Before the first firework lights up the sky above the Civic Center this week, all the fireworks from baseball and softball action will have long been extinguished.

All but one league – the boys 13-15 group – has been completed. Friday’s championship games brought the season to a close just shy of July 4, an unofficial target date to end games that has been set over the last several years.

For years I’ve wondered why leagues want to get things wrapped up so quickly. Ending in early July, or in this case late June, means the field will sit empty for over a month before schools open their doors. Why the rush?

The answer I’m given the most is vacation schedules for families will leave teams without enough to participate. Nobody wants to enter the tournament and have valuable players missing. Other reasons include postseason all-star tournaments, the AAU circuit, travel baseball, football workouts and lack of participation leading to truncated schedules – nobody wants to keep playing the same 2-3 teams over and over again. Fair enough.

Last year, I spent two months talking to people about the city leagues. I wanted to get to the bottom of what I felt was a serious problem – the leagues seemed to be trending toward eventual extinction. Participation was down, coaches were getting increasingly frustrated with umpires and organization and nobody seemed to be having much fun.

I don’t want to spend seven stories rehashing the issues. Some are still apparent, others may be trending in the right direction. One trend I’m happy with is the added involvement of people who can teach the game.

For instance, Friday’s boys 9-10 championship game was extremely well-played and featured lots of talent on each side. 

That league caught my eye most of the season because I was impressed by the amount of coaching talent I saw. One team was guided by JW Holt, who was at one time the WCHS baseball coach. Chase McGee, a current assistant at WCMS, was in the dugout for another squad. Other teams in the league had 2-3 people who all seemed to be very knowledgeable, helping the league be competitive most nights. 

Other leagues also flourished – or at least didn’t flounder – because the coaching was there. Kids were being taught some fundamentals at an early age, a welcome sight if you’re invested in the future success of our school teams.

There are still plenty of steps that need to be taken. I’d still love to see a camp be held for an entire week for all kids, with much of the focus on basic pitching fundamentals for baseball and softball. I’d also like to see a premier league established where area travel teams could play as a group 1-2 nights a week.

Improvements are always going to be needed, but at least this year I think it's headed in the right direction.