You won't see it in the T-G as much more than a sports brief, but local youth baseball players are missing out on some valuable experience by not coming out in large enough numbers to have the proposed fall league.

The weather from August till mid-October is typically perfect for baseball and to just be outside in general.

Before travel ball hit the craze it has nowadays, I was starved for diamond action long before the summer months were over. All a teenager had in Lewisburg in the 90s was Babe Ruth league and all-star play. That was never enough for a kid that lived and breathed it.

After moving to Alabama, we discovered a fall baseball league in Huntsville to join before my senior year. It was not as instructional as some of the leagues for the younger kids, but simply getting some ABs and innings in against great competition were enough to quench some of my thirst leading up to the winter.

There's a reason why scouts flood to and draft or sign so many kids from Florida, Texas, California and the Central American countries. It's warm there. They're able to play baseball all year long if they so choose.

It takes a true love for the game to do it. But, if your heart pumps the red into the stitches and you bring the leather up to your nose for the sweet smell of hide, it's a non-issue.

I haven't been out to the fields all across Bedford County, but Cascade's high schoolers who aren't playing football or golf are out taking ground balls and long tossing. They're paying the price to get back to Murfreesboro and make some noise once they get there.

Sometimes a tiny taste of postseason greatness or a hard-working team leader are all it takes to put in the offseason work necessary to go where only so many players have never been.