Due to the blizzard of ’26 and a couple of holiday weekends (Super Bowl and Presidents Day), winter training had been on a brief hiatus. But, Westfield White finally got back together for a Sunday night training session on March 1st! A brief summary follows.

Group Lesson: Base Running

Rounding First Base

As a group, we discussed base running, including the proper way to run through first base on a ball hit to the outfield. We worked on “bellying” out before reaching first base in order to have the proper angle to run to second as well as hitting the inside corner of the base while rounding first base.

A point of emphasis was that it does not matter which foot you hit first base with. The most important thing is to maintain your stride as you round the bag.

We then worked on taking aggressive turns around first base before breaking it down. This is done in order to (1) put pressure on the outfielders to make the play properly and (2) be in a position to get to second base if the ball is misplayed.

Secondary Leads

We also discussed taking “secondary leads” as the ball passes home and to anticipate the ball being put into play.

Players were also quizzed on what to do when a ball is put into play with less than two outs:

• Ground ball: running hard to second
• Line drive: freeze until it gets through
• Hit to the outfield: run to second base, picking up third base coach.
• Pop up/fly ball: come off the bag far enough to be able to run if the ball is dropped.

Stations

Station 1: Proper Hand Position

In this station, we ran three drills with a tee in order to emphasize quick bats, not dropping hands or casting at the start of the swing.

Drill 1: Dumbbell Turn

Using a 2 pound dumbbell, players took their stance, loaded, and then started their swing ensuring that the knob of the dumbbell impacted the ball on the tee. An example is below.

This forced the player to focus taking their hands from their “load” position directly to the ball without dropping their hands or casting away from their body. This will help increase bat speed and reduce tendencies to drop your hands while swinging.

Drill 2: Ball on Shoulder Drill

With a tee and a ball, we set the player up with a ball on his shoulder, holding it with his bat.  The goal is to keep that ball in place as you load and begin to stride – again, emphasizing proper hand position. An example is below:

Drill 3: High Tee Drill

A tee was set up with the ball chest high. Players were then instructed to take their normal swing, emphasizing keeping the hands up in a proper position in order to hit through the ball (rather than dropping hands and swinging up):

Station 2: Batting Practice / Front Toss

Players took turns hitting live pitching from the coaches.

Station 3: Pitching & Catching

We set up a pitching station, where the kids took turns pitching, with feedback from the coaches. Kids also put on the catcher’s gear and took turns receiving pitches.

Station 4: Ground Balls/Fly Balls

We ran a drill to piggyback off of prior lessons involving the proper way to get ready before the pitch in the outfield and the infield as well as the proper ways to to field a fly ball and ground balls.

Baseball Olympics:

In honor of the Winter Olympics, at the end of the practice, the kids were divided into two teams and competed for the gold in six separate competitions.

Team 1: Liam, Jack, and Grayson

Team 2: Graham, Devin, Troy, and Bo

Competition 1: Cut-off Relay

Emphasizing the lessons learned from a few sessions ago about cutoffs (hands up, turn to the glove side, accurate throws), there was a three-person team relay. Both teams had one minute to complete as many complete cutoffs as possible, but teams only got credit if done properly and without dropping the ball.

There were two relay races, with each team winning one.

Competition 2: Accuracy Drill

Each player had to throw the length of the cage in order to strike a garbage can (1 point) or a bat (3 points). Team 1 came through with the most points, with Liam striking both the garbage can and the bat!

Competition 3: Ground Balls

Each team was required to field ground balls, utilizing the lessons from the prior weeks. They only received a point if the player used the proper methods to get ready, fielded the ball cleanly, and then made an accurate throw.

Team 2 took this competition by 1 point!

Competition 4: Speed Contest

Using an iPhone app, the players were judged for speed. Jack Gross topped the charts, giving Team 1 the victory.

Competition 5: Fly Balls

Each team was required to field fly balls, using the proper form discussed in prior training sessions. A point was awarded if the catch was made and if the players had followed proper form (getting ready before the pitch and catching at its highest point).

Team 2 secured the victory in this one.

Competition 6: Distance off the Tee

The final competition had each player take two swings off a tee to determine who hit the ball the farthest. Jack won the day over strong efforts from Troy and Liam.

In the end, Team 1 (Liam, Jack and Grayson) took home the gold and Team 2 (Graham, Devin, Troy, and Bo) received silver!

AWARDS

Tonight’s awards went to Bo (MVP) and Grayson (Heart and Hustle). Bo was excellent in every single station tonight and proved to be a consistent player during the Baseball Olympics. Grayson worked very hard all practice long and took feedback from the coaches regarding both throwing and hitting.