BY IVAN SANDERS

STAR STAFF

ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com

Hampton head baseball coach Nicholas Perkins isn’t a stranger to attending baseball camps as a guest instructor having already participated in camps at the University of Tennessee and the University of Virginia to name a few.

Recently, Perkins added another camp to his list as he was invited by former Milligan and East Tennessee State University pitching coach and current Duke Assistant to the Head Coach Chris Gordon to be one of the instructors for the Duke Baseball Elite Camp.

The camp is held on the campus of Duke University at historic Coombs Field which has a field-turf playing surface, a 6,000 square foot indoor facility (featuring indoor batting cages and indoor mounds, and a covered grandstand that seats up to 2,000 people.

Duke’s head baseball coach is Chris Pollard who has had his team one win away from the College World Series in both 2018 and 2019.

Gordon coached at Science Hill in 2008 before moving to Milligan for the 2009-2013 seasons.

He served as head coach in the Alaskan Baseball Summer League in 2011 and 2012, a league that featured current New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge among other future big leaguers.

Gordon was at ETSU in 2014 and has been at Duke since 2015 assuming his current title in 2018.

“Baseball players attend these type of camps to get an experience similar to NCAA D-1 baseball players including staying in the dorms, eating in the cafeteria, and training in the weight room as well as instruction from the coaches,” Perkins said.

“It’s an honor to be invited to work these type of events.”

The relationship that Gordon has with the Northeast Tennessee area baseball coaches has been very beneficial, according to Perkins.

“Chris Gordon is a friend to many of us in Northeast Tennessee,” said Perkins. “He always has been a sounding board and giving with his time.

“He’s a good baseball man and we are proud of his continued rise in the game of baseball.”

These type of camps not only provide sound training for baseball players, but coaches are always looking to pick up something new to take back to their programs as well.

“Working camps is part of the educational process— trying to continue to be a student of the game,” Perkins commented. “At this Duke Baseball Elite Camp, I worked alongside 21 coaches from around the country, from all levels of college baseball, and some from the high school level.

“It’s ultimately about trying to provide better information for my coaches and student-athletes at Hampton High School.”

According to Perkins, there were 201 campers coming from places as far away as California, Texas, and two players each from Japan, Great Britain, and the Dominican Republic.

Perkins went on to add that even though he is honored to be a part of camps such as this one, the real honor is to be the head coach of the Hampton Bulldogs.

“The Lord has blessed me to teach in the classroom and at Scotty Bunton Field at Hampton High School,” Perkins said. “I’m surrounded by good coaches in our athletic department and we have great camaraderie among administration, faculty, and staff.

“We are truly a school that is student-centered, caring not only for the students being educated in our classrooms but also caring for the students in the hallways and off-campus. Hampton High School is a special place!”