(Enlarge) Craig Millin, 10, tracks down a fly ball at the Orioles Baseball Camp at Park School. The Towson resident learned new skills while also meeting Baltimore Orioles rookie catcher Matt Wieters. (Photo by Phil Grout)

When Orioles catcher Matt Wieters pulled into Park School's Sugar Campus parking lot, in Stevenson, last week, dozens of players participating in the Orioles Summer Baseball Camp issued a collective scream.

The youngsters may rank among the Orioles' -- and the rookie catcher's -- most diehard fans.

"A lot of the kids were like, 'Is that Matt Wieters? Oh my God, is that Matt Wieters?'" said Owings Mills resident Jarod Simons, 10. "It's him."

Towson resident Craig Millin, a 10-year-old Roland Park Baseball League player, even skipped a vacation to Ocean City so he could meet Wieters and play some baseball.

"I was debating going to the beach or coming here," Millin said. "Once I heard about Matt Wieters, I decided to come here."

At two other Orioles Summer Baseball Camps held this summer, one in Finksburg and one in Parkton, Oriole closer Jim Johnson, utility man Ty Wigginton and former center fielder Al Bumbry came to teach the youngsters the finer points of the game.

"The parents love those guys (former Oriole catcher Chris Hoiles attended the Park event with Wieters) because they grew up with them. And the kids love the new guys," Orioles Summer Baseball Camp director Scott Lowe said. "It's a real good combination."

But the camp is about more than just meeting favorite players and promoting the organization's name in the community.

A big focus at the Stevenson camp, which ran for six hours per day for four days, was skill development.

"I have spent a lot of years running camps all over the world," Lowe said. "The Orioles are trying to go out and build their fan base from the kids on up. We thought it was a great fit (for players) to talk to kids, teach them how to play baseball and how to have fun doing it. "But also to show them the Orioles are here and that they care about the community."

The camp is produced jointly by the Orioles and All Pro Image, a Sparks-based sports marketing company.

The camp attracted 58 players ranging in ages from 7 to 16, each of whom were charged $300. The players worked to improve fundamentals in the mornings, and in the afternoons, their skills were tested in games.

"I am crazy about baseball and it was a good experience," said Jackson Tacka, 7, of Catonsville, who plays in the Arbutus Little League. "I wanted to improve as a pitcher and I did."

Organizers say the camp is a success.

"They (campers) love the sport and have so much knowledge about the Orioles it's funny to sit and talk to one of them," said Amber Lotocki, the camp's coordinator. "They will be like 'What is Jeremy Guthrie's ERA?' A lot of them are very passionate about the Orioles."

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