Extra Bases Baseball Camp

Name: Dilan Gohill

Age: 6

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

Favorite Team: Los Angeles Dodgers

Position: Catcher/Infield

Play of the Week: Dilan arrived to camp on Monday with a limited amount of baseball experience, which at first made him one of the weaker players in the group. But in addition to his lack of experience he also had not developed any of the bad habits often found in young players. The early part of the week was spent teaching Dilan proper baseball techniques which he picked up very quickly and by Friday not only was he playing at the same level as most of the group, but he was also by far the most fundamentally sound. Dilan’s great energy and willingness to learn made him an easy pick for this week’s POTW award and we are looking forward to having him back in camp and helping him to further develop his game.

Name: Jack Whitt

Age: 7

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

Favorite Team: San Francisco Giants

Favorite Player: Pablo Sandoval

Play of the Week: Jack’s favorite ballplayer is the Giants Pablo Sandoval aka “The Kung Fu Panda” a nickname Pablo earned after successfully jumping over an opposing catchers tag despite his pudgy physique. If forced to give Jack a nickname, we at Extra Bases would also choose a cartoon character, although in Jack’s case it’d be “SpongeBob” due to his amazing ability to soak up information given to him by the coaching staff. Typically it takes a few weeks of camp for a player to remember all of our technique tips, but Jack managed to pick up everything after hearing it only once. Whether it was the “four seam grip” or “basic athletic position”, “prep stepping” or “crocodile hand” Jack only needed to see it demonstrated one time before he added it to his game. A lot of young players learn the game from their parents or a little league coach who might not know much about the game, and often they have a hard time breaking away from the habits they learned in those early days. The best players are the ones who can make adjustments to their game on the fly, putting aside what is comfortable and making room for what is right. Jack is one of those players and it was his “sponge-like” ability to learn combined with his great attitude that won him the POTW award for Week 5.

Name: Justin Goldstein

Age: 8

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

Position: SS

Favorite Team: Los Angeles Dodgers

Favorite Player: Matt Kemp

Nickname: J-Gold

Play of the Week: Baseball is a game played during the long, hot days of Summer. A major league season lasts 162 games and often a player must endure weeks at a time mired in a slump. It takes a special kind of individual to be able to keep a positive attitude when he is struggling at the plate, in the field, or god forbid both. It also takes a special kind of individual not to get a big head when they find themselves in the midst of a hot streak. When it seems like every blooper is dropping in and every fly ball is carrying over the wall. Justin has that great, calm, balanced demeanor that a young player needs if he wants to continue playing for a long time. Never crushed emotionally when he made an out or an error and never too excited when he made a web-gem or hit a particularly long shot. J-Gold, as he became known, was the epitome of “cool” on and off the field and his ability to keep his emotions in check was something that the coaching staff made sure the other players in camp took note of on a daily basis. Justin has a tremendous amount of talent for a young ballplayer, but it’s his mental approach to the game that’ll give him an edge on the ballfield over even the most exceptional athletes.

Name: Diego Greiff

Age: 6

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

Position: Infield

Favorite Team: Boston Red Sox

Favorite Player: Adrian Gonzalez & David Ortiz

Nickname: Lil Papi

Play of the Week: Last Summer, during our first season of Extra Bases, no camper attended more days than Diego. This year he is once again the Cal Ripken Jr. of camp, showing up day in and day out ready to work, often a solid half an hour early for extra warmups. Combine his hard work with his never ending passion for the game and you have a player who has improved more than anyone in the short history of Extra Bases. When he showed up for his first day last year he could barely field a ground ball without falling over, now he makes at least one play per day that leaves the coaching staff in awe. Diego’s excitement and energy makes the players and coaches around him better and it’s for this that he received his third POTW award and why upon his retirment from camp he is a lock for a first ballot induction into the Extra Bases Hall of Fame.

Name: Raffi Ohebsion (pictured on left) 

Age: 4 

Bats: Switch

Throws: Left

Position: OF/1B 

Favorite Team: Dodgers

Name: Ezra Ohebsion (pictured on right)

Age: 5

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

Position: Shortstop/CF

Favorite Team: Dodgers

Play of the Week: Ezra is a staple at Extra Bases, he was one of our first campers last season, he has attended both weeks of camp so far this Summer, and he’s even a former POTW winner. So he knows what it takes to come away with this award. Last week after losing out to Chase he loudly proclaimed “next week I’m winning” and when he came to camp Monday morning you could see the determination in his eyes. He had set a goal and he would not be denied. He stepped up his focus and intensity, which led to a significant improvement in his play. Meanwhile, his younger brother Raffi, a first time camper, was making his own bid for the award by being the most coachable player on the field and improving more over the course of one week than any player in Extra Bases history. At the coaches meeting, before camp on Friday, it was decided that the Ohebsion’s would be named co-players of the week, the first time the honor has been bestowed on a pair of brother’s since the Hankin’s won in Week 4 of last year. 

T-shirts have arrived! Starting this week all players who sign up for camp will receive a free Property of Extra Bases Baseball Camp tee.

Name: Chase Landa

Age: 4

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

Position: 2nd Base

Play of the Week: Our second year of camp is finally under way and in our first week we had a great group of kids. Every single player improved dramatically between Monday and Friday, but only one could be named the first Player of the Week of 2011 and Chase was unanimously chosen by the coaches to receive the award. Chase brought a great attitude to camp everyday and never seemed to run out of energy and excitement for the game. Like most 4-year old players Chase had some days where he struggled at the plate, but what impressed the coaching staff was no matter how many times he swung and missed he didn’t get discouraged and always seemed confident that his next swing would be one he would connect on. By Friday he was connecting far more than he was missing, often hitting long shots during homerun derby followed by his now signature catchphrase “that was a bomb”.