TIFTON — The weather forecast did not look too promising at the start of the week, but Tift County’s baseball-softball camp went off without a hitch June 10-14.
A year after rain washed out half the camp days, the only water on the fields was by choice — Friday’s day of waterslides.
Head coach Greg Williams had plenty for the campers to do. They learned all kinds of fundamentals, hitting, fielding, baserunning and pitching, but in a fun manner.
Besides the waterslides, Williams had a radar gun on Wednesday to test their arm speed. Hitting was done on the field and in the batting cages. Competitions named the best in many categories, including longest hit and longest throw from the outfield.
Up the hill on the softball field Jen Walls had her group doing much of the same. Walls, who assisted the Lady Devils last season, was named head coach at the end of the week.
Williams and baseball had more than 100 divided into several age groups. Softball had 21, said Walls, including a big walkup crowd on the first day.
Technique was big in Walls’ camp and she gave campers plenty of time to try all fielding positions. By the end of the camp, Lady Devils campers were hopeful of knowing whether they were primarily and infielder or outfielder.
Softball camp had competitions as well.
As always, Tift’s camp is not just popular with those in the community, but those outside it as well. Williams said he had campers from neighboring Worth and Berrien counties, as well as one from Metro Atlanta.