Atlanta Braves renowned pitching coach Leo Mazzone came to Division Avenue High School this past weekend and conducted a highly successful pitching clinic for coaches, players and parents.

During the clinic, Coach Mazzone detailed pitching mechanics so that pitchers will minimize the possibility of injuring themselves and at the same time enable them to maximize their individual ability. Other topics that he covered were the proper grips for throwing certain pitches and the importance of delivering the ball to home plate quickly with men on base. It didn't matter if you were a coach, a college or high school player, or a novice little League player, Coach Mazzone touched on topics that a pitcher or coach of any level would benefit from learning and be able to utilize in becoming better. As a matter of fact there were a number of pro scouts, college coaches, high school coaches along with a large number of youth league players, and coaches in attendance, along with some college players and a few minor league players.

Coach Mazzone also provided those in attendance some humorous experiences that he has enjoyed as a player and coach during his 34-year journey in pro baseball. He was full of baseball knowledge that he passed along to the crowd in attendance at all three clinic sessions that he conducted. It comes as no surprise to anyone who attended why the Atlanta Braves have won an unbelievable 10 straight league championships. During that 10-year span the Atlanta Braves pitching staff has posted the lowest ERA in all of the major leagues. To go along with this Mazzone has coached more Cy Young Award winning pitchers than any other pitching coach in the major leagues during this time span,

To show you the class person Mazzone is, the first comment he made at the conclusion of the clinic was, "These people are real baseball people, I want to come back and do this clinic here again next year."

The coaching staff at Division want to thank Kevin Regan, of the Levittown-Island Trees Youth Council, and "Prime Time Camps" which is owned and operated by Jay Fiedler, the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, along with his brother Scott. Without their close working relationship we could never have pulled off such a successful clinic. A special thanks also has to go to the Levittown School District and its administration and school board members who made the school facilities available for this clinic to take place and become such a success.