GREENVILLE — The future of Greenville baseball was on full display this week as Greenville City Schools hosted its annual boys baseball camp under the direction of first-year Greenville varsity baseball coach Chad Henry.
A total of 55 young athletes participated in the week-long camp held at Sater Heights Park, home of the Greenville Green Wave baseball program. The campers were joined by Greenville High School baseball players and coaches, who volunteered to teach the fundamentals and finer points of the game.
Players were divided into age groups and spread across multiple diamonds throughout the complex, allowing coaches to tailor instruction based on skill level and age.
“Our turnout was incredible,” said Henry. “We opened it up, we marketed all the Greenville kids. To have this much buy-in from the kids is awesome; it’s great to see them all out here. Everybody is in Greenville gear, Greenville hats, and benefiting the program in the future.”
The camp curriculum was carefully planned to build skills progressively throughout the week.
“I had the coaches get together and say what are we looking for, what are some of the things that our players aren’t doing as well so we came up with a list and we did it day one,” said Henry. “We went basic day one, day two, we were doing more advanced things, but we’re still fielding ground balls, still throwing the ball, but now we’re showing them where we want it to be.”
The younger campers focused heavily on baseball fundamentals while older participants worked on more advanced techniques.
“The 10 and under were working a little more basics, and our 14-year-olds are over on diamond seven working with a little more advanced things,” Henry explained.
The camp also provided an opportunity for Greenville’s high school players to serve as mentors and role models for the younger athletes. Henry said the involvement of the varsity players is vital to building the program from the ground up.
“We came in open, we hadn’t seen a lot of what we had, and we took what we had and worked with it,” said Henry of his first season leading the Green Wave program. “My high school kids coming out here and working with these guys, something I learned from the flag football program in Ansonia is these kids love doing it for the players so having the players involved, it’s cool because my players learn how to teach it and I have already had some of them say, ‘oh, this is why you tell us to do this.’”
“It’s just increasing that baseball IQ and basically a way for the players to give back and see kids that were in their shoes one time,” Henry added.
In addition to current players and coaches, several former Greenville baseball standouts returned to lend their expertise during the camp.
“We have alumni Greenville baseball players coming back to help at this camp,” Henry said. “Layne Hocker is working with pitchers, Warren Hartzell is working with them, so it is really cool to see guys want to be a part of this baseball program.”
The strong turnout and support from current players, alumni, coaches, and families provided an encouraging sign for the future of Greenville baseball as the Green Wave continues building excitement and pride throughout the community.
