Kimball Junior Legion falls at Ravenna

The Kimball Junior Legion coach Luke Dea counts the team's first season as a win though they came home from districts in Ravenna last week with two losses.

"We lost both games, but we are a young, inexperienced team and we weren't quite ready for the level of a couple of the teams," Dea said. "We had a tough draw."

The young team faced the challenges of youth and inexperience this year, even playing a few athletes from the younger, Babe Ruth league (ages 13-14).

The Kimball team scheduled a total of 20 regular games and two tournaments for this season and they plan to come back next year with the experience they gained this year.

"It is a young team and the vast majority of our players and our starters have not one, but two years in this (age) bracket still," Dea said. "We would like to try to get a seniors team next year, we are definitely looking at that."

As for successes, Dea points out that the team ended the season with a second pitcher and improved hitting.

"Hitting progressively got much better as did our batting averages," he said. "We still played real well."

With more experienced junior athletes next year, the team still faces some challenges, including facilities and funds.

While a lot of work went into the local Legion field, continued improvements, to fencing, the scoreboard and lights may make the Kimball fields eligible to host tournaments – events that invite more local fans, save the team money and could even boost the local economy.

Though the first local Legion baseball season since 2008 has ended, continued support for the Kimball Legion team is still needed.

"It is not tax-base supported, it is not school supported, so there is a lot of volunteering and fund-raising," Dea said in a previous interview.