Colonels honor deceased members

The Kentucky Colonels summer baseball team will host its annual home tournament honoring two former members June 11-13.

The memorial tourney is named after Travis Alig and Tom "Mo" Morris.

Alig, a former player for the Colonels who attended Ryle, died in an auto accident in November 2000.

"He would have been with us the following summer," said Dennis Taney, the general manager of the Colonels program. "He was the real deal. He carried himself well, very good ballplayer, very athletic, just a love for the game."

Tom "Mo" Morris, a former coach for the Colonels, fell to Lou Gehrig's disease in 2006. He also coached at several local high schools including Highlands, Newport and St. Henry.

"He was just a wonderful man," Taney said. "He died way too young in his early '50s."

This is the 16th year the Colonels will have a home tournament. It will have eight teams including both the Colonels 18U and 16U squads.

Visitors include two teams from Indianapolis, two from Northern Ohio, and one each from Bowling Green, Ky. and Lexington. The teams will be split into two pools.

The Colonels' roster generally brings together a lot of the top talent in Northern Kentucky. This year is no exception.

Taney said the tourney is designed to be a showcase for the talent on all the teams. He invites scouts from colleges and professional teams to attend.

"We typically have as many as 30 to 40 scouts attend the tournament," he said. "It is a springboard for the teams. I get a lot of feedback from other teams that tell me they had kids get seen."

Action begins 12:30 p.m. Thursday, June 11, with four games at St. Henry District High School. The older Colonels play at 12:30 and the 16U at 3 p.m.

On Friday, play begins at 10 a.m. with five games at St. Henry and three at Walton-Verona's baseball field in Verona. Each team will play two games that day. The 18U Colonels play at 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. at St. Henry. The 16U team goes at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in Verona.

Play continues 10 a.m. Saturday at both locations with playoffs based on pool standings. The championship game is 8 p.m. Saturday at St. Henry.