Summer and baseball have always gone hand in hand. But for kids in the Kirkland area, after the junior high or high school season was done and before they were old enough for Legion teams, there wasn’t much opportunity to play in an organized league at home.

Now, thanks to the Kirkland Merchants program, boys age 13 through 16 have the opportunity to play on a team during their downtime in the summer.

Having just finished it’s first season, the Kirkland Merchants, a select baseball program in and for kids in Kirkland, was deemed a success by program president Sim Osborne.

“We had great year and the kids had a lot of fun,” he said. The main driver behind the creation of the program was simply there were no teams for kids these ages to play on during the summer. The program’s four teams include a U13, U14, U15 and U16 each with dedicated coaches.

“It’s been great. The community really rallied around us. People from town came out and watched games,” said Osborne.

The regular season runs from April to the middle of July and all the but the U16 team have finished playing. The eldest team will host the second annual Lee Johnson Invitational Wood Bat Tournament at Lee Johnson and Inglemoor High School fields July 27 through July 31.

“Year one of the Merchants went extremely well, I thought,” said U16 coach Derek Bingham. “Our teams were all competitive and the coaching staff did an outstanding job in developing the players and keeping them forcused. The kids had a lot of fun and improved on and off the field. It’s great o have a select baseball presence back in Kirkland for the younger age kids – families living the Kirkland area should be able to get a great baseball experience locally, rather than having to go out of town to get it.”

The U13 team finished with a 10-12 league record and a 26-16 overall record. The U13 team was coached by Tyler Hansen.

Osborne said the Merchants play teams from the Eastside league, spanning from Federal Way up to Everett. The U13 team won the Firecracker Tournament in early July, beating the Moon Valley Redhawks on July 4 13-0 for the title. They finished the tournament with a 5-0 record.

Greg Neumann coached the U14 team this season, saying it was a great way for families and baseball fans to have a local team to come watch this summer.

“I think it was nice for families involved and any baseball person to have a team in Kirkland to root for,” he said. “It was a good opportunity for the boys to get a taste of what it takes to become a good high school player.”

While the U14 team might not have earned as many wins as they would have liked, Neumann said the team never gave up during the games.

The U15 team finished their season in early July after a second place finish at the BPA Boys of Summer Invitational in Wenatchee. The team advanced out of pool play for a spot in the title game against the Federal Way Knights, but lost for second. The team was 18-22 overall and had an 11-13 record in the Mickey Mantle Olympic division. The team was coached by Don Howarth.

The U16 team, coached by Derek Bingham, recently took second place in the Kent Sports Illustrated Tournament. The Merchant exited pool play undefeated at 3-0, earned the No. 1 seed in the pool. They faced the Dow Baseball team in the championship game, which the Merchants lost 9-1.

The Lee Johnson Invitational will feature teams from the area, such as the Monroe Sockeyes, Redmond Select, Bothell Pride and the Bremerton Stingers.

“It will be a great way for the older team to end our season,” said Bingham. “We have had great success in tournaments this year (two second place finishes, one third) and the chance to host a tournament in downtown Kirkland to end the summer is exciting. We are looking forward to it.”

For the other teams the season will pick up again next summer, with tryouts begin held this month for the 2011 team. Tryouts will be held Aug. 7-8 with the U13 team at Kirkland Junior High and all others at Lake Washington High School. On Saturday and Sunday the U13 tryouts will be from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with the U14 tryouts from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. and the U15-16 tryouts from 12:30 to 3 p.m.

For more information on tryouts and this week’s Lee Johnson Invitational visit Kirkland Merchants homepage.