With a foot of snow on the ground at the beginning of March, baseball is the last thing on the minds of most Chicago-area children. But with spring training in full swing, a collection of 4- to 6-year-olds gather in Wilmette at the Illinois Baseball Academy to learn the fundamentals of the game.

While Chris Beacom's clientele is sometimes more focused on impressing one another with raspberries and armpit farts, he has this group of 12 "Mini-Majors" focus for an hour on sharpening their baseball skills.