Well, it's that time of year again, when the Babe Ruth crowd is making plans for the state tournament.
By the time the next seven days go by there will be plenty of baseball and a lot of memories, some good and some bad.
Since I have been around the sport for the past 39 years, I can recall a lot of games. And I am no different than anybody else - some of my stories are good and some have some bad endings.
I have been around long enough that I have been on the road with all three of the current Mifflin County managers, Scott Reigle, 15-year-olds; Fred Zook, 14-year-olds; and Bernie Howard, 13-year-olds.
Here are some stories:
Let's start with Scott Reigle. How can you not start with the 2002 15-year-old team that went to the World Series.
We were in New Jersey and it was late at night. Mifflin County had just beaten Western New York (Rochester), 1-0, for its second win in the Mid-Atlantic Regional.
As Scott and I and his family drove away from the ball park that night, Scott said, "We are only two games from the World Series and I haven't done anything different than I ever did."
Remember, this was a Mifflin County team that had never even won a district title until it was 15 years old.
I said in return, "Whatever you are doing, keep doing it."
After a late night supper, the Reigle family and I got back to the hotel and as we trudged our way back to the rooms, to the delight of all us, the parents of team were all in the hall way and clapped as we got back to our rooms.
Fred can be a prankster. In 1983, we were on the road at the state tournament in Pen Argyl and he hid my car keys, which didn't make me very happy. Heck, I have trouble keeping track of them at home much less on the road.
But one the best memories I have of Fred was in 1981. Mifflin County was in Drexel Hill battling for the 14-15-year-old state championship. In the end it came down to Mifflin County and the home team for the championship.
Mifflin County went into the finals undefeated, but loss to Drexel Hill, 19-2, in the First game of the finals. It looked pretty gloomy for the title game the next day. Or at least I thought it looked gloomy.
However, Fred and his coaching staff threw a watermelon party for the players. I have never seen such a happy bunch of kids. I said to Fred, "Aren't you unhappy with the outcome of the game?" He said "No, we'll having fun now and we'll win tomorrow."
He was right, as Mifflin County won the state title, 5-3.
In 2002, Bernie Howard had his first experience in a state tournament at Pottsville, at the 13-year-old level. It was one that, if you were there, you can't forget.
The host team that year was the Pottsville Babe Ruth League, which was run by the Pottsville Jaycees.
However, the Jaycees failed to realize how competitive Babe Ruth baseball is. Instead of using regular umpires, they decided to umpire the games themselves.
And Mifflin County's first opponent that year was State College - the same State College team that was 12 the year before and just missed going to the Little League World Series because of an ineligible player from Metro New York.
Well, the game didn't start out very well for Mifflin County and then got worse. The batter's box was way too little for 13-year-olds. And the game got away from the Jaycee umpires in a hurry. Mifflin County lost that day, 10-1.
But, before the tournament ended, Mifflin County battled the whole way back to the final four before losing again to State College, but this time in extra-innings, 8-7.
And to the Jaycees' credit, they went out and hired regulation umpires.
Before the state tournaments come to an end, there are going to be more memories made, some bad and some good, but one thing is for sure, they will be talked about for years to come.
Ray Wilde covers Babe Ruth and other youth baseball for The Sentinel.
