When I think about springtime in the Northeast, a lot of memories and sensations come to mind. The smells of rain and freshly cut grass. The feeling of sunshine on my face after being generally cooped up through winter. Baseball is also something many of us can relate to in one way or another. Recently, my wife and I were excited to get outside during some especially good weather and went to a local park. There happened to be a Little League game in progress, and I noted to myself that on a field in the middle of seemingly nowhere, this game could bring together hundreds of people to cheer on their players. The sights, sounds, and smells brought back a lot of good memories. I should mention that I was able to resist the concession stand — barely.
The Williamsport area has a long tradition of baseball, even beyond the yearly phenomenon of the Little League World Series. Most of us can remember either going to baseball or softball practice ourselves or taking one of our kids. To be honest, one of the things my wife and I miss most about our kids growing up is that we no longer had anyone to watch play softball and baseball in the spring.
In the long tradition of giving back, some of the baseball players at St. John Neumann Regional Academy in Williamsport recently put on a baseball clinic for young players. “This actually started out as a senior class project for Angelo & Gino Birch and LaJon Dizard,” said Coach Rick Armstead. “I then pitched the idea of holding a clinic at Original Little League field, and the seniors were all in.”
When asked how the clinic came together beyond a fun class project, Armstead responded, “The seniors and I, along with the guidance counselor, Mrs. Jennifer McPherson, talked about how to put the event together, after which we gave some dates to David Stewart. Mr. Stewart is a local sports dad who is very involved with baseball and coaches his grandson, Zarious. It was difficult to find time when our Neumann players were free and didn’t have practice or games, but they knew they wanted to give back to the community and do their senior projects at the same time. We also thought that it should be grassroots, meaning younger players trying to learn about the game at a lower level, so it was decided the clinic would be for ages 7 through 12.
The seniors designed the clinic. They decided the stations would include hitting off of tees, hitting in the batting cages, playing outfield and infield positions, and base running. Due to the surprising number of participants, we ended it with a wiffleball game so everyone of all skill levels could be included.”
The baseball clinic, held on April 19th, was organized and directed by the three high school seniors, Angelo Birch, Gino Birch, and LaJon Dizard, for their senior service projects. With the help of coaches Andy McMahon, Jaiden Cioffi, and Rick Armstead, the group had a great turnout of 30 young players.
When asked why the coaches and senior players wanted to be involved with the project, Coach Armstead responded, “At St John Neumann, we are dedicated to holding ourselves to high standards, which means we are committed to going out into our communities and serving wherever we can be helpful. We take extreme pride in being involved and helping others. We are all good at something, and it is important that we share our gifts with others.”
In addition to the coaches and senior players organizing the event, others in the community were also glad to step up and contribute. Dr. Chad Greevy, Assistant Principal and Curriculum Director at St. John Neumann Regional Academy, attended the event to support our seniors and speak with the parents of the clinic participants. Dr. Greevy was there to answer questions from parents who were at our clinic about what would take place and its purpose as a senior project. In addition, Kurt Lane, owner of Long Island Pizza in Williamsport, was very generous in donating pizza to feed the hungry players and has been a longtime support of youth baseball in the area.
