“Do you know why we are going to win? Because we are smaller and faster,” Salisbury Youth Association baseball player Zeke Cramsey explained to varsity player Dominic Garcia.

Cramsey’s other teammates began telling Garcia there was no way the big kids would win. They were better.

Halfway through the SYA baseball versus varsity baseball game, things were not going the way the younger players wanted. So, Cramsey went into action, running and tackling varsity player Austin Spisszak, his new friend and role model. Both quickly started to laugh.

The spirit of the moment reflects Salisbury youth of all ages, bonding together over baseball, during the Salisbury Baseball Clinic, held at Salisbury High School April 21.

“I feel what we are trying to instill in them are life lessons,” Varsity Assistant Coach TC Cunningham said. “Sports are a great way to teach youth skills they will need in life, as well as the field.

“The student-athlete part is things that we can help them with moving forward when they are gone. To remember the things that they learned in life that came from here.”

Cunningham sees this clinic as an opportunity for his players to come full circle, as many of them started with SYA. Ten years later, they are teaching the younger players what they’ve learned through the years.

Brady Leiner started playing baseball 12 years ago, when his father introduced him to the sport. He came to the clinic “to teach little kids the skills of the sport and love for baseball.”

His teammate Dominic Popovitch has also been playing the sport for 12 years. He credits his love for the New York Yankees to have brought him into the sport.

When asked what he likes about the clinic, Popovitch answered, “Just the fact that we get to teach the younger generation a love for baseball and help them get better.”

Looking back 10 to 12 years ago, Popovitch said he wished the clinic had been around.

“I think getting that little extra step would have made me know what I’d like to do for the future, instead of figuring it out in high school – building my skills better with people who are good enough to tell me what to do.”

For Colin Moll, the clinic has been a positive experience. He’s been playing baseball for seven years, with his love for the sport starting with T-ball.

The day before the clinic, SYA T-ball had made its debut at Laubach Park. Moll was happy about this, saying, “It’s a good thing. It gets the smaller kids playing.”

He’s enjoying his own experience, learning from the older kids “some stuff and tricks.”

Moll is also looking forward to having his turn helping the younger children learn baseball skills when he’s a varsity player in a few years.