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Teaching the game of baseball
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FarkRAPID CITY — Two years ago, former Post 22 standout and 1991 American Legion Player of the Year, Kyle Yamada, returned to Rapid City after spending eight years at the West Coast Baseball School in Los Angeles, Calif.
Yamada, who was the program director, and his two other partners developed the school into one of the premier baseball academies in California. The academy had more than 300 students from all over the state. Yamada and his associates developed some of the best young talent in California coaching three nationally-ranked youth teams.
Now, Yamada has decided to bring that same type of program back to Rapid City, running the Post 22 Baseball Academy. The academy, developed two years ago in accordance with Post 22 baseball principles and fundamentals, gives in-depth private and group lessons to young baseball players from 8 to 18.
“It’s very similar to how we ran the school in Los Angeles,” Yamada said. “We are dedicated to helping young players develop their skills, and learn the proper fundamentals in hitting, throwing, catching, fielding and pitching at a young age.”
The Post 22 Baseball Academy combines private lessons, group lessons and advanced instructional programs with baseball camps at Fitzgerald Stadium a couple times a summer.
“The camps and the lessons allow us to provide a lot of individual attention to each player, and focus on what they need to improve on as well as how to best develop their strengths,” Yamada said. “But most importantly, the camps and lessons are about having fun.”
The students at the camps use the same facilities at Fitzgerald Stadium the Post 22 players use, including the new indoor training facility that has three batting cages, four pitchers mounds, weights and a turf infield. The campers also have the opportunity to work with Post 22 players, and the groups have a small instructor to student ratio at 10-to-1.
“It’s nice for these younger players to have access to such great facilities.” Yamada said. “My ultimate goal is to create a spark for the love of the game within the campers. It isn’t everywhere in the country players have this kind of access, even at the college level.”
Yamada would know about college-level facilities, having played college baseball at Cameron University in Oklahoma. He also coached college baseball for two years in Iowa at the junior college level, and at the University of North Dakota before moving on to California and back to Rapid City.
“I’m a Post 22 guy through and through,” Yamada said. “I’m proud of the tradition of Post 22, and I love the community. It’s a great place to live and raise a family. That’s why I came back to Rapid City.”
The Post 22 Baseball Academy will host its first baseball camp of the summer from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Fitzgerald Stadium for players ages 8 to 13.
Kyle Yamada, right, director and instructor of the Post 22 Baseball Academy, works with Brock Thomas, left, at the Post 22 indoor training facility on Monday afternoon. (Kristina Barker/Journal staff)
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