College coaches and players from around the city of Dayton are coming together on Saturday, October 3 for the first annual Hal McCoy Baseball Clinic hosted at Fifth Third Field from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Marty Grunder, chair of the Hal McCoy Baseball Clinic, reached out to Sinclair Community College’s head baseball coach Steve Dintaman to help conduct the clinic.
“I’m a big Steve Dintaman fan,” Grunder said. “(Sinclair) is very fortunate to have a guy with that character and passion.”
Along with Dintaman, head baseball coach Rob Cooper of Wright State University and Tony Vittorio of the University of Dayton will lend a hand.
“We want to be a part of it obviously because UD and Wright State are a part of it,” Dintaman said. “I think it’s pretty neat now that Hal McCoy is getting involved especially with this year being his last year doing his stuff with the Dayton Daily News.”
After covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years for the Dayton Daily News, McCoy is hanging up his laces at the end of the regular season. McCoy was enshrined in the writers’ wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, a 10-time winner of the Ohio Sportswriter of the Year award and has won 44 state and national writing awards, according to the Dayton Daily News Web site.
The clinic used to be named after former Major League player George Foster, but naming it after McCoy was an easy choice because of the respect and admiration given to McCoy in the Dayton-area.
“This is a good transition for him to still be a part of some of the community because obviously in Dayton he is one of the most beloved characters around.”
Grunder said the clinic is open to the first 200 kids that register. The clinic hosts kids from 7-13 for a cost of $60. Online registration is available at www.buidlingbridgesonline.net.
Grunder said kids from all sorts of homes—both rich and poor—are set to hit the field and learn about baseball.
“All kinds of kids from all over the community are coming together for this event,” he said. “It’s going to be a fantastic day.”