History teacher Bill Sutton's youngest son, Zak, is spending the year in the Dominican Republic, where among other things he is coaching a youth baseball team. The elder Sutton is leaving Saturday to visit Zak, and he's bringing some badly needed baseball equipment courtesy of Uni donors.

By Bianca Zaharescu
Gargoyle senior editor
Posted Friday, Dec. 15, 2006, The OG, news

MANY OF US know the feeling: clumsily passing Dad the ball, nervously catching it in return, day after day, summer after summer, the confidence slowly but steadily growing.

This devotion to a particular sport, which is so often rooted in childhood memories, is familiar to many of us. For history teacher Bill Sutton, that sport was baseball.

Sutton played baseball himself as a child, but his connection to the game only developed as time went on. With the birth of his oldest son, Ben, Sutton gladly took on the role of the aforementioned Dad. Because Ben was born with Sotos Syndrome, Sutton also had to take on some extra roles.

“I felt that Ben was being shortchanged because he was disabled,” Sutton explained. “I decided I wanted to coach Ben's team myself.”

Zak Sutton during the 2006 Habitat for
Humanity trip to Clarksdale, Miss.
(photo by Lucas Ecker) (click to enlarge)

Before long, Sutton found himself with three sons: Ben, Matt (a 2003 Uni grad), and Zak, whom some Uni students got to know during last February's Habitat for Humanity trip to Mississippi. Sutton coached each of them through Peanut League and Farm League, and was the high school baseball coach when Matt played for Uni.

Zak, Sutton's youngest son and a 2006 Urbana High School grad, is currently spending the year in the Dominican Republic. Among other things, he is helping to coach an after-school youth baseball program.

“Coaching kids baseball turns out to be something that apparently is running in the family,” the elder Sutton commented.

And for Sutton, this is something he is proud of as a father.

“I think that it's so cool,” he said of his son's coaching experience. “I think any father feels gratified when his son is doing the same thing he used to do. Since I coached him all the way through Little League, it's really neat that we'll have these things to talk about: trying to coach little kids. Trying to teach them something and build them up.”

Although Zak loves his team and loves coaching, there is one very blatant challenge he must overcome: the poor quality of baseball equipment available for the team. Luckily, the solution to this problem is simple enough.

Zak asked some Urbana friends to look for used baseball equipment that could be donated for his team's use. Sutton volunteered to ask around at Uni, and so far the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

As of Thursday afternoon, Sutton had received a dozen baseball gloves and 22 baseballs. He is leaving Saturday for the Dominican Republic to visit his son, and will personally deliver the equipment.

The Uni donors who came through with this equipment will most likely not feel the loss. But in Sutton's view, there is no limit to the impact that these simple objects will have on the performance and confidence of a young Dominican baseball team.

RELATED GARGOYLE CONTENT

— Photos: Habitat Trip 2006

— Habitat for Humanity: Welcome to Clarksdale