EMPORIA
In order to show off its brand new indoor training facility, TopHand Sports will host a four-day baseball and softball clinic during spring break, April 6-9. Located in Emporia, TopHand Sports has been offering week-long instructional camps for nearly 20 years.

“We’re trying this as sort of a trial and error, since we just opened the facility this past year,” said owner Rustin Jessee. “It’s an idea that won’t have kids tied up, as opposed to a week-long summer camp that doesn’t allow them to do anything outside of baseball.”

The inaugural clinic is open to children of all baseball-playing ages from Emporia to Suffolk. It will feature instruction from several local baseball stars, including Emporia native and Miami Marlins farmhand Jamar Walton, Southampton High School coach Wes Griffith, Southampton High School assistant coach Michael Yeary, as well as Rustin and his father, Randy Jessee. The director of the Southampton Storm and head coach at Windsor High School, Shawn Wade, and Rustin’s sister, Randa, will lead the softball clinic.

“We’ll have some group activities, too, as a way to keep in fun,” Jessee said, “but teaching the fundamentals of the game is most important.”

The baseball clinic will take place on Monday, April 6, and Wednesday, April 8, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., while the softball clinics will occur on Tuesday, April 7, and Thursday, April 9, at the same time. The first part of the day will focus on pitching, while the primary focus after lunch is hitting. Concessions will be available for purchase, but lunch will not be provided.

The cost of the clinic is $35 dollars if the child wants to focus on one area — hitting or pitching — and $60 dollars for both. Registration is available online, and the clinic is only open to the first 25 children to register.

For further information or to register for the clinic, visit TopHand Sports at 119 N. Main St. in Emporia, TopHandSports.com, or call Rustin Jessee at the facility at 434-336-1950 or his cell phone at 757-537-8480.