Season is not yet complete

I'm back.

Yes, after a week and a half filled with a wedding ceremony, a honeymoon and only an inning and a half of watching the baseball All-Star Game, I am back (with a wife) and ready to start a new sports season.

Football is just around the corner. Even the casual Columbia County football fan can tell that the 2006 season will be dramatically different from 2005. New coaches, new region opponents, new road trips and new stars are in store.

But wait. Any kid under 17 will tell you: We still have a little more than a week and a half before school begins. We've got more than a month before football games.

Let's enjoy the last few weeks of summer. If you've missed out on the summer sports, here's a quick recap:

On fire

The Augusta FireBall were scheduled to wrap up regular season play Saturday. Columbia County's own USL Premier Development League team has already secured a spot in postseason play.

The FireBall earned the Southern Conference Wild Card and will start postseason play on Friday at Macpherson Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.

World Series bound

Columbia County's finest 13-14-year-old boys baseball players and 11-to 12-year-old girls softball players are on their way. Three Columbia County Recreation Department all-star teams (boys 13-and-under, boys 14-and-under, and girls 12-and-under) will represent the state at the Dixie Boys Baseball World Series, Junior Dixie Boys Baseball World Series and the Dixie Ponytails World Series. Both boys tournaments start on Aug. 5 in Grand Prairie, Texas, while the girls begin July 29 in Alexandria, La.

Star wrestler

Wrestler Louie Shearer, a rising sophomore at Greenbrier, has achieved All-American status and was named a member of the U.S. National Team after competing in Virginia Beach, Va., on June 25-28.

The 10th annual National High School Coaches Association's National Open Wrestling Championships saw two Columbia County wrestlers (Shearer and Lakeside's Joe Bredja) compete as members of Team Georgia.