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i; • Sr s> :S-::;:;::i::;S::::: iiiiiiiii HOURS: MON THRU FRI. 9 to 9 SATURDAY 9 TO 5 CLOSED SUNDAY I'Plymouth PAGE 20 - PLAINDEALER - WEDNESDAY, [MAY 30. If84 McHenry youth baseball prospering without national Little League By Mike Lamb Plaindealer sports editor Little,League has taken its share of criticism from various people who believe the national organization's rules promote too much of the winning aspect than total participation. But the organization is still strong in thousands of com­ munities. McHenry, however, isn't one of those communities. McHenry has been divorced from the national little league organization for some time now. It was a move that hasn't hurt McHenry's baseball program in the least. In fact, the 30-year-old McHenry youth baseball program is stronger than ever. McHenry is one of the few Chicago area communities without a Little League program. It was 12-years ago that the group of fathers who ran the Little League program in McHenry got together in one of their annual meetings and decided the national little League program wasn't for their community. It was a move that made sense at the time and very few regret it now, according to Bob Mortell. Mortell was president of the league at the time, "The little League charter states if the national order needs funds, it is entitled to 50 percent of your registration fees," ex­ plained Mortell. "Little League was going through some legal * Nki . ii H # V. 4, i t i n i . i IIICIIIIII McHenry Youth Baseball volunteer Gary Kraft pitches daring a mini baseball game. The league has been experimenting with volunteer fathers do Plaindealer photo by Mike Lamb the pitching during the first few weeks of the mini's to cut-down on the walks. battles at the time over ac­ cepting girls in the program. So instead of paying them, we decided to divorce ourselves from Little League." With the divorce from Little League, McHenry league of­ ficials made some modifications • and called the their organization the McHenry Youth Baseball League. Next to Little League and standard baseball rules, some of those modifications are quite radical. In the McHenry Youth Baseball version of baseball, everybody who wants to play baseball, is drafted by a team. Also, everybody on the squad plays. Youth baseball in McHenrv has never been any more popular than now, according to present president, Tom Roach. He credits the Little League divorce and the modifications for much of the popularity. "I think it is really getting stronger the last couple years," said Roach. "The last two years turnout was down due to ac­ tivities like soccer, but this year the turnout is right back up." The figures of the last 12 years back up Roach. In 1978, about 280 kids participated in the McHenry Youth program. That number has jumped up to almost 500 this summer. Youth baseball in McHenry was first started in 1954. A McHenry resident named Fred Meyer wanted his eight-year-old son to play organized baseball. Boys from McHenry had to travel to Woodstock or Crystal Lake to participate in a little League program. So Meyer, along with some other interested fathers, decided to organize a little League program. With the help from community merchants, ball diamonds were built behind the VFW. Those same ballfields are used by the little league today. The new league had six teams. A year later, Meyer was presented with the Citizen of the Year Award. But even as early as 1960, McHenry Little League officials were getting fed up with Little League rules. "The crowd got so bad. There was hollering at the umpires. So we decided, to make our own rules," said Meyer. Don Meyer was one of the original eight-year-old .players who played in the league's in­ ception year. He served as president of the league 25-years later, and was instrumental in implementing some of the radical changes. "The reasoning behind the changes was to teach kids how to play baseball, not just winning," said Don Meyer. One of those rules makes it mandatory for every boy on the squad to bat in the game. That means if 12 players show up, all 12 must be listed in the batting, instead of just the nine playing out in the field. Also, every player must play at least two innings out in the field. A pitching rule was also in­ serted into the McHenry rule book. A pitcher can only pitch seven innings a week. "I have not known ever a boy turned down," said Pat Derby, who has been coaching little league for several years. McHenry Youth Baseball regulations require for every boy signed up to play in the COMPANY DODGE /O LEASE BUY STYLE ULTIMATE THE FOR YOUR COMFORT & TRAVELS OET SUMMER TOO! ECONOMY FUEL MINI-VAN 1984 ALL CONVERSIONS STOCK TO CHOOSE FROM* ALL COLORS 7 league, must be drafted by a team. • The McHenry Youth program is separated quite differently than the Little League program. Boys eight-years and nine-years old play in a division called mini's. Boys ages 10 and 11- years-old play in the minors, while 12 and 13-year-old boys are in the majors. Also, a senior division takes on 14 and 15-year-olds, while 16- year-olds participate on a traveling team that plays other communities. A recent addition has been a midget instructional league for boys six and seven-years-old. The two diamonds at the VFW are filled every day by the midgets, mini's, minors and the majors. The seniors play at a larger diamond at Peterson Park. The increase in players involved in the league has pushed League officials into lobbying for more diamonds being provided by the city. According to Derby, all of the money is raised through com­ munity merchants and candy bar sales. Derby says the league spends $23,000 just on umpires, equipment, field maintenance, insurance and the rental fee from the VFW. Roach says community support has risen with the popularity of the league. "We have received real good support from the community. At the last meeting we had 50-some coaches and other people in­ volved in the program, show up. There is close to 100 people in­ volved. "You don't have to be a superstar to play," added Roach. "We have a lot to offer kids." BELVIDERE'S from page 22 just put some hits together." Even in the fifth inning, when M&fbSS A® hits together. Craig Hill led-off the inning with a walk, and he stole second. Hill went to third on a wild pitch, and later scored on a fielder's choice by Steve Cunningham. Belvidere' - didn't spoil Moore's shutout until with two outs in the fourth inning. Mark Gibson kept the inning alive with a single and Moore walked Marc Farel. Daren Brown then knocked in both runners with a double. Belvidere came right back in the fifth inning with its third run. After Rubeck was walked, Moore was replaced by Ross Vehring. Trevor Towns con­ tinued the rally with a single, but Greg Wallace hit into a double play, with Rubeck moving to third. Paul Ollmann's single knocked in Rubeck for the third run. Belvidere threatened again in the sixth inning with a walk to Farel and a single by Brown. Dean Brecourt executed the sacrifice bunt to move runners to second third. But Ross Vehring squelched the threat by striking out Rubeck and forcing Towns to ground out. Wilson was pleased to see his Warriors finish the season with a 9-9 record after a slow start "It makes the season more bearable. We're a pretty good team, but we were just not consistent. The kids were down a little. They had their hearts set on playing in the championship. League Soiling Chapel Hill ladies The team standings after the match play of May 15 showed Fox Hole Tap still leading with 24. Favorite Sports and Steffan's Jewelers are tied with 23. Acu Pac has 21%, little Chef 20%, Mar Ray Costumes 19%, Classic Trophies 15 and McHenry Floral 13%. Hie contest of the day was for individual low net. Linda For- naciani won in class A, Ellen Leonard in class B and Sharon Delahanty and Betty Auld shared honors in class C. Tuesday, May 22 featured an all day rain that was good for the garden, but precluded any golf. We hope for better hick next Tuesday. Esta i