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The Braves, Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox were among the pro baseball teams whose caps players wore at the start of the recent Wendy's Summer Classic youth baseball camp at Northwest Cabarrus High.
But Lt. Bret Johnson was among the numerous local law enforcement officers there to extend this major league message: Make good choices in life.
The fourth annual camp is supported by the Kannapolis Police Department's Community Services Unit, which Johnson oversees. He rounds up the talents of his officers, and those of other agencies and school and college baseball coaches to create a blend of baseball instruction and life lessons.
Johnson and friend Joe Hubbard developed the concept for the camp four years ago. Hubbard, Northwest Cabarrus' varsity baseball coach, offers free use of the high school's field.
The camp drew 50 youth during its first year, in 2006. For this year's camp, during the week of June 22, Johnson had to close registration at 160 players.
Knowing there are plenty of other youth baseball camps offered in the area, Johnson's not ignorant of at least one reason that makes the Summer Classic so popular. It's free.
A former short-track stock car driver, Johnson tapped his former racing sponsor, Wendy's, to shift its support to the baseball camp. With contributions from the fast-food chain and others, Johnson can pay the camp's baseball instructors.
The level of coaching is easily the camp's other draw, Johnson said. His staff includes at least six area high school head coaches and Pfeiffer University's Mark Hayes and Catawba College's Jim Gant.
On the first day of the camp, players were divided into 13 groups of about a dozen players based on their age. One baseball coach and one law enforcement officer were assigned to each group. The officers came from the Cabarrus and Rowan sheriff's offices and Landis Police Department.
With the players taking a knee in shallow centerfield and meeting with the police officers, Johnson addressed the parents along the first-base line before anyone could shout “play ball.”
“They're going to learn a lot about baseball,” he said. “But that's not my goal. We want to teach them some things so those guys (police officers) out there don't have to deal with them later.
“If I tell your child to stay off drugs, or you tell them, that's expected. But if a Northwest Middle School kid comes to Coach Hubbard, and if he comes wearing gang colors and (Hubbard) says, ‘I'm not going to have you,' that's powerful.”
Bryce Santmyer, 10, of Kannapolis was among the “Blue Devils” group assigned to the soft-toss batting station for its first rotation. Hubbard, the instructor at that station, encouraged the left-handed-swinging Santmyer to follow through more with his swing.
From Mike Morton, Santmyer also learned how to avoid letting peers make the wrong choices for you. Morton, a former Kannapolis A.L. Brown and North Carolina standout, was accompanied by his several football championship rings, including one from the 1999 season, when the NFL St. Louis Rams won the Super Bowl.
Other celebrity speakers scheduled for the four-day camp were NASCAR driver Randy LaJoie and former major league second baseman Tony Womack, who helped the Arizona Diamondbacks win the 2001 World Series.
Landis' Tommy Fulton has taken his three sons to the camp all four years. Jacob will be in ninth grade at South Rowan, Andrew in eighth grade at Corriher-Lipe Middle, and John in fifth grade at Millbridge Elementary.
“I've known most of these guys independently, who they are, but they are the best coaches in the area,” Tommy Fulton said. “It's good exposure to (my sons) to get good, quality lessons. But the other thing is the speakers he has come in. The message they deliver just reinforces what we try to teach our kids as far as making good decisions, picking the right friends and so forth.”
