Comment: Baseball heat up out East

America’s favorite pastime is in full swing, and the bats are definitely alive and well for this year’s East County All-Star teams.

This past week, I went out to Buffalo Creek Park on three separate occasions to catch the players in action. And every night I was amazed at the sheer number of runs the Braden River and Lakewood Ranch Little League teams have posted in just a few short weeks.

Their bats are simply hot. They’re on fire. And they don’t appear to be cooling off anytime soon.
After inclement weather shortened their annual Manatee County Cup, the players swung right into their All-Star seasons, and they haven’t looked back since.

The Lakewood Ranch Little League 9-10 All-Stars scored 82 runs in eight games — 22 of which came in a single game — en route to finishing second in the District 26 All-Star tournament to Buffalo Creek Blue, which outscored its opponents 135-13.

Yes, you read that correctly. Buffalo Creek Blue scored 10 or more runs a game in all but two games — enough to make me do a double-take and get out a calculator to make sure the scorecard was correct.

And those were the youngest players out on the field. Of course, I’m sure a majority of those runs could be attributed to errors and lack of experience on the mound, but to put up 20 and 30 runs in four innings is nothing short of impressive .

The Lakewood Ranch and Braden River 10-11 All-Stars both saw their share of success, as well, posting a combined 174 runs on their way to district champion and runner-up finishes, respectively.

Meanwhile, the 11-12 and Junior All-Stars seasons have only been under way for the past week; and, yet, Lakewood Ranch’s 11-12 All-Star team has already posted double figures in three of four games, including a 21-2 win in its tournament-opener.

The 11-12 and Junior All-Star teams will conclude their seasons this week with the winners joining the Buffalo Creek Blue 9-10 All-Stars and Lakewood Ranch’s 10-11 All-Stars in the state tournament.