TicketsFeb. 6, 2009
While the University of Cincinnati baseball team is in the midst of practice with the 2009 season just two weeks away, several players and associate head coach Brad Meador spent some time away from the field on Tuesday, Feb. 3, with children at Seven Hills School in Cincinnati.
Seniors Mike Spina, Cameron Satterwhite, and Jake Geglein, and juniors Kevin Johnson, Brian Garman, and Beach Brooks read books and answered questions from children in four pre-kindergarten classes and one kindergarten class. In the kindergarten class, the players helped the children with a journal project about baseball. The players also participated in different activities and spent one-on-one time with the children in the pre-kindergarten classes.
"Getting the chance to spend time with those kids was a great opportunity for me. I can remember being young and idolizing older players and thinking that's what I want to do," said junior first baseman Kevin Johnson. "Now I have that chance to be role model for a kid and it is a very gratifying experience. Whether the kids know it or not, I got just as much out of the experience as they did."
The Bearcats kick off their 2009 campaign when they travel to St.Petersburg/Clearwater, Fla., to compete in the inaugural BIG EAST/Big Ten Baseball Challenge. UC opens the tournament against Purdue at 1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20, before rounding out the tournament against Michigan and Ohio State.