Benji hosts youth pitching clinic

Benjamin “Benji” Palacios hosted another youth clinic—this time for pitching last Saturday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.

It was supposed to be a two-day clinic but it was canceled due to rain last Friday.

The weather cleared up enough for the clinic to pull through last Saturday, and it saw about 20-30 kids show up.

Palacios, the southpaw pitcher for the 2024 Tan Holdings-Saipan Baseball League team Blue Jays, said that he demonstrated healthy ways to warm up before even touching a baseball.

“My objective was to give good pointers on pitching and adjust anything mechanics wise. Kyle Hocog from Next Level Media and I planned to do this since the kids wanted another session of camp!” said Tan Ko’s grandson.

With summer wrapping up and with kids going back to school, when asked when he will host another clinic, he said, “I can’t say much about the next clinic for now, maybe next summer.”

Just last month, Palacios held and concluded a free four-day summer baseball camp that also catered to 9-11-year-olds. The focus of that camp was on drills for fielding, hitting, mechanics, and a few batting practices sessions.

About that camp, he said, “The last camp went pretty well, four days of training and most made it to all days! A big thing I really wanted to do was demonstrate healthy stretches and warmups like I said earlier. A lot of the same faces and a lot of new ones as well showed up to the pitching camp.”

On why he conducted the clinics, he said, “I wanted to do this to see what I can do to improve their game and whatnot. In a couple of years they will be playing on a higher level so I taught what I could.”

The 18-year-old recent Marianas High School graduate then had this message to the youth, “As a young athlete, I want to encourage the youth to give it a 100% even if it’s just practice. The results will show in the big stage! Keep working hard and you’ll find success, note that practice makes progress.”

As to who inspires him in doing what he does on and off the field, he said, “As the youngest grandchild of Tan Ko Palacios, I hear lots of great things and I want to continue the family tradition. Giving back to the youth was pretty special!” said Palacios.