WKU baseball holds youth camp at Nick Denes Field

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – With students on break for the summer, the Hill can get a little quiet during this season, but this week, some youth campers brought back the energy to Nick Denes Field.

WKU baseball camp was in full swing this week for boys aged 6-12 who got to spend four days on their favorite Hilltopper diamond learning the basics of hitting, throwing, fielding and even get in some sliding practice.

Hitting the field with the campers this week was Hilltopper pitcher Gavin Perry, and while he hopes he was able to add to these kids love for baseball during camp, that doesn’t exactly mean that he took it easy on them.

“ For the little game we play, I have the older kids, and I’m throwing BP (batting practice) until they start talking smack to me and then I got to remind them, you know, I could get it by you, “Perry said. “But no, I mean, I’ve given up so many home runs, I lost count.”

Every summer, a new group of kids come along with an excitement and joy to get to know the game.

But while the camps coaches dedicate their week to helping them learn, the staff also learns from the kids who remind them of an important characteristic of the ball game that sometimes is easy to forget.

“ That it’s supposed to be fun,” WKU director of operations Derek Francis said. “You lose track of that in college sports and in professional sports sometimes. You lose the fact that it’s supposed to be a fun game, and these kids come out here with a great attitude every day. They bring the energy even when sometimes we’re a little tired. They don’t care and they just want to get after it every single day.”