By Staff
William Booth takes his winter baseball school seriously.
"It's not going to be a playtime," the Hartselle High School head baseball coach said. "We want to teach skills. It's not entertainment, we just want them to get better."
Booth will hold his annual winter baseball school December 30-31, beginning at 9 a.m. and lasting until 1 p.m. The camp is for eighth graders and younger.
"I'd like to encourage everybody to come out to this camp," Booth said. "We're looking for the future, wanting to see who's coachable."
Booth, who holds a 520-138 career varsity record and six state championships, will have help from some of the finest players to graduate from Hartselle High School.
Stevie Woodard, who just signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox, will be one of the instructors, along with Jonathan Blankenship (University of Alabama and New York Yankees) and Scott McClanahan (University of Alabama).
Other scheduled instructors are Trai Meadows (UAH), Ben Blankenship (Montevallo), Michael Walters (Huntington), David Pressley (UAH), Chris Walters (Mercer), Trent Preuitt (Montevallo), Josh Brittnel (Birmingham Southern) and Wes Letson (Birmingham Southern).
Assistant coaches Chris Heaps, Keith Morrow and Jerry Childers will also be on hand for instruction.
There are several key areas the instructors will be focusing on, including defensive techniques by position, offensive strategy, hitting instruction, base running techniques and pitching instruction.
One new aspect of this year's school is the remodeling of a state of the art indoor facility. There will be more hitting and pitching stations than in year's past, as the indoor facility along with the gym will be in use.
"If each kid picks up one or two things from this school, it will be worth it," Booth said.
The cost of the school is $60. For more information, contact Booth at 773-5123, Heaps at 773-2829 or Jim Tapscott at 773-6754.