KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Baseball caps line a table in front of the CAK softball field on Friday morning. Each flipped on their head, each with a name tag resting inside the brim.
DJ. Zavion. Mikah and many more.
These kids haven't grown up playing baseball, but now, they wear the hats and rep the teams - the Rockies, the Diamondbacks, the Braves and many more.
"It was super challenging, I started with a piece of paper and had to get donations of gear, Gatorade, literally everything," Christian Cate said.
Cate just graduated from CAK. He spent most of his life growing up around sports. As part of his capstone project last year, he organized this camp. This is the camp's second season.
"Some of these kids have never played baseball, have never touched a ball," Cate said.
Baseball is America's pastime, but it's not always the easiest sport to play. A 2016 Utah State University study found the average family will spend $4,044 a year on baseball and softball, and that's not something every family can afford.
The children at the camp come from Wesley House, which provides care for children of working parents in Knoxville. They've spent all week learning the basics of baseball: throwing, fielding and hitting. Now it's time to put it into action with a scrimmage.
"I thought this was going to be just a school project, but it's so much more than that," Cate said.
Anita Riley watches over the children, shouting occasionally for them to behave. She runs the Center City Youth Sports Program and is helping to supervise. She was shocked when Cate and his mom came to her with the idea last year.
"I thought it was the mom, but when I found out it was really Christian's vision, and then he got all his friends to come out and help him, it really warmed my heart," Riley said.
"I just want to invest in these kids' lives, give them a chance to know a different sport, hopefully teach them something they don't know," Cate said.
"It is important beyond belief. It's hard to get people to come into the inner city sometimes and help do something out of the kindness of their heart," Riley said. "So, I think it's important to a lot of them, and I think you're going to see a lot of baseball players in that group, I really do."
Cate said he plans on continuing the camp next year. He'll be attending Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, in the fall.