Well, here it is, the first week in May and high school sports begin to wind down.

Baseball is officially over, now that Franklinton and Mount Hermon have been eliminated from the playoffs. Neither team has any reason to hang its head, though, as both had great seasons.

Both golf and track and field are in the midst of playoffs, with Varnado and Mount Hermon still in competition for track and field and Pine has sent a player to state in golf. But in another week, high school sports will be over in our parish and everyone, myself included, will be looking forward to summer vacation. There’s no rest for the wicked, or so the saying goes, and even though I really don’t think I’m wicked, I know that the sports desk at The Daily News will still be busy covering local kids and their various baseball teams all summer.

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For a newcomer, it can sometimes be a little confusing keeping up with the different youth baseball leagues that abound in the Bogalusa and Franklinton areas.

From what I can tell, the Dixie League is for Franklinton’s youth baseball, and in Bogalusa there’s the Little League at the YMCA on Avenue U and the Bogalusa Sports Association (BSA) out at the airport. I think that the Y Little League is part of the national Little League organization, while the BSA is more regional.

I’d appreciate anyone who’s connected with these clubs to give me a call at 732-2565 or email me at dnsports@wickcommunications.com and fill me in on the organization’s history and also provide me with schedules and coaches’ names and contact numbers so that I can better cover all the sports in the area this summer.

I’m really at a loss as to what’s happening in Mount Hermon but would like to find out. Because of the distance, I can’t cover as many games there as I would like, but I’d love to get there for a few games, at least.

It’s been nearly a year since I started this job at The Daily News and not a day goes by that I don’t learn something new about the area, local sports or just something in general. I love what I do, but sometimes get frustrated when trying to find a way to give all the schools and all the kids equal coverage. It’s never going to be a perfect mix, due to the number of games played on the same days and the number of sports reporters available to cover them — one!

But I will continue to try to go to as many games as possible and cover every team at least once. I’d like to ask all the coaches out there to partner with me in supporting the young people of Washington Parish by giving them recognition for the hard work they do. First they have to make the team, then practice, practice, practice. Parents, you deserve a lot of credit for making sure your kids have the opportunity to play organized sports and the commitment to getting them to practices. Playing organized sports builds character, an important thing to remember when thinking about the future leaders of our parish, our state and our country.