GAME OF THE WEEK (July 21–July 27)
Steve Woodard Baseball Camp Pros vs. Joe’s Softball Games and Home Run Derby, Monday July 25, 6:30 p.m. at Derek Lendosky Community Field, Fennimore, (radio: WGLR 97.7 FM)
As part of the four-day Steve Woodard Youth Baseball Camp a group of local celebrity “all-stars” will square off against Woodward and his team of former major leaguers in a pair seven-inning slow pitch softball games at Fennimore’s Derek Lendosky Community Field.
Former pros scheduled to play are Woodward, Greg Vaughn, Cecil Cooper, Jim Ganter, Pete Ladd, John Leiber, Mike Caldwell and Paul Wagner.
Two celebrity softball games will be held this year, due to an increase in camp sponsorships. A home run derby will be held in between games, and a 15-20 minutes fireworks show will conclude the evening’s festivities.
“We have 16 sponsors and everybody kind of wanted to play so we decided to make it a doubleheader,” camp organizer Steve Lendosky said. “The nice thing will be there will be a bunch of different people that will be out there that weren’t in last year’s games. It will be nice to see that. “Suppz is sponsoring both softball teams and they created a new logo, just for the softball games, which is pretty cool. Both teams will have different T-shirts, of course.”
The event is free to the public and all are invited to attend. Please bring a lawn chair as seating is limited. Concessions will be available.
Not long after Woodard began his journey back to Alabama following last summer’s Rob Deer Baseball Camp in Fennimore, plans were being made for this summer’s sequel.
“As soon as camp got done last year we started working on this year’s,” said Lendosky. “We took the suggestions from a couple of the coaches that were here and some from the people that were here to try to make it better.”
One of the results is four days of camp, which will begin Monday, July 25. Camp will be held from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. July 25-28.
“That was their request,” Lendosky said. “[The coaches] wanted some time in the community.”
Joining Woodard at the Steve Woodard Baseball Camp will be returning coaches Cooper, Gantner, Ladd and Lieber.
“Jon was going to be out of the country. He was going to be overseas at some academy,” Lendosky said. “Then when he read about Rob Deer being unavailable this year he actually contacted Woodard and said, ‘Hey, my plans have changed, can I come back and coach?’ He really wanted to coach in the first place. He had a good time here in Fennimore last year, apparently.”
The week-long camp will also feature a Night with the Pros Q&A Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Silent Woman in Fennimore, an 8-pin Tap Bowling Tournament at Tower Junction Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and an 18-hole Scramble Golf Tournament Thursday afternoon at Hickory Grove Golf Course at 2:30 p.m.
