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Show FEATURES CLASSIFIEDS TV GUIDE PAUL HARVEY UfflMMrt tint T CHiim' tti PimIm Crtini, Liifci-tirtir- i Tiats, Cirht fitim Ift lk Hint ERltiffiM (UJtTTlnl For many years city team baseball has dominated the Saturday afternoon of hundreds of enthusiastic small town baseball players. .Everythin!! would shut down so you could go watch your city team play ball. Baseball used to be THE game. Twenty years ago Cache Valley had 15 teams in the Cache Valley League. They were composed of players from separate towns such as Weston. Others were from Hyde Park.. Preston, Iwiston and many others. There were some good ones. The Cache Valley League started after the first world war and thrived until 1966. There was never much travwas always eling. enough teams close by to There play. Recruiting players from other towns was heard un- of. The league set boundaries and couldn't use players from other towns unless the league okayed it. Most games were played on Saturday afternoons and holidays. IT MORE fun to go to games than to go vacatione ing nr camping, players have said. The arrival of television in the valley started the downfall of the league. People started staying home to watch baseball on TV rather than go out to the games. A whole new way of life startld. WAR old-tim- Slowly, one by one the teams lost support and had to fold. Finally, in 1967 there was only one team left : The Blue Sox of Smithfield. The Blue Sox then joined the Weber County league for a few years until that faded away. The team then joined the Northern Utah league which was mm posed of teams from Brigham City and Ogden. In 1973 the Northern Utah league was composed of the Ogden A's. Smithfield Blue Sox. Brigham City Peaches, Presand the ton team newly-rislnro- d This year Logan was aded team list and to the semi-pr- o Ogden was dropped. The old league had its share of great players. Some of the more dominate players were Steve Hinckley who came out of his retirement to help the Preston team get started. There was Jay Van Noy who made the major leagues and played for St. Ixiuis and Bob kaiser who pitched in the major leagues for Cleveland. Ken Spring was another pitcher Smith- -' field relied on quite heavily. He posted a 17-- 4 win-los- s record in 1963. a record that will probably never be matched. Other great players have included Farrel Karren. Bob Hyden. Ray Rindlisbaker, and John Hale. And you can't forget Gerrv Nyman who gained much major league experience. TIIE NEW LEAGUE has its great players also. Outstanding players for the Blue Sox include Roger Howell who is one home run short of tieing the Blue Sox homerun record. Sam Bergona who is hitting close to the .500 mark and is sporting a 2 record. Stewart Howell has to he considered one of the league's outstanding players in the last five years. Rounding out the team is Dave Caudill and Jan Hall. 9-- Outstanding players for liOgan include Craig Haslam who had a fine year pitching, a fine outfielder. Allen All-re- and shortstop. Frank Stewart. Preston's players consisted of Tony Hall and Bracken Webb who were halting in the ,400s. Also, the pitching of Boyd lewis and. Boh Godfrey was very tough. Tom Duce. the versatile rounded out player-coacthe squad. For Brigham City, outstanding players wore Brent Allrid and Norm Thomiison. The teams in Cache Vasemi-pr- o lley's league couldn't survive if it wasn't for the dedicated efforts of the managers and coaches. Coach Richard Hansen of the Blue Sox has to be given most of the credit for the establishment of semi-pr- o baseball in Cache Valley. He has helped to get them organized. Harold Anderson of Brigham City retired this year but has always fielded a fine team for the Brigham City Peaches. The Peaches are now under the leadership of Norm Thompson. The Preston team is directed by player-coac- h Tom Duce. Preston is building and has looked good this past year, being the only team in Cache Valley to beat the Blue Sox. LOGAN IIAD its first team this year and placed second in the Utah tournament. was Craig Haslam. Coach-manag- Hansen, when asked what the future of the Northern Utah League looked like, he said competition among Cache Valley teams was better and it helped bring out the public. He felt the League was definitely on an upswing and that there would be more teams in the future. Hansen said teams from surrounding areas had been asking about coming into the league. The semi-pr- o year is over and the Blue Sox again emerged as champions. They will be attending the semi-pr- o national finals in Wichita. Kansas. Baseball lovers in Cache Valley hope baseball will be around for a lot of years to come. THE 1973 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM Open Aiir Theca fler In Fourth Year Offering refreshing, un- adulterated family entertainment at its finest, the Northern Cache Valley Theatre Guild will present the musical Lil Abner" beginning tonight in Preston. Li'l Abner and Martina P. Ackley. Franklin. Daisy Mae. - The production to be staged in an outdoor get under way at 8 o'clock and continue Friday and Saturday nights. Delmar Derricott. Preston High School speech and drama teacher, is Pappy Yokum and Nancy Pearce. Preston, is Mammy Yokum. Roger Woolley is Marry'en Sam and Joe Cherrington. both Preston, take the part of Earthquake McGoon. With casting of local talent made to match theatre productions anywhere, the Abner who will he staged outdoors-nil a stage located behind the Preston High "YOUNG KIDS will enjoy the show. The crazy characters and extreme costuming will thrill the audiences."-RoIewis. Guild spokesman. said. School UNDER TIIE direction of Rolierl Miller, who has had professional acting and directing experience on both the East and West coasts, and Mrs. bmise Woolley, the show will lake area cartoon lovers on an unforgettable trip into Dogpalch. USA. Taking lead roles in the r production will Ik Stephen Noves. Preston, as two-hou- bleachers which will have a of about 400 for each performance. . TIIE AUDIENCE will get a good look at the charact-capacil- y erization of their friends when the cast takes to roles of concessionaries during in- termission. The Guild, which got its start through a government grant, is struggling for ex- istence and must finance each summer show solely n Lewis said that everyone relate to the show because of its simplicity and because n the characters are all comic strip come-nlivewill he able to down-to-eart- h well-know- s. Reference to government and puns directed In government versus small towns will amuse adults. There will he limited sealing for each performance a ith the cilv to move in a. THE FINALE FNOM Ill ABNEN through ticket purchases and concession sales. d Admission for the A1 classic is $2 for adults and $1 for children. Capp-rreale- |