Going Deep...
with Mike Bauer

Well we are one week closer to the start of the high school, college and pro football seasons but there is still baseball being played in Williamsport Pa. The 12 year olds are playing the Little League World Series as I type. Mexico and Japan have advanced to the International Championship game on Saturday. Oregon and Georgia have advanced to the U.S. Championship also on Saturday. The two winners will play for all the marbles on Sunday afternoon.

As big a baseball fan as I am, I have never witnessed a little league world series game live. That's about to change this year. I have plans to attend either the games on Saturday or the final game on Sunday afternoon. It just doesn't seem right to live only about one and a half hours away and not go to at least one game in your lifetime. I have watched a lot of games on the TV but somehow I get the feeling that it just won't compare to being in South Williamsport and watching those kids pour their hearts out on the field.

Speaking of the kids did any of you happen to catch any of the Saudi Arabia games? There is a player for them who is 6-8 and 250+ pounds. He wears a size 18 or 19 shoe! Now he has turned thirteen since the series has started but can you imagine?

Some of the pitchers down there are throwing what compares to a Major League pitcher's 90-95 mile an hour fastball at the little league pitching distance. The mound distance for little league baseball at age 12 is 46 feet 6 inches. They throw effective curve balls and even have a change up that will buckle the batters knees.

Yet they are 12 years old. The emotions that they must go through must be unbelievable. Remember these kids and their families have been living away from home for around 3-4 weeks now. They have gone through their local playoffs, through their sectional tournament, their state tournament, into the regional tournament (probably out of their home state), and then straight to Williamsport for a week and a half. What a vacation it must be!!

I took the trip over to Kane last Saturday to watch the Cameron County Varsity team scrimmage the Wolves. The Raiders scored seven touchdowns to Kane's zero. Nick Malize scored on two long runs. Cameron Clingan and Stephen McFall both went over 50 for touchdowns and Abram Zoschg ran one in and caught a TD from Jordan Crane. I am not trying to single anyone out but as you can see a host of Raiders are very capable of putting the ball in the end zone this year.

The defense looked good on a slippery field as it rained most of the night before and through the whole scrimmage. Kane is a very young team this year and I don't think that it was a true test of how things will go for the Raiders but compared to the last couple of seasons the team looks like they are well prepared for the season.

There is a "Meet The Raiders Night" at the Cameron County High School football field on Wednesday, August 30th at 6 PM. All fall sports, cheerleaders, and the band will be there for you to come out and show your support.

The Cameron County Storm teams have started their seasons. The J.V. team (9-10 year olds) has won their first two games. Game one against the St. Mary's Red team was a big win by the score of 47-6. Saturday afternoon in Kane they beat the gold team from St. Mary's 12-7. The Varsity (11-12 year olds) opened their season Saturday afternoon in Kane but didn't fare as well losing to St. Mary's 27-0. Both teams will be in action today (Saturday 26th) as the J.V. will take on the Kane White team at noon and the Varsity will follow at 2 PM against Treasure Lake.

I took in the Cameron County Junior High football team's scrimmage on Thursday evening. St. Mary's was in town to give the little Raiders a look at how they stack up against someone other than themselves in practice. Coach Fragale has another nice team and looked good against the triple A school. St. Mary's outnumbered the Raiders by at least a 3-1 margin as far as roster size but the starting units were comparable as far as talent.

Look for a more in depth look at the Junior High team in the September 2 edition of the Endeavor.