Ripken camp comes to a close

ABERDEEN, Md. (WMAR) - We had the chance of a lifetime. To give some area children their chance of a lifetime.  We sponsored a couple of kids this year to play in Ripken Stadium this week at an overnight camp.

Eventually, all good things must come to an end, and for the kids attending a baseball camp at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, to day is that day.

Deontay Thorne says, "first, I can go home and see my family and second, I just like having fun here."

Ricky Lyons said, "I'm going to miss meeting new people, playing baseball and then getting to be able to come somewhere that is rented out for us just to be here 5 days."

Ricky and Deontay are two kids from Baltimore City who with the sponsorship of ABC 2 and the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation were able to experience their own field of dreams and get a life lessons on the pitfalls of drug abuse from former star Ernie Graham. Graham has been clean from drugs himself for 17 years.

"Unlike myself, you know a very talented individual who did not do the work so when my opportunity came I wasn't able to be successful," said Graham. "I thank God for the second opportunity that He has given me which I am prepared for and I want the children to understand that using drugs will rob them of any opportunities to be successful in life."

Hopefully this lesson will stay with the boys when they start school next week.

Camp Counselor, Paul Danik says that "they are learning responsibility, good teamwork skills out here and basically show respect to their counselors. They are well behaved, well mannered they do what they're told you can tell they've been raised right, that's what I'm talking about."

Ricky says that Paul, "taught me how to have teamwork and not to us, like put the other team down because they lost, or put us down because we lost."