Wilbert Ellis Baseball Camp remains strong
Top, Grambling State pitching coach Perez Knowles teaches pitching movements at the Wilbert Ellis Baseball Camp on Saturday. Bottom, former GSU baseball star John Lewis demonstrates a proper hitting stance at the Wilbert Ellis Baseball Camp. Leader photos by Matt Belinson
Despite inclement weather changing the location of the 14th annual Wilbert Ellis Baseball Camp, Lincoln Parish families took part in a worthwhile day of learning from local representatives on Saturday.
Zion Traveler Baptist Church Family Life Center Gym in Ruston was turned into a baseball clinic for a day, with the usual host site of Fraser Field deemed too wet to play on.
Weather didn’t keep community members from pouring into the camp, with more than 100 campers, ages 4 to 15, learning from former Grambling and MLB players, while their parents spent class time with community resource leaders.
Wilbert Ellis, leading the charge once again for his camp, said this year was one of the most impressive he’s had given venue changes and last-minute adjustments by his planning committee.
“I’m so excited about it. We got over a hundred people here. Former ballplayers teaching kids. Ministers and police officers and firefighters and health workers and mental health representatives. They’re all here for this community. It means so much. What can I say? It’s wonderful,” Ellis said.
HBCU Boosters donated over 30 new gloves to tee- ballers, while former GSU players like John Lewis, a 1984 draft pick of the Chicago Cubs, Ira Tuell, and Bobby Dupree, among others, led campers in drills to learn baseball fundamentals.
GSU pitching coach Perez Knowles led a pitching station, walking campers through pitching mechanics, timing, and foot placement.
Ellis was thrilled to have local college coaches like Knowles take time to teach the next generation.
“ They’re not only teaching, but they’re also identifying talent. They see kids with good skill,” Ellis said. “Coach Knowles over with GSU is working with these kids and might see a kid he thinks has skill. He can spend time with him here, and that can help build a connection down the road when it’s time to play ball somewhere. That’s what we try to do. We want to make these kids better than where they are now and get them ready to play. We want the kids to be excited about what they have and what they can be. That makes a difference.
“We’re giving them the basic fundamentals of baseball to the kids, the parents in the enrichment, and they’re all learning about life skills,” Ellis added. “That was one of our goals and objectives. for this camp. We want them all to learn.”
