Several years ago, every spring for a few years, the phone would ring.

“Joe, it’s Lou. I’m back. I’m ready to go.”

The caller was Louis Morelli. He was returning from a warmer climate and was back in Brewer ready to do something he loved – coach Little League baseball.

It didn’t matter what level – Farm, Minor or Little League – Lou was calling to say he was prepared once again to contribute his valuable time and knowledge to Brewer’s aspiring ballplayers.

When I picked up the paper a couple of weeks ago and learned of Lou’s death, there were several things that didn’t surprise me:

. Lou coached Little League baseball for nearly 50 years. He guided hundreds of children, their children and then grandchildren.

. To honor and acknowledge his dedication to coaching and children, the city renamed Pendleton Street’s athletic complex the Corey-DeBeck-Morelli Field.

. Lou assisted many with charitable causes.

What did surprise me was his age: 84. While watching Lou interact and guide ballplayers, he truly appeared forever young. He seemed to have more energy than his younger coaching peers, while always dispensing his baseball knowledge with a smile on his face along with positive comments.

In the ever-changing landscape of youth sports that features more overbearing parents with unreasonable expectations for their children, Brewer was very fortunate to have Lou Morelli guiding its young ballplayers. He maintained the proper perspective of teaching the kids the game.

It’s tough when a community like Brewer loses a person like Lou Morelli. His contributions and energy are sorely missed and difficult to replace. However, we can take solace in knowing that he has passed along valuable lessons – lessons that will make it easier for others to step up to the plate.

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It’s always incredible to watch a runner like Dereck Treadwell compete. Such was the case in the 22nd Turkey Trot in Brewer on Nov. 21 when Treadwell cruised to a first-place finish over the 5-kilometer course in 15 minutes, 15 seconds – just four seconds off the course record.

Treadwell, a Milford native, is a talented runner, but has also worked hard and trained diligently to get to the top of his sport. The 28-year-old former All-American runner from the University of Maine is now working hard again as he seeks one of the three spots on the U.S. Olympic Team in the 1,500-meter.

He spends much of the training time with the Nike Farm Team at Stanford University in California, and said the next several months will be pivotal for his date at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento in July.

“It will be some hard training indoors February through April. April will be the start of the outdoor season. May is when we start to run fast. That’s when we see what’s going on,” he said.

“Then it’s just trying to stay healthy in May through July,” he added. “That’s something I have trouble with sometimes.”

Treadwell made the final 15 at the 1996 Trials, but didn’t finish in the top three. In 2000, he suffered a foot injury, sparking his decision to try again a final time in 2004.

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Heather Jovanelli, who won the women’s race at the Turkey Trot, is enjoying her junior year at the University of Maine as a runner and as a student.

Jovanelli, a former Brewer High School running standout, is an art major and said she is enjoying “making some more breakthroughs in the world of art.”

Art and running, Jovanelli said, “really bounce off each other well: running and art and art and running.”

How?

“I’ll be doing a painting, and it might be kind of frustrating – not working the way you want it to work,” she explained. “You go for a run, think about it for a while and go back to the painting and fix it. It clears the mind.”

Sports editor Joe McLaughlin can be reached at 990-8229 or jmclaughlin@bangordailynews.net.