by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Thanks to a group of former players, a free baseball clinic for boys will be held Sunday, Aug. 25, at Kansas City Kansas Community College.
The free clinic is being made possible through sponsorships and donations from local businesses and more than a dozen former Blue Devil baseball players. The clinic will be held from 9 a.m. on the KCKCC field at 7250 State Ave. In addition to instruction, participants will receive lunch and a clinic T-shirt.
The clinic will be limited to the first 50 boys who sign up. It is open to ages 7 to 12.
“If we get enough sponsorships, we will also offer an afternoon clinic,” said KCKCC head baseball coach Matt Goldbeck. Boys can register online at KCKCCbaseball.com.
Instruction will be provided by the KCKCC coaching staff and players and will focus on fundamentals in the areas of hitting, fielding, pitching, catching and base running.
Primary sponsors are Heartland Title and KC Sports. Heartland owner T.J. Lorson is a former Blue Devil player; Rick Fortuna of KC Sports had a son play baseball at KCKCC. Other major sponsors include Varsity Sports, Rainbow Roofing, Quinn Concreate Construction, Parkway Service Center and Pat Crilly of Commercial Claims.
Additional commitments have been made by Italian Delight, the Blue Devil Deli, Jeff Nick of Nill Brothers Sporting Goods, Reid Roberts of Kansas Lawn, former KCKCC coach Steve Burleson and alums Josh Moulin, Jerry Goza, Greg Beashore, Ray Schmaltz and Jason Haworth.
Blue Devil alums making cash donations include Brad Eikenbary of Piper Family Dentistry, Tyler Windholtz, Todd Windholtz, Steve Rezin, Mike Hinkle, Rob Morrow, the Goldbeck family and Blue Devil coaches Bill Sharp, Dean Long and Pedro Leon. Others include Pier Haen, Shirley Morrow and Brian Woods.
Donations are still being accepted and can be made on line at https://www.kckcc.edu/foundation/giving/index.html and checking on the blue box “Donate to the KCKCC Foundation.” Persons using Pay Pal will be asked for a specific location, to which BASEBALL should be designated.