It's always a good idea to refine your skills as a baseball player when the opportunity arises, and it doesn't matter if you're learning the game, or a seasoned pro, each chance to work on your game offers an avenue for improvement.

That's the idea behind the baseball summer camps that just concluded for kids in the Whitehall-Coplay School District. Whitehall High School manager Shaun O'Boyle and coach Steve Weidner lent their baseball expertise to kids ranging from grades 3-9, covering all aspects of the game.

Previously O'Boyle had run the camp during the winter (indoors at the Whitehall gym) and in the spring, but this year they went back outside where they spent the last two weekends working on a number of drills to enhance their game at Coplay's ball fields. He said the younger kids were at the auxiliary field, while the older kids worked out at Sammy Balliet Stadium.

O'Boyle said that they were broken down into two groups, the first one consisting of players from third to sixth grades, while the second encompassed seventh through ninth. He said that each group had about 15 kids, a good turnout for the program. The younger players met on the two previous Saturdays, while the older ones met the following Sundays.

"We went over the basic drills," said O'Boyle. "We worked on defensive drills, some base-running drills and hitting drills."

He said the intent was to cover drills that they could work on while they're on their own, helping them get more fundamentally sound in the game.

While both groups went through the drills, the older kids took live batting practice, and then later both groups played a game.

One of the areas that O'Boyle stressed was using their lower halves in both batting and throwing. He said that learning good footwork at the plate helps with balance and getting into a good hitting position, while that principle works with throwing as well.

"The biggest thing we try to get across is to move your feet when you throw," said O'Boyle. "It's about arm care. We want them to throw more with their lower half."

He said learning that fundamental skill at a young age is a good building block to carry them trough all their playing days.

O'Boyle said that the camp demonstrated that there's a lot of good players coming into the varsity program. He said that having numbers in the program is always beneficial since Whitehall is one of the smallest schools in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

Assisting O'Boyle and Weidner were players from the varsity and junior varsity squads, along with alumni Elliot Mortimer and Jeffrey Charles.