Potters to hold third annual youth clinics at McBean Stadium

This year, the Lincoln Potters will be hosting their third annual youth baseball clinic where kids can learn the dynamics of America's past time from Potters' coaches and players. This is a program that the team started in order to give back to the community that supports them so much and also give Potters players the ability to see how they can serve as role models to a younger generation of players. "It's a really cool feeling to have someone look up to you and ask you about something that you love to do," Potters outfielder Zack Patterson said. The clinic will cover the fundamentals of batting, fielding and pitching along with some more dynamic training for the older age groups. Patterson will be one of the players helping with the clinic as an outfield coach. This will be his second year helping with the clinic and has come to enjoy sharing his knowledge of the game. "Yeah, I think actually being able to help someone else learn the game is really beneficial for any player because you're going to teach what you know and I think that's a better way to understand what you know," Patterson said. Teammate and left-handed pitcher Jakob Frederick, will also be helping with the clinic for the second time and hopes to increase the safety of the kids' pitching by instructing them on proper technique. "I'm going to take away all the off-speed pitches and focus on fastballs and fastball command," Frederick said. "What I want to see as a coach for a little kid is that they can throw consistent strikes and not throw off-speed pitches and hurt their arms." The clinic does more than just teach the kids about the game, it also teaches them how to be good teammates and all-around people. During the clinic, kids who are lifting up other teammates, hustling on and off the field and showing the traits of a good leader and teammate will get awards, according to Frederick. "It's not meant to put any of the kids down who didn't win the award but instead make them want to work harder the next time they come out to be that better teammate on and off the field," Patterson said. Frederick echoed that same sentiment but also that there are bigger things than baseball in life that should always come first. "If I'm talking to a kid, I tell them school's first and is what's going to get you further in life than baseball because that is what comes first is your education," Frederick said. "My dad used to always say 'you are a student-athlete and student comes first for a reason'." According to General Manager Matt Lundgren, many of the coaches spend most of the offseason helping with clinics like these, but what they find special about working for the Potters is the strong connection with the community. "My favorite thing about doing this is interacting with the community, and the kids are awesome," assistant coach Jon Peters said. "Just the experience of getting out there and into the community is the great thing about doing things like this." There will be three clinics this season with the first on June 15 and the others set for June 29 and July 13. According to Lundgren, there has been a steady growth in the amount of kids participating in the clinics, so there may be more dates added next season if that trend continues. Each clinic will be four hours and start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m., located at McBean Stadium. The cost for one player is $50 and includes instruction from players and coaches, two tickets to a future Potters game and $5 in Potters dollars for merchandise or concession purchases.