IU Southeast hosted a hitting clinic Sept. 11 through 13 with three-time Olympic gold medal winner Crystl Bustos.
Todd Buckingham, head coach of the IUS softball team, said the clinic was a success and they were thrilled to have Bustos
“Crystl Bustos is arguably the best hitter in the history of fast-pitch softball,” Buckingham said. “It would be the equivalent of bringing in a Barry Bonds or Albert Pujols to do a baseball clinic.”
The clinic was open to all ages, attracting mostly middle and high school students from Louisville, Southern Indiana and Cincinnati.
The clinic was divided up into three-hour sections with a coach’s clinic Friday evening and two sections on Saturday and Sunday with one in the morning and another in the afternoon.
The clinic was a way for the coaches to get a feel for the hitting ability in the area and for IU Southeast to attract more attention to its athletics programs.
“It is a good exposure for our school and softball program,” Buckingham said.
Buckingham said the funds received from the clinic will help with expenses such as traveling and equipment for the softball team.
The clinic was not just a success from the coaches’ perspective; it was a success for the participants as well.
“I’m having fun and learning a lot,” Katie Flanagan, Providence High School senior, said.
The students enjoyed the instruction from Bustos, took in everything and tried to do it better their next time around.
“The kids we’ve worked with are like sponges, like most young kids are.” Bustos said. “They definitely were grabbing it, and the older kids were a little bit standoffish, because it’s change, it’s different than what they have been taught, but at the end of the day they were grabbing it and seeing the results.”
Bustos said she hopes that the participants will take more out of this experience than just a few pointers here and there.
At one point during the session, Bustos sat the participants down on the field and explained the importance of staying in school.
“You are a student athlete,” Bustos said, “which means you are a student before you are an athlete.”
Bustos had one last thing to say to the students at the clinic.
“At the end of the day there is no one else you can blame for something you did or did not achieve in life,” she said. “That I believe in.”
At the end of the clinic, Bustos showed off her hitting ability to the participants and amazed them with her ability to hit several homeruns.
A pitcher for the IUS softball team, sophomore Amy Blackstone, pitched to Bustos and was able to throw one strike.
“It was amazing and scary at the same time,” Blackstone said. “I was just glad she was hitting them over me and not through me.”
At the end of each session Bustos autographed bats, balls and helmets and took pictures with the participants.
By CHERYL SCROGGINS
Staff writer
clscrogg@ius.edu