While the State College Spikes hit the road for an extended trip, the Penn State baseball team takes advantage of their vacated ballpark.

The Nittany Lions hosted their second camp of the summer last week at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

The camp had three sessions a day for three hours each Wednesday through Saturday.
Chris Smith, a resident of Hagerstown, Pa., said that he came to Penn State's baseball camp to get better and have a good time with his friends.

"I'm a pitcher, so I've been working with Penn State's pitching coaches," Smith said. "By working with them, I've learned how to warm up better and strengthen my arms."

With the possibility of oncoming rain, most sports camps would start heading inside to practice.

Instead, Penn State baseball campers decided to stick out the quick summer storms.

"The weather has been different the past two days," said Anthony Malocu of Stafford, Va. "But I guess that's normal here."

Aside from the rain that affected field conditions, many campers were enthusiastic about playing the sport.

Zac Cazzelle, a Penn State assistant coach, said the camp is continuing to improve yearly with an increase in talent and returning campers.

"We have a lot of kids from different areas with different skill levels," he said. "They are all different ages and we're lucky to have a group of kids who love to play baseball."

Many of the campers have plans to play for Penn State, such as David Smith, a rising high school senior from Gilmer, Tx.

"[Penn State] is my dream school," Smith said. "My experience so far has been amazing. I've gotten to meet all the coaches, the facilities are amazing. ... You just can't beat it."

Although NCAA restricts coaches from talking to athletes until they are juniors, coaches have an eye out for potential recruits.

"We've [had] a lot of good kids who are 13 to 14 years old here," Cazzelle said. "We keep an eye on the younger campers and every year they progress and keep coming back."

Most of their sessions at the stadium, campers worked on were fundamentals of baseball such as hitting, running the bases and fielding the ball.

The campers put all the skills together when they scrimmage against each other under the lights in the evening.

"I practiced on throwing the ball without throwing side-armed," said Malocu. "I've also learned bunting skills, different batting stances and fielding techniques."

Malocu also said he wanted to go to a college baseball camp and came to Penn State because the field was gorgeous and he enjoyed being in State College.

Rain or shine, young players are determined to play their favorite game and aren't afraid of getting messy along the way.