On the diamond

Havre little league baseball, which has had area kids trying their hands at working as a team and learning the game, is wrap ping up soon in June.

A youth baseball season lasts around two or three months for the teams that are, on average, made up of 5- and 6-year-olds.

Some teams have the players rotate positions each time they take the field, while the other team's players each take their turns taking a swing at the ball on the batting tee.

Lavon Myers is a coach for one of the little league teams. When he is not coaching little league, he has a lot of things that keep him busy. He is an admissions recruiter and assistant men's basketball coach at Montana State University-Northern and is employed at Wells Fargo and Master Sports. He is also a father and a husband.

"So, I'm pretty busy," Myers said.

He added that he finds time to coach little league baseball because his son is a player and he thinks that the sport is good for the kids.

"You get them started in youth baseball, get them interaction with other kids that they probably wouldn't interact with and they start making friends out there," Myers said.

There are no standings or scores kept in little league. For the most part, Myers said.

"Some coaches probably do," Myers said. "Their competitive sides come out."

The ultimate purpose of little league is to get the kids to enjoy themselves, Myers said.

"It's just for the kids to come out, have a good time, learn the fundamentals of baseball," Myers said. "It's all about having a good time, smiling and laughing."

Myers has been coaching little league baseball in Havre for two years, but used to coach youth basketball in town and back in California.

His team is sponsored by Operation Stop, a BNSF Railway Co. program.

He said the games run for three innings, and each inning is made of five runs or three outs.

"We try to let every kid get a hit," Myers said.

Parents of current and potential players are informed, through letters sent home and to daycares and schools, before each season about signing up their children to play.

"They try to get it out there to let the parents know," Myers said.

The kids will be wrapping up their season soon and enjoying their summer break, leaving the fields quiet until the next season.