Rivals become friends during the 3-day Ryan Lemmon Showcase at Great Park Stadium

Miguel Martinez of Savanna is greeted by his Orange League teammates Saturday. (Photo courtesy Harrison Zhang, For OC Sports Zone)

The 23rd annual Ryan Lemmon Showcase at the Great Park has already accomplished what it set out to do.

And, it’s not over yet.

Time and time again, we’ve heard from coaches and players who talk about how much fun the games are and how they are a great way to cap the high school careers of so many players.

These aren’t intense league games or high intensity CIF playoff games. These are games featuring guys who tried to defeat each other in the regular season playing on the same team.

And, they’re having fun.

These are games in which coaches spend more time socializing with each other than giving signs out, and that’s great.

Guy Lemmon (the father of the late Ryan Lemmon) and Dick Owens had this rather novel idea 23 years ago, and it’s working. This dedicated duo is aided by many volunteers, including talented PA announcer Paul King along with Rachel Owens, Rex Lyon, Justin Roswell, Stan Brucato, Chuck Lavington, Katie Tase, Shane Tase and Tim Blackburn.

They all do it for the love of the game and to make the last high school baseball for many seniors one they will remember forever.

The Showcase included five games over three days at the Great Park Baseball Stadium and its future appears bright.

There are two more games to be played Sunday and they should be good match-ups which should attract nice crowds. The Sunset League faces the Trinity League at 12:30 p.m. and the Empire League meets the Freeway League at 4 p.m.

And like the previous three games, the emphasis will be on fun.

SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE, ROSTERS AND A SHOWCASE WRAP-UP

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocssportszone.com