I'm not very tall, so Warren wouldn't have to be all that round!
I learned...
A baseball outfield makes a very nice warmup area for several teams at once.
Some pitchers will need to make serious adjustments or else risk being called for non-stop illegal pitches in college. This is assuming college umpires in Ohio are following the NCAA's directive about calling the illegal pitch.
Van Buren has no problem getting its little ones to help behind the concession stand counter. And hot chocolate is only 50 cents? That might be the best bargain I've encountered in years and was appreciated on Friday. The shredded chicken was good, too.
Everyone looks about three years older than I remember them, which means I must also look the same.
Some teams still wear shorts? Or are we already to the point that pants are now becoming passe?
You still don't necessarily know what Lasers team you are looking at based on the color and the uniform. Black wears blue, silver wears red, etc.
If a siren goes off at 2:30 a.m. in a small town, it's not necessarily a tornado warning. I stayed with a friend in Bloomdale and leapt out of bed when I heard the siren. I looked out the window for nasty weather and figured I'd soon see the lights come on around the neighborhood. I checked my phone and saw no threating weather and wondered what the heck was going on. Maybe the Russians were coming. No lights came on in houses and nothing seemed to happen. The dog in the house didn't even budge. After about 15 minutes I went back to sleep. Apparently the siren is for volunteer responders. I thought I was in some nightmare and was picturing the entire town of Bloomdale being leveled, with me part of the wreckage. If this town ever does get a tornado warning in the middle of the night, I'm afraid it might be doomed.
Southern Ohio is finally a force in the travel ball world. Next thing we know, Southeast Ohio will jump on board if they're not already there.
IMO, teams don't run nearly enough, especially on what was a very windy weekend, making accurate throws for catchers very difficult.
You CAN have a 2-hour time frame for games and usually get in 7 innings. It was nice to see games played to the length that softball games are intended to be played to determine the better team.
Between the Marathon fields and the Van Buren complex, the Findlay area makes a nice venue for a big tournament. Both complexes are good and the Marathon fields offer a great setup for spectators. Thank you, Big Oil!