Jose Antonio Perez and Shandra Keesecker-Rivero
Nearly 50 children and youth baseball fans took part in the 13th Annual Major League Baseball Clinic held in Puerto Peñasco on Jan. 28th at the Francisco León Garcia stadium.
At a brief press conference the evening before, Municipal Sports Director Fernando Mendoza was joined by organizers and coaches of the yearly clinic, many of whom have played in the minor and major leagues and continue sharing their expertise and passion for the “King of Sports”. Pete Hartmann, chief organizer of this year’s clinic, estimated they have worked with over 1000 children over the more than decade of the highly anticipated event.
This year, Mendoza explained, the baseball clinic drew in nearly 50 young athletes, ages 10-16, who all had the opportunity to take part in drills alongside more than 10 coaches with minor and major league experience. The four-hour clinic incorporated stretching exercises and high-performance techniques in areas of pitching, infield, outfield, base running, as well as play.
The intensive clinic provided instruction by the likes of left-handed pitcher Hartmann, along with J. D. Ramírez, Javier Gamboa, Juan Senreiso, Jonathan Romero, Leo Acosta, Juan Medina, José Ulloa, Mitch Talbot, and Troy Pearce.
Hartmann and Pearce, who have been taking part in the yearly clinic pretty much since it started, both echoed the goal of “If we can get to one kid, we’ve done our job.”
