NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks assistant coach Cody Henderson throws a ball at a youth all-star during a catching drill in the first session of the Mavs' all-star camp Wednesday at Athletic Park.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Mavericks’ first all-star camp had Tory Nelson reminiscing on his baseball days.
The former Mavs’ infielder turned assistant coach was leading infield drills in the first session of the camp aimed toward all-star level baseball players aged 5-17. He enjoyed getting to work with the kids and pass on knowledge he would have enjoyed at their age.
“It’s a great thing for these kids to come out and get, I wish I had this when I was growing up,” Nelson said. “Just more opinions and more people helping you out is how you can get better.”
The camp was split into four different sessions for players to choose from, catching, hitting, pitching and infield.
Head coach Kevin Mitchell worked on pitching with Mavs’ pitcher Wyatt Thompson, Nelson shared in fielding tips with infielder Blake Dale, owner and general manger Greg Morrison was sharing hitting tips and assistant coach Body Henderson and backstop Jaden Babiuk worked with a group of catchers.
All four sessions shared mechanical tips of the trade while also breaking down into philosophies of each side of the game. Henderson says opportunities to share tips to help people get better is why he’s gotten into coaching.
“I love just teaching the game. I told these catchers, I love catching, I love baseball,” Henderson said. “It’s not a job, I love coming out here, making these kids better because even from the start of the session, to the end of the session, you can see kids getting better.
“That’s the best thing about bringing some of these a little more competitive kids out here, they really grasp onto it and they just want to get better.”
Henderson was a catcher throughout his playing career and says he wore the gear with pride as a “tough kid.” That was one of the messages he passed along to the catchers he worked with; take pride in the position.
“You have to be the hardest working guy on the field,” Henderson said. “It’s like being a lineman in football, you’re not going to get the glory. But you’re going to work the hardest and it’s going to help your team win games.”
Their focus on the catchers was on the catching part of the job, receiving pitches properly and getting good at the skill.
“Receiving is our most important thing to start with because you do that on every pitch, you don’t block and throw on every pitch, but you do catch the ball on every pitch,” Henderson said.
Babiuk shared the duties with Henderson, whether that was lobbing baseballs at the young catchers to work on their receiving or filling in as a first baseman so they could work on throwing the ball to first base after a simulated wild pitch.
Babiuk remembers attending camps like this as a young ball player in St. Albert and some of the lessons he learned growing up. His one tip he shared with the young catchers was to just enjoy the game.
“If you don’t like the game, then you’re not going to want to get better at it, if you love the game, you’re going to get better at it,” Babiuk said. “It’s just a matter of if you love it, you’re going to do it every day. I told the kids, don’t get too technical at this age, just enjoy it. Play baseball, make friends and that’s how you’re going to keep getting better and enjoying the game.”
The Mavs are holding a second day of the all-star camp on July 10, with two times of 12:30-1:30 p.m. and 1:40-2:40 p.m. at Athletic Park. Interested all-star level players can register on the Mavs’ website.
Nelson says he doesn’t remember the wins and losses he had as a little leaguer and is looking forward to pass along messages like that in the next session.
“Nobody remembers their wins and losses as a little leaguer, they remember the fun they’ve had and just coming out and improving,” Nelson said. “Just listen to everybody and stick with what works for you is what I found works best for kids.”
