It was a day of celebration Saturday as the Elizabethton/Carter County Youth Baseball and Softball Association got together at Cat Island Park to mark the end of its first completed season.

The young athletes of the league got the chance to enjoy some fun on inflatables and some cooking out.

On hand during the celebration, was this past season’s league president Jeff Hardin. League secretary Mike Little and Hardin, who was the president of the former Elizabethton National League, agreed only to serve one season over the new association to help things get off the ground.

“I think it went well,” said Hardin. “It was a huge undertaking for us to combine three organizations into one with the help of the Parks and Rec Department. We knew there would be a little bit of a learning curve with some things because the leagues did do things a little different. But all in all, it was positive.”

The new association is the combination of the former Elizabethton National League, Carter County American League, and the Boy & Girls Club Leagues. For its inaugural season, the Elizabethton/Carter County Youth Baseball and Softball Association had rough 700 kids come out to play, and Hardin said that those are the type of numbers they anticipated.

“We were expecting numbers around that neighborhood,” Hardin said. “I think last year the three organizations had around 800 kids combined. Some of those kids aged out, because last year the Carter County American League allowed 13-year-olds. We didn’t do that this year. We stopped at 12.”

One of the biggest improvements that Hardin noted was the better use of the fields at Lion’s Field and Cat Island.

“There was always some disparity,” he said. “The Elizabethton National League had three fields while haveing fewer kids. Carter County American League had the bigger league but had just two fields. By combining the leagues, we were able to spread the games out more evenly.”

One of the biggest foes the new league faced this year was mother nature, Hardin added.

“The weather didn’t cooperate at all,” he said. “I know one of the divisions had close to 20 rain outs at one point. By the time we had made all those games up, we had pushed it well into June. Next year, hopefully, the weather will be better. We may actually reduce the schedule slightly to allow some extra time for make-ups.”

Hardin wanted to point out that all of the work this year was done by board members Matt Roark, Ricky Sutphin, Richard Carter, and Kristi Norris Johnson, along with division coordinators Justin Hensley and Ryan Jeffers.

“They carried the load all year,” he said. “They were there every day, and they got the job done.”