Cops connect with kids at Everett baseball camp
-
Annie Mulligan / For The Herald
A group of eight- and nine-year-old baseball players cheer as their team wins a fielding relay race Wednesday at the Badges for Baseball sports camp at Kasch Park in Everett.
-
Annie Mulligan / For The Herald
Girls practice batting during the Badges for Baseball camp Wednesday afternoon at Kasch Park in Everett.
-
Annie Mulligan / For The Herald
Capt. David Fudge is hugged by Anna Albrecht, 9, and Bella Parise, 10, during the Badges for Baseball camp Wednesday afternoon at Kasch Park in Everett. Fudge received hundreds of hugs throughout the day in honor of his birthday and his participation in youth sports camps.
-
Annie Mulligan / For The Herald
Hudson Rookaird (center), 8, of Mukilteo, tries on his new batting helmet after being awarded "Camper of the Day" at the Badges for Baseball camp Wednesday afternoon at Kasch Park in Everett.
-
Annie Mulligan / For The Herald
Everett Police Officer Kevin Davis fields questions and comments from participants in the Badges for Baseball camp Wednesday afternoon at Kasch Park in Everett.
They waited behind orange cones and took turns swinging at pitches lobbed by former Kansas City Royals player Darren Watkins.
Marysville Pilchuck High School head baseball coach Kurt Koshelnik reminded them to wear their batting helmets.
This summer camp was different than most, though: There were cops everywhere.
For the second year, the Everett Police Department hosted "Badges for Baseball," a week-long sports-centered mentoring program.
The camp is funded by the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, a nonprofit based in Maryland.
The camp teaches kids sports skills, but also sneaks in lessons about life and growing up safe, said Everett police officer Mark Carter, a camp organizer and school resource officer at Explorer Middle School.
"It's building relationships with kids and using baseball as the hook to get the kids to teach them about teamwork, healthy decisions, those kinds of things," he said.
More than 200 kids participated this summer.
Coaches volunteered from around the county, Carter said. The Boys & Girls Club of Snohomish County also helped organize everything.
Sara Hatab, 8, from Endeavour Elementary School, played baseball before but liked the different style of drills at camp, she said. Her mother signed her up.
"I really want to be with my friends, and I like baseball," she said. "I liked when I swung the bat and the ball flew so high and it landed."
Volunteer coach Erik Titterness manned a base while kid after kid ran by and slapped his hand, practicing their moves.
Titterness, 17, and the other coaches quizzed the boys on how they should stand over the plate. A couple readjusted their feet as they listened.
"It feels good because you know they're having fun," Titterness said. "That's like the number one rule here."
The skills challenges were fun, said Devin Donnelson, 12, from Haller Middle School.
No one minded if he missed the ball, he said.
Devin mostly only sees police officers on the TV show, "Cops," he said.
"It's good to know they have a good side," he said.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com
(
