Former Trinity Episcopal pitcher Jake Winston always had help from his community throughout his baseball career, and since being drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks last June, he had the chance to do the same.

Winston held a baseball camp at Adams County Christian School Saturday for players ages 7 to 15, and had a turnout of nearly 20 children.

“I’m really glad that we got out here, because this is something that I’ve really been looking forward to,” Winston said. “I’ve lived here my whole life, and I’ve had countless people who really went out on a limb for me. I feel like I owe it back to the kids.”

Last season Winston pitched a total of 31.1 innings for the Hillsboro Hops, a Class-A affiliate of the Diamondbacks.

“Hopefully I will be doing this for a while,” he said. “I want to keep learning, too, so I can bring it back here.”

Winston said he got the idea for the camp after he saw some of his teammates from the University of Southern Mississippi giving back to their hometowns.

Winston’s camp featured skill-building drills including fielding, hitting, base running and, of course, pitching.

Winston said that he thinks it’s important for kids to stay active and get out of the house.

“Pitching-wise, the most important thing at this age is throwing strikes,” he said. “They are still growing and they are going to get bigger and stronger. Velocity will come later, so they really need to work on getting their form down so the strikes stay consistent.”

Although Winston said he didn’t know exactly what to expect for the first year, he is pleased with the how the day went.

“I want baseball to stick around the Miss-Lou for a long time,” he said. “I want to continue doing this in years to come and for kids to learn everything I’ve learned. I hope these kids had a great time, and next time they want to bring their friends.”