The Sidewinders congratulate the Cardinals on a good game last Wednesday at Holcom Park. The two teams are part of the Heinrich baseball league.

While the summer temperatures are beginning to heat up, so too is the action at Holcom Park. About a month ago the Heinrich League began, and the teams have been busy on the ball diamond.

For those participating in the 14U league, they get the opportunity to play in anywhere from 24 to 40-plus games, depending on how many tournaments each team competes in. The teams generally play one or two games during the week and in tournaments on the weekends. The teams also try to squeeze in time for two practices during the week as well.

“The ultimate goal is to provide higher level of competition in Lawrence,” Youth Sports Director Lee Ice said, noting that in the past Lawrence has lost a number of players to leagues in other cities.

Tom Leggins coaches the Lawrence Lightning. His team is made up of 13-year-olds, and he said that having seen many of the players progress through the city leagues, their talents have shown on the field this year.

“It seems to be a pretty balanced league,” Leggins said.

The Lighting are 4-1 this season, and Leggins said his team has steadily improved over the past few weeks.

“We’ve been getting better, just the repetition of games,” Leggins said. “We can only practice so much.”

Leggins has coached baseball for six years and is in his first season as a coach in the Heinrich League. He said his goals as a coach are to win and develop players, but that can often be tricky.

“We try and develop them and winning aids in that,” he said. “But we’re trying to find positions for them.”

Leggins said that in developing hitting they can work on many of the aspects it takes to become a good hitter, but they approach pitching a little bit differently. In pitching, they work mostly on mechanics. Players throw fastballs and change-ups but not breaking balls.

Cubs’ second baseman and leadoff hitter Tyler Johnson said he has played baseball since he was six or seven years old. The seventh-grader at Southwest Junior High has played Parks and Rec, DCABA and Holcom League baseball. He said that even though most of his team’s four wins have come via blowouts, he has noticed the increase in the level of competition.

Over the weekend, the Cubs suffered their first loss of the season, and Johnson said that he hoped his team will use the loss as motivation for the final few weeks of the season.

“I want to have a winning record and for the team to come together and get focused,” he said.

Johnson said that as the team’s leadoff hitter he has to concentrate on more than just getting on base and setting the table for his team. When batting leadoff, Johnson will usually take the first pitch so he can get a feel for what kind of stuff the pitcher has that game. And when he gets on base he studies the pitcher’s delivery. When he returns to the dugout he will give pointers on what the pitcher has and what pitches to run on.

Johnson said that beyond this season, his goals are to play high school and college ball. Leggins thought that those are two goals many Lawrence baseball players can achieve.

“I think there’s a lot of good players in Lawrence,” Leggins said.