Storms last month put down about 3 inches of rain in just a few hours, heavily damaging homes and businesses throughout Western Pennsylvania.

Those rain clouds also quashed the hopes of a group of youngsters in North Huntingdon, who had their youth baseball and softball complex nearly destroyed by a wall of water.

But, thanks to youth baseball groups in other areas, including Peters, the North Huntingdon kids will be able to play on this summer.

"We are just trying to get through this the best way we can," said Mike Ratesic, president of the Police Athletic League of North Huntingdon -- known as PAL Norwin -- of the June 17 flooding, which caused about $100,000 in damage to the group's 8-acre complex near Brush Creek.

"We were under about 7 feet of water that came over the whole complex and wiped out everything, six fields, uniforms, equipment, fencing and a concession stand with expensive cooking equipment," he said.

PAL Norwin is normally a recreational league for local kids, but once a year the organization sponsors a tournament for all-star players from other areas who are age 7 to 14.

It is during those tournaments that the group, and dozens of other similar youth baseball organizations, recoups much of its annual expenses for field work and uniforms.

Baseball groups charge about $200 to $500 per team for entry into a tournament, then there's revenue from concessions, raffles and other fundraisers.

This year, PAL Norwin had scheduled its tournaments for the end of June and the first three weeks of July. But, because of the storm damage, only a group of older children will be able to play.

Mr. Ratesic said through donations and volunteer labor, his group is able to repair two of the fields for some tournament play next week.

In the meantime, though, the younger youths would have no- place to play.

That was the case, until the Peters Township Baseball Association stepped forward and offered to let the North Huntingdon youngsters play in their tournament at no cost.

And, to help raise money, the Peters group also agreed to split revenue from raffles with the other group, along with other fund-raising efforts.

That will be huge for PAL Norwin, which will lose about $30,000 in revenue by not hosting a tournament this summer.

"We just felt bad," said Mike Gamble, an assistant coach for the Peters team of 9-year-olds. "We had a lot of teams interested in playing in our tournament."

The Peters tournament is considered one of the more desirable due to the facilities and level of competition. The fee to play in the tournament would have been $300 per team.

The teams are split by one-year age increments, and very populous areas, such as Peters, have A teams and B teams.

Although there are trophies for the teams that perform best, the scores mean nothing because the tournaments are summer recreational play.

Last year, the Peters and Norwin teams played against each other, but this year they couldn't because both areas were hosting tournaments the same week.

Teams that had been on a waiting list to play in the Peters tournament were disappointed, Mr. Gamble said, but he said the children understood why it was important to step up and help the PAL Norwin teams.

Eight teams will play in the Peters tournament.

His son, Justin, a student at McMurray Elementary School, will play in the tournament, along with Mr. Ratesic's son, Josh, who attends Stewartsville Elementary School. The tournament is scheduled for July 17-23.

Mr. Ratesic said other organizations, including those from Plum, Penn Trafford, Franklin Regional and West Point, also had agreed to waive or reduce tournament entry fees to help his group.

Mr. Ratesic said about 1,000 youngsters play in the PAL Norwin organization, and said he hoped the facility -- built in 1958 -- would be open by the fall.

"It's going to be a process," he said, adding that donations would be much appreciated.

The group needs cash, equipment and labor.

Mr. Gamble said he just hoped that the youths learn a life lesson that all recreational leagues strive to teach: It's not who wins, but how you play the game.

"Maybe they'll get something out of this besides the final score," he said.

To donate to PAL, go to www.palnorwin.org.