Sisters Little League to open season

Sisters Little League opens the 2010 season on Saturday at 10 a.m.

Twelve teams, 145 players and their parents and spectators will meet at the Sisters Community Church ball fields for opening-day ceremonies.

"Teams must arrive, in uniform, by 9:45," said league board member David Banks. "They form with their team and coaches, take the Little League pledge, parade across home plate, and then we start games."

Photographer Craig May, using special camera equipment and a tall ladder, hopes to photograph the entire grouping. Team and individual photos will be shot starting at 11 a.m.

The newly improved Snack Shack will be in full swing, operated by Debbie Stevens and a host of volunteers.

Eleven games will be played this day, the final one at 2 p.m. All t-ball and baseball is played at the church fields and the day's lone softball game (Minors vs. Bend South, 11 a.m.) is at the Sisters Park & Recreation District community ball fields.

At 11 a.m. t-ball teams will play a round-robin

format, where teams rotate onto the field and play a shortened game, eventually playing against every other team. Minor B (coach pitch) teams also play a round-robin starting at noon.

To fit everything into the season, two majors games were contested earlier this week.

"Because Sisters Little League is rather small, our teams have to scatter and travel from La Pine to Prineville to Warm Springs," Banks observed. "Opening day is the only time all of Sisters Little League is in one place."

Practice has been underway for three weeks. Four Saturdays of hard work by parents and volunteers cleaned and prepared four baseball fields. The league will put on 129 games this season.

Twenty-five volunteer coaches and managers run Sisters Little League, along with a 12-member volunteer board of parents.

The Sisters Little League season runs from April 17 to June 15, when all-star teams are announced.

For general Sisters Little League information and schedules visit http://www.sisters

littleleague.org or contact Sisters Little League President Davina Luz at 541-549-0375.