Comanche Sports Group caps successful season

A full final day at the ballfield wrapped up the season for the Comanche Sports Group (CSG) with its postseason league tournament finishing Saturday.

“It was great,” said Nick Reed, CSG president. “To have this small of a town with this many teams is great. We had 101 teams in the league this year from all the surrounding area and different towns, some of them driving over an hour away. And to have that kind of draw here and then the competition level is just off the charts.”

And the players and fans toughed it out on a hot day with some age divisions not wrapping up until 9 p.m. or later.

“The kids have been getting after it all day and obviously we had some good weather this morning but then got into some heat this afternoon,” Reed said. “Really, though, we couldn’t have asked for a better day.”

The weather had been a factor somewhat during the season, especially the early part when the area received a good dose of rain.

“I think everybody was pleased with how the season went,” Reed said. “We had a few rainouts to make up and we had lots of games built into the schedule that we could make that up and then we had two different Saturdays that we played to help make up those games. I just feel like if we promised them a certain amount of games we needed to give them that many games. So, that’s what we’re here for, to see the kids get better and enjoy the game.”

The league has grown exponentially since Reed and Ty Massey founded the group six years ago. That year they started out with just 23 teams and now have quadrupled in size.

There was a ripple effect as well within the community as all of the out-of-town teams came to play.

“I think a lot of the businesses were seeing the town full on weeknights with us out here getting after it,” Reed said. “We had 18 games a night here. We had businesses calling and asking if we were going to play that week so they could gear up for it. To grow from 23 teams to over 100 is just a testament to what we have going on out here.”

There is a lot of time and effort involved in scheduling, getting workers and concessions, umpires, and field preparation, but Reed takes it all in stride.

“I do it for the kids and I just love being part of the game,” Reed said. “I’ve been doing it for almost 20 years and coaching in some aspect of the game and I just love it. I just love seeing them get out here and get after it. So that and having all the support of our staff and the kids who go to school in the community and who work here during the summer, and umpires from just about every surrounding town, it’s a big draw for us.”