Tireless Moran pulls off another Wood Bat success

One week a year, Jim Moran learns that he can still function with very little sleep.
Moran, the manager of Blue Springs Post 499/Fike, has run the American Legion Wood Bat Invitational the past 20 years.
And like most of the previous 19 events, rain can play havoc with the schedule.
“It rained Saturday, and we had to wipe out some games, but most managers know what to expect and the weather doesn’t really cause much of a problem,” said Moran, who had just handed out the first- and second-place trophies to the tournament winner, the Niwot (Colo.) Cougars, and the runner-up, Blue Valley Northwest Huskies, following their pitching-dominated 2-1 game.
“By looking at the scoreboard, it looks like the championship game was a good one,” Moran said, chuckling, “but I didn’t see any of it. As you can see – by looking around here – all the tents are gone, things are cleaned up and we hope to get out of here in about half an hour.”
That’s because Moran and his Fike coaching staff averaged 20 hours a day in and around Hidden Valley Park since last Wednesday.
“There hasn’t been a night that I got more than four hours of sleep,” Moran said. “But look, it’s the same for my coaches and a lot of our volunteers.
“Without our coaches, players and parents and all the other great volunteers we have, we couldn’t put this tournament on.”
n Here are a few interesting numbers from the tournament:
0 – Number of earned runs in the championship game.
4 – Area players on the all-tournament team, including Blue Springs Rod’s Sports A’s utility player Kyle Barbeck, Hi-Boy Drive-In/Post 340 third baseman Josh Barnes, Hi-Boy/Post 340 designated hitter Christian Velez and Independence Post 21 second baseman Grant Truster.
7 – Number of wood bats each of the 40 teams in the tournament receive.
8 – Number of errors committed by both teams in the championship game.
10 – Strikeouts by Niwot’s Derrick Bleeker in the championship game.
16 – Number of games Jerry Kaylor, the local voice of American Legion Baseball, announced during the tournament – and that doesn’t count the eight “rain” hours he spent in the Hidden Valley press box Saturday waiting for games to resume.
25 – Strikeouts by Blue Valley Northwest’s Brent Pener in just 14 innings.
81 – Number of bats cracked in the tournament.
84 – Combined number of hours Fike father/son combo Rick and Ross Taylor put into the tournament working the Fike Burger stand, manicuring the fields and playing.
86 – The number of hours Moran logged to make sure the tournament was a success.
100 – Percent satisfaction of the players, fans and coaches who continue to make this the marquee event of the summer.