 11-year-old Trevor :agner spins and À res at second
base during the Tri-City Dust Devils Youth Baseball Clinic on
Sunday at Gesa Stadium in Pasco.
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
Cade Smith of +ermiston rounds À rst base at Gesa Stadium as
part of the Tri-City Dust Devils Youth Baseball Clinic on Sunday.
Tri-City Dust Devils -ust Pacchioli left and 0itch 0orales set up the inÀ elder·s drill at the Tri-City Youth Baseball Clinic on Sunday
at Gesa Stadium in Pasco.
CLINIC:
continued from Page A8
game and be a part of it and
be with all of us players,”
Smith said. “It’s a good
time.”
Smith and France were
two of 10 Dust Devils play-
ers who coached children in
various baseball disciplines.
Two pitchers worked with
campers on base-running.
Two players manned a cou-
ple tees behind home plate.
Two more had a group at
second base teaching how
to take grounders and how
to turn double plays. Still
more were in the out¿ eld
throwing À y balls, and an-
other group was down the
right ¿ eld line working on
throwing mechanics.
The two-hour clinic
was action-packed with
little idle time. Hermis-
ton 11-year-olds Trevor
Wagner, Spencer Juul and
Chase Elliott said they real-
ly enjoyed the pace of the
clinic.
“They kept everyone
going,” Elliott said. “They
kept us going. It wasn’t
like, ‘Just stand here.’ We
were always doing some-
thing.”
Split up into age groups,
the campers rotated around
the ¿ ve stations in 0 min-
ute intervals. The program
was designed to get as
many reps as possible while
still allowing for some per-
sonal instruction from the
players.
“I’ve been involved for
14 years now doing this,
we’ve kinda learned over
the years that kids don’t
have a ton of attention
time,” President/General
Manager Derrel Ebert said.
“We try to keep it fun and
keep it moving along.”
About 30 of the 60 par-
ticipants, Hermiston Parks
and Rec representative
Kate Greenough said, came
from Hermiston or Irrigon,
and, barring an unforeseen
problem, Hermiston will
continue to participate in
the clinic.
“It’s just done a really
good job of bringing to-
gether all the different age
groups, and it’s not far from
Hermiston,” she said. “It’s
a nice asset that we have
that a lot of communities
don’t. You get to be a Mi-
nor League player for two
hours. That’s pretty cool for
a lot of these kids.”
The clinic was an expe-
rience for everyone pres-
ent. France said he got to
act like a 1-year-old again,
something he very much
enjoys. For the campers,
it’s a chance to play on
a professional ¿ eld with
professional players. The
Try-City Dust Devils team
is the short-season Class A
af¿ liate of the San Diego
Padres.
For the parents, it’s a
chance to reinforce the con-
cepts and skills already be-
ing taught by Little League
coaches.
“These kids know that
these guys are ¿ ghting for
their dream,” Chase’s fa-
ther, Chris, said from the
Dust Devils dugout. “So
to be getting instruction
from someone who’s still
(playing the game), that’s
not something any of us
(parents and coaches) can
do.”
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
Chase (lliott of +ermiston races Tri-City Dust Devils catcher
$.-. .ennedy for a Á y ball during the Tri-City Dust Devils Youth
Baseball Clinic on Sunday at Gesa Stadium in Pasco.
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM
BARBEE
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
+ermiston·s Chase (lliott taNes swings off the tee with Tri-City
Dust Devils À rst baseman Ty France at the Tri-City Dust Devils
Youth Baseball Clinic on Sunday at Gesa Stadium in Pasco.
Following the Tri-City
Dust Devils Youth
Baseball Clinic on
Sunday at Gesa
Stadium, the 10 Dust
Devils instructors lined
uS in the home À rst
base dugout to sign
autographs for the
roughly 60 campers.
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
+ermiston·s Cade :arner waits for a throw from his partner at
the Tri-City Dust Devils Youth Baseball Clinic on Sunday at Gesa
Stadium in Pasco.
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
More than 60 campers got personal baseball instruction from 10 Tri-City Dust Devils players at the Tri-City Dust Devils Youth Baseball Clinic on Sunday at Gesa Stadium in Pasco.