DATE: Wednesday, June 4, 1997               TAG: 9706040484

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: GATESVILLE                        LENGTH:   53 lines

BABE RUTH LEAGUE TAKES SWING AT BEING A HIT IN GATES COUNTY

When Jim ``Catfish'' Hunter threw out the first ball, a new era began in Gates County. The Hall-of-Famer's pitch opened the first Babe Ruth League baseball game in the county.

Until last week, there had not been an officially sanctioned baseball league in Gates County. Thanks to the vision of Joan Rountree, the county now has organized baseball.

Rountree, a former softball coach at Central Middle School and president of the league, noticed that ball players in the county had trouble competing against players in other counties.

``I coached ball at the middle school, and playing against teams from different counties, we saw that we needed more competition outside the area to help better our school ball,'' Rountree said.

Rountree began gathering information about starting a Babe Ruth designated league in February. She talked to Bobb Koontz of Currituck County, the Babe Ruth district president, and Todd Hunter of the Perquimans County Parks and Recreation Department, for information about starting the league.

``We went to Dr. Cleveland Hawkins (superintendent of schools in Gates County), and he was behind this 100 percent with support and whatever we needed,'' Rountree said.

``One of the main concerns we had was whether or not the lights at the middle school would work,'' Rountree said. ``They hadn't been used in 10 to 15 years. Eddie Davis and Tommy Mise of North Carolina Power and Willie Hoffler, who works maintenance for Gates County Schools, got together and put all new bulbs in.''

The original idea was to have two or three teams at the 13-and-over level that would play other teams from outside the county. Interest was so great, however, that the league ended up with 21 teams in seven different levels.

``We ended up starting from 5-year-olds to 18-years-olds. It went big for this little community,'' Rountree said.

Divisions include coed tee-ball for 5- and 6-year-olds, a coed league for 7- and 8-year-olds where the coaches pitch, Bambino baseball and softball for 9- to 12-year-olds, Babe Ruth baseball for 13- to 15-year-old boys, Babe Ruth softball for 13- to 18-year-old girls, and a baseball team for 16- to 18-year-olds that will play in the Albemarle League against teams from surrounding counties. Games will be played at Central Middle School and the baseball and softball fields at Gates County High School. The 13-and-up teams will also play some games in Perquimans and Chowan counties.

Opening day was Saturday. Team pictures were taken. Hunter addressed the crowd while the players lined the field. A special flag was donated by Rep. Eva Clayton, and there was a home run derby for players of all ages. The first game was played in the boys 9- to 12-year-old group between Union Camp and Electric Motor Corp. That night, an exhibition game was played between the 16- to 18-year-olds' teams, the BMG Steelers, and the Gates County High School alumni.

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