Portage Baseball Youth Camp Continues to Thrive

Since Tim Pirowski took over the Portage High School baseball program nine years ago, the team has been a consistent contender in the Duneland Athletic Conference. The success at the varsity level has coincided with a thriving youth program and the Portage Winter Youth Camp, which is now in its eighth year.

Over 120 young athletes are participating in this year’s camp, which features two Saturday-morning sessions from 8-9:30 a.m. (Kindergarten through fourth grade) and 9:30-11 (4th to 8th grade). The number of campers has been steadily on the rise since the program’s creation.

“We’re throwing in some athletic development this year, which is something new in terms of trying to develop better athletes,” Pirowski said. “Research that we’ve looked at says it’s pretty important for kids at this age to start doing these things now to develop better as they go into high school, so we started that this year.”

Attendees receive instruction from members of the Portage coaching staff and from current varsity baseball players, who volunteer their time each Saturday morning to help develop future Indians.

“It’s nice because we tell our varsity guys that these little guys do look up to them,” Pirowski said. “They may not realize it, but they really do. The fact that they’re here and showing that they care about the development of each player means a lot to the kids and parents.”

Portage senior Chris Klenk, who has signed to play his college baseball at Cincinnati, was a camp participant during his youth and now serves as an instructor.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “They’ve got lots of energy the entire time. We have to teach kids things they don’t know and help them improve on the game of baseball.”

When Pirowski and his staff launched the winter camp eight years ago, current Michigan State star Tony Cheky attended as a seventh grader. Former Portage standout Gabe Acevedo, who now plays at Oakton Community College, was a sixth-grade participant during the camp’s first year.

There are still five weeks remaining of the eight-week long camp. Those that are still interested in signing up can do so for the pro-rated price of $45.

The Portage baseball program has developed strong relationships with both Portage Little League and the Portage Tribe travel team. Little League and Tribe players both received $20 off registration.

The consistent success of the Portage baseball program over the last decade can be attributed in part to the foundation built at the youth levels. Pirowski recommends that coaches looking to develop a youth program focus on relationship building.

“It’s not always going to be easy,” he said. “Most of your youth organizations are going to be willing to work with the high school coach. You just have to get out there, meet with them and see how you can build that relationship. If you build that relationship, it’s only going to make your program better.”

Click here for more photos from the camp!