By Stephen Smoot
The polar vortex that pulled Arctic air into the mountains of West Virginia gave a bit of a reprieve in the past week. With the sun shining somewhat warmly, bitter winds slowing to gentle breezes, and the sound of songbirds singing coming back, one knows what will return soon.
Baseball.
Although the fields were not quite ready to host drills, players from first grade to seventh grade came to take instruction in the fundamentals of sound play.
“We did a baseball skills camp on throwing, fielding and hitting,” said Sam Yokum, Pendleton County High School head baseball coach. He also shared that the camp’s instructors included Rick Wagoner, Joe Vincell, Scott Rightsell, Jay Hartman, and Chad Propst, who are the middle and high school coaches, as well as Clayton Kisamore, former Wildcat star pitcher.
Yokum also invited former Pendleton County assistant and current Parkersburg South head baseball coach Bryan Youngblood to do a special clinic to help catchers to develop skills. “He probably spent a couple of hours with the catchers,” he shared.
The skills session consisted of individualized instruction.
“It was very nice for Bryan to come all the way over here,” noted Yokum. From Youngblood’s current city of residence in the Ohio River Valley city of Marietta, Ohio, the drive is almost four hours one way.
In addition to the coaches, Yokum also invited a number of current players on the varsity squad to help mentor the up and coming stars of Pendleton County baseball. Those not playing basketball have had flex practices with the official first practice taking place last Monday.
Yokum stated that the sessions were productive and that all “had a good time,” but he added, “I’d like to get outside on the playing field.”
Attendance provided “good working numbers for us” in that they had enough players to run drills and learn effectively.
He also shared special praise for his own varsity players who volunteered to help, explaining that “it’s good to see teenagers reach out and give young players help.”
Not only are his players skilled at teaching the game to their younger counterparts, but also “the younger ones look up to them. It gives the older ones a sense of responsibility and caring.”
“I want to continue to do more of these,” he went on to say.