It sounds like the free baseball camp for kids the past couple days at U.S. Cellular Community Park was a great success. I had a chance to meet a couple of organizers for the South Valley Baseball Camp Wednesday and Thursday, and the M.I.T. Sports Group folks were taken aback by the level of participation despite relatively little time to put it together. I believe they put the number at about 170 kids.
Jerry Waller and Bill Van Dusen were among those who came up from Southern California to put it on. It was free for kids ages 6 to 14, but $20 donations were welcome. The group, backed by the Kimmel Family Foundation, is to make a matching donation to Medford youth sports for every participant. They also left behind equipment they brought, including a pitching machine.
Waller and Van Dusen raved about the facility and the ease in working with Rich Rosenthal of Medford Parks and Recreation. They also were thrilled to get instructional help from Southern Oregon Riverdawgs manager Chris Wolf and his players.
Watch for it to return next year.
Late football coach Kitchell’s spirit lives on
Players still heed coach's words.
The spirit of Dave Kitchell lives on in the Coach Kitchell Summer Football Competition. Kitchell was the beloved, strong-willed defensive coordinator for the Ashland Grizzlies football team before passing away shortly after a second-round state playoff game in 2007. He was 51, a victim of cancer.
To give an idea of his strength, Kitchell, who had recently returned from treatments on a tumor on his liver, called Grizzlies head coach Charlie Hall at practice on the Thursday before that playoff against Corvallis. He also called the next night to give game-night affirmation, as he’d been doing for 20 years. Both times, Hall put his cell on speakphone so the whole team could hear Kitchell’s strong voice — it belied his condition. Ashland won, 14-7, on Friday night. Kitchell passed away two mornings later.
The Grizzlies continued to play as they went through the healing process.
At Thursday’s event, teams from throughout the region took part in passing contests, a tug of war and a truck push. A reader sends in that it was “lots of fun.”
There are plenty of photos on the Ashland Footall Club Facebook page.