Progreso Baseball Camp a success

PROGRESO - Not even the blistering heat stopped more than 70 kids from attending the fifth annual Progreso Baseball Camp, sponsored by the U.S. Border Patrol on Saturday morning.

"We made sure there was plenty of water for the campers and they seemed to enjoy the camp," said Progreso head baseball coach Isaac Hernandez. "It was a little warm out here, but we were more worried about the rain because the weather casters forecasted it might rain. But, we dodged a bullet and were able to get through the entire day without a drop."

Hernandez talked about how the camp was organized some of the drills that the kids worked on.

"I had representatives from the Border Patrol, as well as some of my ex-players and coaches come out and help run the camp today," said Hernandez. "Basically, we worked on hitting drills, defensive drills, and some pitching. The older kids got a chance to hit in the batting cages, while the little ones hit off of a tee. Then, we had a little game afterwards. Overall, I was impressed with some of the youngsters that came out here."

Lee Cabrera, spokesperson for the Border Patrol, said that the men in green are trying to get more involved in the community.

"We want to show our youngsters that we are not the bad guys," said Cabrera. "A lot of times, people see us in uniform and get a little intimidated, especially kids. So, we are trying to play a bigger role in the area and reach out to the youth. We have been a part of this camp for five years now and coach Hernandez and the city of Progreso have done a great job helping up run this.  Also, some of our agents come out and volunteer their time to work with the kids."

"Our main objective is to keep the kids off of the streets and say no to drugs."

Daniel Rodriguez, 15, plays baseball for the Weslaco Panthers baseball team and said that he feels the camp helped certain aspects of his game that he needed to work on.

"The batting part of the camp was very helpful and I learned some new techniques today," said Rodriguez. "I learned to choke up on the bat and not think as much about the little things that may affect my hitting. Also, the coaches taught me to look at the ball and hit the good pitch. I definitely enjoyed myself and plan on coming back next year."