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Mifflin County's 15-16-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars have already given this community something worth celebrating.
They've reached the final four of the Babe Ruth World Series in Missouri, becoming the first Mifflin County team to reach that stage since Babe Ruth expanded this level to international competition. They got there by winning their pool and then beating Central California 5-0 on Thursday behind Haven Bridge's one-hit shutout.
That achievement belongs first to the players.
They've handled the pressure of a World Series, the long trip to Missouri, and opponents they've never seen before. They've represented Mifflin County against teams from around the country and overseas, playing like a group that knows it belongs there.
Mifflin County has a proud Babe Ruth history that includes numerous World Series teams, a national championship, and national runner-up finishes. This group has added something of its own by reaching the final four in an international field. Whatever happens next, nobody can take that away from them.
Manager Denny Yetter and his coaches deserve credit, too. So do the families, businesses, and supporters who helped make the trip possible. A World Series run takes a community.
There's also one man who has been beside Mifflin County Babe Ruth baseball for so long that it's difficult to imagine the program without him.
Ray Wilde.
The players win the games. Ray brings the news home.
For over 50 years, Wilde has followed Mifflin County Babe Ruth baseball with a dedication few people can match. He started keeping score in Belleville in 1970 and began covering Babe Ruth baseball for The Sentinel in 1975. Since then, generations of Mifflin County players have come through the league.
Ray kept showing up.
He's filled scorebooks and compiled statistics, and records. He's written stories about league games, state tournaments, regional championships and World Series appearances. He's helped preserve a history that otherwise might have disappeared into old newspaper boxes and fading memories.
When Mifflin County earned its trip to Missouri this summer, Ray went, too. His byline has carried the team's World Series run back home.
That matters.
People back home can follow these kids because someone is there watching. Someone is keeping score and asking questions after the game. Someone is putting names beside the plays and runs that decided it.
For decades, that someone has been Ray Wilde.
If you've spent much time around Mifflin County Babe Ruth baseball, you know Ray when you see him. There's the Mifflin County baseball cap. There's the sweater vest, worn even when the summer heat makes you wonder how he does it. Sooner or later comes the familiar declaration:
"MC Baby."
You never have to wonder what the MC means to him.
Wilde was inducted into the Pennsylvania Babe Ruth Hall of Fame in 2000 for public relations. He has attended thousands of Babe Ruth games and hundreds of Mifflin County All-Star games. Those numbers are impressive. They still don't explain what he has given the league.
Time does.
Consider what 50 years means in a youth baseball league. Players Ray once covered have lived long enough to watch another generation come through the program. Some names that once appeared in his scorebook now belong to fathers and coaches sitting along the fence. Through all of it, Ray has remained a familiar presence at the ballpark.
Year after year, Ray has been there because he cares about Mifflin County baseball and the young people playing it. He has made sure their accomplishments become part of the permanent record.
That deserves recognition during a week when another Mifflin County team has added its own chapter.
So congratulations to the players, Yetter and his coaches. Congratulations, too, to the families and everyone who helped these young men get to Missouri.
And a well-earned congratulations to Ray Wilde.
The players have given Mifflin County plenty to celebrate in Missouri. Ray has made sure the people back home haven't missed a pitch.
More than 50 years after he started keeping score, he's still there. Mifflin County cap on. Sweater vest in the August heat. Scorebook nearby.
MC Baby.
We wouldn't expect Ray to say it any other way.