AUBURN #- When Bob Lee took over as the Auburn High School varsity softball coach six years ago, he was inspired to find ways to help strengthen the program.

Looking at the models established by other teams in the surrounding area and from his own knowledge of the game, Lee saw pitching as one of the cornerstones of a good program.

“Softball is a lot about pitching,” Lee said. “I looked at a lot of the teams around us and they were doing pitching clinics and we weren#'t at the time, so I decided that this was something we should get in place.”

Now in its sixth year, the softball pitching clinic geared towards younger players from grades three through eight, has grown dramatically over the years.

“That first year we had maybe eight or 10 girls,” Lee said. “It has really grown in the last couple of years. The last one we held we had 27 girls.”

Lee decided to focus in on this particular age group as a means of reaching younger players and helping build towards the overall future of the Auburn girls softball program.

This has already proven to pay dividends.

“Brittney Babcock was in the very first one of these five years ago,” Lee said. “She was a starting pitcher for us last year as a junior and this year she is going to be a starter again. I#'d say a lot of our pitchers have been through this program when they were younger.”

Lee#'s decision to focus on this particular age group was two-fold.

“For our high school players we can find time to practice pretty much whenever we need to,” Lee said. “From my years as an elementary gym teacher I've learned that this is a good age for girls to get started learning the mechanics of pitching and it has worked out well. Third grade is an appropriate age to begin and a time when the girls seem to really benefit from what they are learning.”

For the past two years, Lee has also headed up the Junior Olympics softball program, a fact that has helped the clinics grow in popularity as well as contributing to the overall caliber of the youth softball program.

“I think that has helped with visibility,” Lee said. “People see me and they hear about these clinics we do and I think that has helped make people more aware of what we are doing and it has helped get more girls into the pitching clinic. It is a lot of word of mouth that helps it grow like it has. But when you go to these games you can definitely see that they have learned and they are using what they picked up and putting the teaching into their approach to pitching.”

There is also something to be said for the quality of instruction the clinic has to offer.

Along with Lee are several other instructors who are well known in Auburn softball circles, such as Denny Zach and Greg Horbal.

Lee also gets his high school pitchers, like Babcock, involved and often has special guest instructors like Ed Mahar, head coach of the Le Moyne women's# softball program.

“We have some great people helping us out,” Lee said. “We have some really talented people that have a lot to offer.”

With all this help, Lee splits the classes into two groups - elementary and middle school.

While the basic mechanics are the same, there are many little things that need to be understood.

“With the younger girls we focus a little more on the fundamentals,” Lee said. “We#'ll practice a lot of little things with them. With the older girls we will let them go on their own a little more and then once we see what they can do work on just fixing little things to help them out to be the most effective pitcher they can be.”

And more than anything, that is the most important goal of the clinics.

“We just want to help teach these girls how to pitch,” Lee said. “With the Junior Olympics and with our high school team I think it has really helped, I think that is showing. And that is the goal to help these young pitcher improve and be the best they can.”

There are five more Monday night clinics, from 7 to 8 p.m. that will be held at Seward Elementary School.

All are open to students of the Auburn School District.

For more information, contact Bob Lee at 255-6880