On April 18, under brilliant sun-filled skies, 60 Mineola boys and girls met to compete in the Mineola Athletic Association's Baseball Blast, the first official event in this year's Mineola Little League season. The Baseball Blast is a national competition sponsored by Major League Baseball and Fleer Baseball Cards and tests players in hitting, fielding, and base-running. In each of the divisions, the top scorer, as well as the winners of the individual events, will be invited to compete against winners of other local competitions. With skill, and maybe a bit of good luck, these Mineola players might make it all the way to the National Finals, held at Coors Field, the baseball home of the Colorado Rockies.

The winners were:

Pee-Wee Division - All-Around - Thomas Behan

T-Ball Division - Batting - Bobby Port; Fielding - Justin Magaldi; Base Running - John Urbank, All-Around - John Urbank; Second Place - Bobby Port; Third Place - Anthony Fabrico.

Farms Division - Batting - Michael Birk; Fielding - Chris Brostek; Base Running - Chris Brostek; All-Around (tie) - Terry Mooney, Chris Brostek; Third Place - Michael Birk.

Minors Division - Batting - Caitlin Orlando; Fielding - Brian Abrams; Base Running - John Cloghessy; All-Around - John Cloghessy; Second Place - Craig Strein; Third Place - Caitlin Orlando.

Majors Division - Batting - Christopher Murphy; Fielding - Christopher Murphy; Base Running - Christopher Murphy; All-Around - Christopher Murphy; Second Place - Andrew Montanez; Third Place - Chris Sallie.

Congratulations to all the winners.