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With snow and cold temperatures, Germany was not an ideal place to be trying to practice baseball during spring break. Instead, KMC Ambassador Baseball Program Coach Gary Harrington decided to take 12 youth and seven parents down to Camp Darby to get some spring training done with the Major Leaguers.
“I was talking with Brian Kolscheen (mid-west scouting director for the Phillies) and he told me about the Major League Baseball academy in Tirrenia, Italy,” said Harrington. “Once I realized it was only five minutes away from a U.S. military installation – Camp Darby – I knew this would be a great chance for the youth to get some serious baseball practice in.”
Harrington understands it’s generally too expensive for parents to send their kids back to the states for a baseball training camp. Plus, getting first-hand advice and instruction from Bill Holmberg, international scout for the Chicago Cubs and pitching coach for the Italian National Team, is something most of the youth could only dream of.
“It was cool for me – it was one of the few times I’ve ever been scouted and I didn’t think I would be doing that until I was 17 or 18,” said Andre Porterfield, a 15-year-old shortstop. “But I’m glad to get the exposure early.”
***image1***Jacob Janeczko, a 15-year-old shortstop and pitcher, added that he too thought it would be a lot later in life before he crossed paths with a professional scout.
“I thought some day there would be a college scout (I’m hoping from University of North Carolina), but I never thought a pro team,” said Janeczko. “Mr. Holmberg helped me a lot with my pitching; but besides from baseball, he taught me how to stay cool under pressure and play the best I can, no matter what is going on during the game.”
Harrington added the youth, ranging from 9 to 15 years old, practiced and played six hours a day during their spring break.
“We’ve gotten more playing in one day then we have in a month,” said Harrington, “and we got five of those days!”
The youth even got a chance to play against the Italian Junior National Team.
“At first I was scared because I was the first pitcher,” said Porterfield. “When I got used to them, it felt really good playing them; I learned how to keep my composure through the whole game, even when I made mistakes.”
The youth played nine innings and, to make it more fair, the Italian pitchers threw to their own teammates and the Americans to their own.
“These (Italian) guys were throwing 85 to 90-mile-an-hour fastballs,” said Harrington. “We did have some of our more advanced KMC players bat against them; I think the youth will never forget that.”
Janeczko said he was excited and a bit scared before the game, but was happy to be playing at that level.
“The guy I was hitting against plays on the Houston Astros Single A team, so that was intimidating,” laughed Janeczko. “But when I got a hit off him, it felt good and was a bit unexpected.”
U.S. Army Garrison Livorno Commander, Lt. Col. Steven Cade, said he was glad that the youth from the KMC and Ramstein were able to enjoy the great weather and spring break at Camp Darby.
“I like to think of Camp Darby as Europe’s southern destination of choice,” said Cade. “We have great sports facilities, multiple options for lodging, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the only American beach in Europe and a community full of friendly folks.”
The next large sporting event at Camp Darby is the 7th Annual Memorial Day Weekend Softball Tournament. It is open to the first 10 men and eight women teams that register with the Camp Darby Fitness Center at 633-7438.
