St. Paul holds successful baseball, softball winter camps
St. Paul High School hosts their after Christmas youth baseball camp as they work on base running drills. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
SANTA FE SPRINGS – With the baseball and softball seasons right around the corner, one local high school recently completed one of its most successful winter camps for youths.
St. Paul High School, during the holiday break, concluded baseball and softball two-day back-to-back camps at the Santa Fe Springs campus, even with the threat of rain and occasional showers.
The four days between baseball and softball drew 359 kids, with former players and current players and coaches teaching offensive and defensive skills.
Softball kicked off the week of camps on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 27-28, with baseball capping off 2022 on Thursday and Friday, December 29, 30.
Highlighting the baseball camp was a visit from current USC Baseball coach and former major league player Andy Stankiewicz.
St. Paul baseball coach Casey Morales and Stankiewicz were teammates at St. Paul before they went their separate ways in college.
“When he got back into town after he was hired at USC, I asked him about coming to speak and be our guest speaker here and he obliged in a heartbeat,” Morales said. “Andy’s a great guy and he gives back any time that he can. He’s in the area now and it was a little tougher when he was in Arizona.”
After his MLB playing days, Stankiewicz eventually became a coach and became a coach at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix for the last 11 years.
“Coach Morales has invited me to come back and talk to his youth campers here (Friday),” Stankiewicz said. “It’s good to be back on the grounds and I’m looking forward to spending some time with the kids.
“I’m just going to encourage them. It’s a great sport and I’m going to also encourage the parents to let their young girls and boys chase these dreams. At this age, it’s just encouragement more than anything else.”
Stankiewicz, who played college ball at Pepperdine University, played in the major leagues for seven years for the Yankees, Astros, Expos and Diamondbacks.
“The highlight of the camp is number one, the attendance,” Morales said. “The number of kids we have here. We haven’t had these many kids in years. We’re over a hundred (Dec. 30) and 94 (Dec. 29).
“It’s nice because you get the two extremes. We get a lot of the seventh and eighth graders, the kids that are more serious and ready to move on and get ready to go to high school. Then you also get the little guys, the little rug rats that are just getting started. They just want to get out here and run around and have fun. Anytime you can teach them something, they soak things up like a sponge. The two extremes are nice for difference reasons.”
St. Paul varsity softball coach Charles Gandara also had a big turnout.
“This year’s camp was the largest camp to date, as 163 local area youth softball players, ranging in ages 4 to 14, participated in the two-day camp,” said Gandara, who is entering his fourth year as coach. “(The camp) featured instruction from current coaches and players from the St. Paul softball program, as well as former St. Paul softball players that are currently playing at the collegiate level.”
Gandara explained the format of the camp.
“The camp offered the youth participants an opportunity to further develop their offensive and defensive skills, regardless of their current skill level,” he said. “The campers were placed in groups according to their age and/or skill level to ensure the instruction was appropriate for all the campers.”
St. Paul softball will also put on two-day camps beginning in mid-June for youths
Gandara, who has seen multiple players go on to the next level (NCAA DI, DII, etc.) in his first three years, welcomed back alum Camille Marin to help with the younger players.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time,” said Marin, who is a junior catcher/infielder at Iowa State. “Obviously, all of us come back as players and I did it all four years while at St. Paul and now this is my third year coming back while at Iowa State. We’ve been pretty much giving directions to kids and help them out.
“My favorite thing is just kind of seeing we were once in this position. I remember one year when I was at St. Paul, we had (former) players that participated in the camp. My favorite part every year is coming to see how the camp has evolved. It has grown and we’ve had more kids come every year and the kids always love it and we always fun with them. It takes me back to my days when I was younger in their position and looking up to all of the college people. I admired those people whether they were at the DI or DII level.”
Marin’s younger sister, Claire Marin, attended the two-day winter camp for softball.
Morales, who played baseball at St. Paul, also welcomed back former players and coaches.
“We have our staff and the Santa Fe staff,” Morales said. “Coach (Pierre) Romo over at Santa Fe works together with us. We coached together for a number of years, and he left and took over at Santa Fe. He’s a good friend and he always sends a few guys over here to help us out so we can staff it with the adult coaches.
“In addition, we’re able to bring back as many college players as we can. They’re getting ready for their season, and they get an opportunity to coach, and they want to give back what they learned with their time here.”
One of those players is current Cal State University Los Angeles player Julian Tellez.
“I think this camp has been going on for some time,” said Tellez, who is a 2019 St. Paul graduate. “When I was young about eight, nine years old I attended the camp here. Being a camper, you get to work with the older guys, and you look up to those high school seniors.
“Being here (now), it’s good to give back to the community and seeing the kids when they were eight and now in high school, it’s fun to give back. Coming back here after attending college, it’s always fun to see your old pals and old coaches and kids who grew up in this community and give them the knowledge that you’ve gained throughout the years.”
What they said:
Casey Morales, St. Paul baseball coach: “A lot of our kids get to work with the youngers and coach the youth players. They get to explain to them and pass things on.
“That’s the great thing about the game. The game doesn’t change. Ya, there’s a shift now and a few other nuances to it. It’s still the same game. You catch the ball, you throw the ball straight, you hit the ball and put it in play and you throw strikes.
“Come January and February when ball gets started, these guys get a head start. It’s been a great time out here and we’re off to a great start.”
Charles Gandara, St. Paul softball coach: “The campers are not the only ones that benefited from the camp. The player instructors also benefit from the satisfaction of giving back to their community by volunteering their time while on vacation to pass on their knowledge of the game to the next generation of players.”
Savannah Patino, St. Paul varsity softball player: “I think it’s just showing the little girls what we do here and how we develop as a program. I really like how the girls all enjoy the sport and were having fun with it. I transferred here last year (from El Rancho). I met a lot of girls who have a lot of talent and they like to talk to s lot of us.”
Mary Hernandez, 7, youth softball player: “I just like the camp. I had a lot of fun doing everything. The best thing I learned was diving, getting back to the base. I’m getting better because I’m paying attention.
Claire Marin, 14, youth softball player: “I’m here at the camp because I want to get better and see the experience of what I’m looking at next year. I like how the workers help you make adjustments. Today I was focusing on hitting. I think this will really help me out.
Micah Baruch, 13, youth baseball player: “The high school guys that are helping us with the drills are making it really helpful to learn new things and get better at baseball. I learned better base running, better ways to field the ball and new hitting techniques.”
Owen Eteuati-Edwards, 13, youth baseball player: “I play everywhere in the outfield and pitch. I’m here at this camp to get better and develop my skills. I know there’s a great coaching staff here to help me develop my skills and be a better person.”
Angelo Patino, 14, youth baseball player: “I learn different things from all the coaches and the different perspectives from the different coaches. For hitting I learned how to stay through the ball. I’m kind of struggling right now. This camp is definitely special. There’s a lot of kids here. It’s good being in a different environment with competitive kids.”
Devin Munoz, senior, St. Paul varsity baseball player: “It’s really good to see the community come out and participate and give back. I was glad to help and be part of something special. I like the set up and they’re learning the fundamentals. I like that I can help out any way I can. I’m always here to help.
“Today I was working on base running. I was making relay races for candy. You got to make it fun so the kids want to be here. Even in the rain, we’re still working.”