Bears offering summer skills camp

The Houston County Bears completed another historic season on the diamond. Though this season was not as successful as years past, the Houston Bears were relentless.

After losing to the Buford Wolves in the Elite-Eight round of the GHSA State Playoffs, Bears Coach Matt Hopkins stated their goal was to raise the bar in 2022. Raising the bar is exactly what the Houston Bears did with the seniors of the 2022 graduating class winning two state championships in four years.

Recently, GHSA’s Region 1-6A coaches announced their 2022 All-Region teams. Co-Players of the Year were Drew Buress and Gage Harrelson. First-team infielders were Andrew Dunford and Hunter Chiappetta. Garrett Hortman was awarded first-team catcher. Buress and Harrleson also were awarded with the first-team outfield accolades.

As for the pitchers, Ryker Chavis and Carson Small were the only Houston County players named to this list. Chavis and Small had very good spring seasons, being named as first-team pitchers. Houston County’s Matt Hopkins was awarded another Coach of the Year accolade.

Region 1-6A also announced that Carson Small was the Pitcher of the Year for the entire region. Blaydn Alaniz and Elijah Smith were selected to second-team infield and second-team outfield. Eli Stephens and Landon Tankerlsey were named second-team DH and second-team pitchers for region 1-6A. Lastly, Houston County High School’s “Seed Garden” was named the 2021-2022 Region 1-6A Field of the Year. This is the first time it was named Field of the Year since 2012.

Now that baseball season for high school athletes in Georgia is complete, the summer months will bring time for training and skill development. First, Houston County returning players will give back to the community.

Current and former HOCO players will help instruct the 2022 Houston County Baseball Summer Skills Camp. The camp is for children in grades 1-6 (fall of 2022) and will take place June 13-15.

The camp will offer signups from 9 a.m. to approximately 9:25 a.m. The youth will participate in the camp from 9:30 a.m. until noon at Houston County High School. This camp is for any player in Houston County or surrounding counties. The cost is $40 for each individual day or $100 for the three days. At the camp, players will acquire skills involving defensive instruction, hitting and pitching.

To register for the 2022 camp, email Coach Matt Hopkins at matt.hopkins@hcbe.net with the following information: name, age, grade entering and parental contact information. This will be the first baseball camp of 2022, which the Houston County Bears baseball organizationhas hosted. In order for your child to compete at the skills camp, all players will need a hat, baseball pants, a glove, bat, helmet and a water bottle. Camp partiipants will receive expert training from the most talented of basbeall players this area has produced.

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