I don't know... 5 - 6 years ago or so I started photographing these kids playing summer all-star little league ball in Saegertown. There was this little dude who would hit the ball anywhere in the infield and end up on first base. He would then end up on third base before the next batter even got a ball in play. Often he'd end up across homeplate before the next batter hit the ball. Then there was a kid named Puddin and another named D-train. There was also this other kid who looked a little out of place. His size would seem to indicate the coaches were trying to pull something over on the other teams byt bringing in an older kids and lying about his age. And hit the ball like he was a couple years older as well. When he came up to the plate the team just hollered Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke! And then they would usually watch the ball fly over the fence a few moments later. This group of kids played very solid ball. Now they are in high school and not surprisingly, they won districts and went a game or two into the playoffs. They ran into a good hitting team and their season ended. During this game Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuke, long for Luke Carter, was the pitcher late in the game when the other team got hot. He was moved from pitcher to third base. A pop foul came his way and he struggled under it a bit and finally stretched out and fell backwards to make the catch and the out. I loved his expression when he tossed the ball back in after making the struggling catch. A few minutes earlier he was visibly upset about giving up the hits and runs that put his team behind. I felt bad for him. He is a good kid and he was pitching great up to that inning. The other team just got hot. Had he failed to make this catch I think he would've been devastated--as if the gods were against him, but he didn't and I felt the expression on his face was sort of a relief smile and making a face as if to say --whhhewf! I'm pretty sure Luuuuuuuuuuuuke and his buddies including D-train (who seems to be called Swagger Dave now) and Puddin will be providing the Saegertown High School trophy case with more hardware over the next couple years. Meadville Tribune photograph by Richard Sayer.