The baseball season may have ended in the state tournament (or district tournament) for some teams, but area players are still lacing up their cleats and pounding their mitts.

Marple Newtown's Chris Orlando (pictured) knows this all too well.

He and his Delaware County teammates dropped a close one to Chester County, 9-7, Monday in the first round of the Carpenter Cup Classic. Their opening-round loss in the 16-team all-star tournament was Delco's seventh in nine years.

And the sweltering heat and humidity at UPenn's Meiklejohn Stadium only made matters worse. Said Sun Valley catcher Joe Maloney, who strapped on his equipment for six brutal innings: "I've played in some hot ones before and this one, wow, it was the first real hot one of the year."

The game offered a chance for younger players, like junior shortstop Ronny Tanner of Haverford, a first chance to play before major-league talent scouts and college coaches. And here's a preview story for Monday's game (sorry for the belated post).

Also in the Carpenter Cup, the Catholic League franchise, which features six players from Delco schools, will open its play Wednesday in a 9 a.m. game at UPenn. Monsignor Bonner's reps are Conor Kerins, Rob Benedict and Lou Tomasetti. Cardinal O'Hara has Bill Pace, Tom Coyle and Mike Baselice on the team.

Let's hope the weather cools off by gametime.