Coast Guard Team Practices With Montville Little League Team

Nine members of the Coast Guard Academy baseball team took time out on Sunday to join the nearby Montville Fall Ball team at practice.

The members of the Coast Guard team worked on the fundamentals of the game, ran different drills, and put them threw stretching exercises while running the Montville players through fielding and hitting stations.

Jason Southard, Coast Guard Academy Director of Athletic Media Relations worked with senior tri-captain Derek Petty, who organized getting the Coast Guard players to make the visit to Montville.

"I know the Coast Guard players were excited to be able to come out and help out the little league kids this morning," said Southard, who also coaches in Montville Little League.

"The Montville players have such a love for the game and they were excited to be able to learn more about the game of baseball from some local college players. It was a win-win for everyone involved."

Petty, who ran the practice, started by working the kids out on bands used for stretching, then broke the group into infielders and outfielders going over fielding drills before setting up three hitting stations that that players rotated through. The morning came to and end with some pitcher fielding practice.

Montville coaches Justin Hedrick and Dave DelaCruz were appreciative of the time the Bear players gave to help the little leaguers.

Members of both the Montville Little League and the Coast Guard Academy teams enjoyed the breezy October morning.