BY TIM GAYLE
SPECIAL TO THE EAN
After four years away from the sport, Autauga Academy coach Bobby Carr decided to return to the diamond as a baseball coach, leading the Generals to the AISA Class AA state championship.
He’ll reprise another role in two weeks, holding a baseball camp for area youth to teach them the fundamentals of his favorite sport.
“It’s something that I did every year at Edgewood when I was there for 15 years,” Carr said. “I always enjoyed it. It was an opportunity for me to get to know some of the younger kids in the area and obviously an opportunity for the kids — which is the most important thing — to learn some good baseball and have some fun with some pretty good instructors.”
The River Region Baseball Academy will be held on June 7-9 for ages 6-13 at Autauga Academy, starting each morning at 8:30 and running until noon. Carr and members of his coaching staff will be the instructors, along with former Edgewood player Cole Lipscomb.
“Nobody around here does a camp,” Carr said, “and when I was coming up I would go to every camp I could find because the great thing about baseball is you never stop learning. There’s always different ways and different ideas on how to do things.”
In addition to Carr, other instructors include Randy Farmer, the Generals’ softball coach who was an infielder in the New York Mets’ farm system in the early 1990s; Austin Carpenter, an assistant coach at Autauga who played at North Alabama (2014-16) before getting into coaching as an assistant under Jim Case at Jacksonville State; and Cole Lipscomb, a former AISA player of the year who pitched at Auburn (2013-17).
Carr said he hoped to add other instructors but chose the early part of the summer to conduct the camp before summer seven-on-seven football camps started in earnest. The group will be divided into three age divisions and will conclude each day with games and snacks.
“We cover all phases of the game from base running to hitting, pitching, catching and infield and outfield play,” Carr said. “And we have some entertaining games for them. We try to make it fun.”
Cost of the camp is $100 per camper, which includes a camp T-shirt, group photo, snacks and drinks. Registration will take place on June 7 at 8 a.m. For more information, contact Carr at 334-657-1038 or email him at bobbyc1234@hotmail.com.
