YOUTH BASEBALL STILL A HOT SPORT IN CAPE

From ages 7 through 18, area youngsters continue to hone their skills during the summer months playing for teams in the Cape Girardeau Area Youth Baseball League.

The league, under the direction of president David Meyr, features 59 teams and approximately 770 players in nine divisions.

Play began in the middle of May and will run into early August.

"Our league is going well," said Meyr. "We've got a lot of kids involved and everything seems to be running pretty smooth."

League players can begin participating in T-Ball at age 7. The coaches pitch to the players at age 8, then the youngsters themselves begin to pitch at age 9.

The top division for the league is Senior Babe Ruth, which consists of players 16 through 18.

"Most of the kids in our league start with us at age 7 and go all the way up through 18," Meyr said.

Stressing participation, the Senior Babe Ruth level marks the first time that players in the Cape Girardeau Area Youth Baseball League are subject to being cut. Through age 15, anyone that wants to play can do so.

According to Meyr, league policy stipulates that, up to age 13, all youngsters must play at least two innings in the field during every game and, because of a continuous batting order, all players get to hit the entire game.

"At 15, it turns into more of a baseball situation, with nine at bat and nine in the field, but coaches still have to get everybody at least one inning in the field and at bat," said Meyr. "But really, most of the coaches are pretty good about letting all the kids play at least three or four innings. Pretty much everybody gets to see quite a bit of action."

The league utilizes 10 fields, two at Capaha Park and eight at Arena Park. Weather permitting, games are held just about every night during the week, with weekends used for makeup games.

Cape Area Youth Baseball also holds two major tournaments featuring out-of-town teams during the season, one in conjunction with Riverfest during the middle of June and one at the end of the season. The league also conducts all-star games for its various divisions.

Burger King is the primary sponsor of the league, money being raised through the sale of Burger King Dollars.

"Burger King has been real good to us the last few years," said Meyr.