TAMPA, Fla. — Peter Mulry spent decades building a local sports Hall of Fame career as a baseball coach at the University of Tampa and Tampa Catholic High School. 

He's still hitting it out of the park though, now with the foundation that bears his name. 

Mulry uses his baseball experience as the basis for his foundation to teach life skills to young people. 

"If you're going to step out in life and be a champion, you got to have some tools," Mulry said. "And those tools need to be the correct life skills and that's what we're trying to do with the foundation." 

The Peter J. Mulry Foundation is a non-profit that offers free Tampa-wide baseball clinics and life skills training. 

As part of his teaching, Mulry has authored four books on life skills through baseball. His books, aimed at young children, feature cartoon characters. 

The main character is a baseball called Threads, who is surrounded by other character who all help with teaching life skills. 

Other characters represent accountability, responsibility and career choices.  

Mulry says he happy but surprised by how far the foundation has come.

"Whoever thought that here I am in my 70s talking about doing books for kids," he said. "But I think it's a great way for them to learn the proper life skills they need."