Orioles give Oak Park students a diamond of a day

On the morning of June 27, there was a game of catch held at Ed Smith Stadium. Batting practice, too, off a tee. Base-running drills were performed. Grounders were fielded.

The drills were routine. The participants were not.

That’s because the Baltimore Orioles welcomed students from Sarasota’s Oak Park School to spend the morning with them.

Oak Park School is the school for people with special needs in the Sarasota County School District, serving students from pre-K to age 22. 

The clinic was not the first partnership between the school and the club. During the school year, for the first time, Oak Park students participated in the Orioles Health and Fitness Challenge, a program developed by Orioles’ trainers, HealthFit Powered by Sarasota Memorial Hospital and Students Working Against Tobacco. The program has always focused on physical fitness, but expanded this year to emphasize nutrition and tobacco-free living, according to the Orioles’ website.

When the students arrived at Ed Smith Stadium, they each received a team T-shirt and a hat, and were greeted by David Rovine, the vice president of Orioles-Sarasota.

“This is tremendously rewarding, Rovine said. “These kids don’t have this opportunity. To be able to reach out to Oak Park, it was something we worked with through the school system last year and came to fruition this past season. It’s going to be a constant because of the return we’re getting. You can see it in our players’ faces that they’re having a great time.”

Those players included pitcher Branden Kline, a second-round draft pick in 2012 who hasn’t pitched in a game since having Tommy John surgery in 2015. Kline was at the Orioles’ AA affiliate, the Bowie Baysox in Maryland, when he had the surgery. 

As he’s gone through the rehab process, he’s tried to stay positive. Doing things like the Oak Park clinic help him in that regard.

“Sometimes we get caught up in the day-to-day activities of baseball,” Kline said. “You come out here with these kids who weren’t dealt the best hands, and they live every day to the fullest. They are always happy, they are always smiling.”

Kline worked the base-running station. He ran with the students, encouraging them to finish strong and run through the bag, and he held the hands of kids who were nervous to run. 

The Frederick, Md., native remembers participating in the Keys for Reading program when he was young, with his hometown Frederick Keys, the Orioles’ A+-affiliate. He got to walk around the diamond before a game. He saw future Cy Young award winner Jake Arrieta then, and previously had seen longtime Oriole Nick Markakis in the outfielder’s first season with the Keys. 

Lily Schultz was one of the students participating. Her favorite part of the day was getting to throw the ball. Schultz laughed as she recalled the morning’s activities. She threw it high and far sometimes, she said, so the players had to jump to make the catch.

It was a good day, she said, and a lot of fun, even though it was hot.