MOULTRIE – The photograph on page 3B of The Moultrie Observer’s July 23, 1983, edition, which accompanied a story about the undefeated Belk Hudson Midget League baseball team, shows coach Steve Fitzgerald hitting infield practice.

Although the photo is more than 20 years old, it could easily have been taken yesterday.

Fitzgerald has changed little over the last two decades, still Barlow-blade thin and still stroking ground balls to Colquitt County youngsters eager to learn how to play baseball.

The veteran youth coach has put together a 14-and-under traveling team this summer and has taken the South Georgia Expos to a number of tournaments.

Last weekend the team won the Panama City Beach (Fla.) Classic.

The Expos also have played in tournaments in Lake Park and the youngsters may be entered in a few more before the season finally winds down in November.

By then, the team – made up of boys from Moultrie and Tifton – will have been together nine months, taking ground balls, catching flies, learning to run the bases and hitting, hitting, hitting.

And all this is in addition to their recreation and all-star baseball seasons.

The players are especially excited about the opportunity to play in Panama City again.

Their enthusiasm matches their coach’s.

Fitzgerald began working with Colquitt County youngsters in 1980 and has continued to coach in the recreation baseball and football programs ever since. And he has a simple explanation as to why.

“I just thoroughly enjoy working with the kids and watching them grow and improve,” said Fitzgerald, who works for Plant Telephone in Omega when not teaching bunting or blocking fundamentals. “I’ve had the pleasure of coaching a lot of good kids.”

Fitzgerald has coached baseball teams when the games were played on the dusty old Midget and Farm League fields behind the Tommy Meredith Gymnasium. His teams now play on the well-appointed diamonds at the Magnolia Sports Complex, where he wishes more tournaments like those his teams attend in Florida were held.

Fitzgerald grew up in Colquitt County and played youth baseball here. He was playing Midget League baseball in 1963 for the Sunset team when the Ashburn-Rowell team went undefeated. Twenty years later, Fitzgerald coached the Belk Hudson team to a perfect Midget League record.

After moving to Madison, Fla., for his final two years in high school, Fitzgerald returned to Moultrie and soon began raising a family that included three athletic sons.

Chad was a member of the 1983 undefeated Belk Hudson team and went on to become an All-Region 1-AAAA place-kicker for the Colquitt County High football team in 1988.

Middle son Clay was a starting offensive tackle for the 1991 state runner-up Packers’ football team and was named to the All-Region team the following season.

Youngest son Cam, 13, is a member of the Expos and the Bank of America Pony League team that his father coached this spring.

Cam, built more like his father than are his older brothers, is playing quarterback in the Colquitt County middle school football program this fall.

Cam can play one more year of Pony League and then, one might think, Steve Fitzgerald might think about retiring from his volunteer coaching career.

But then again, the sweat and chalk might be too much a part of his blood.

“I’m afraid it might be,” he said laughing.