Bellevue College Bulldogs baseball Head Coach Mark Yoshino shouted words of encouragement throughout the duration of the Bulldogs’ annual baseball camp this past week at Courter Field.

Yoshino, who has coached the Bulldogs baseball program since the mid-1990s, has proven himself to be a pillar of the baseball world on the Eastside for the past two decades. In the world of collegiate baseball, many coaches come and go but Yoshino remains a constant in the evolving world of collegiate athletics. Yoshino said this year’s camp, which was for players between seven and 12 years of age, had players in attendance from not only Bellevue but from the Sammamish plateau, Issaquah, Kirkland, Redmond and West Seattle. The camp, which is in its 23rd year, focused on the fundamentals of baseball during the week. The camp consisted of two three-hour sessions (one in the morning, one in the afternoon).

“Three hours of non-stop baseball instruction for seven to 12-year-olds sometimes can be a little hard but it is what the community has been asking for,” Yoshino said with a smile. “There has been a number of kids who have came to this camp when they were eight, nine and 10 years old and now they’re college and high school superstars. A lot of parents have had generations of kids come through this camp. It has been a staple product on the Eastside.”

One example of this phenomena is Newport Knights 2015 Ethan Paul. Paul, who will play Division-1 baseball at Vanderbilt University in Nashville this coming season, was a regular at the Bulldogs’ camps during his childhood.

“Ethan’s father said their family always remembered Ethan coming to our camps and how it helped out with his baseball career. I remember when we did some donations to Ethan’s elementary school when he was in the fifth grade,” Yoshino said.

Yoshino said another added bonus of the camp is watching his current players turn into coaches for the week. A handful of Bulldogs baseball players gladly offered their tutelage and expertise to the multitude of campers in attendance.

“Our guys do a great job. What we as a coaching staff like about it is that our players see things from a coaches perspective,” he said. “It actually makes them better players because they can see things from the other side for a brief moment during the summer.”

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com