At long last the high school baseball season is upon us. And with Cedar Rapids Kennedy rated No. 1, it gives the Metro area some statewide pub to start the campaign.

I am sure the competition in the Metro will sharpen the Cougars for another run toward the state tournament. With that in mind, I have noted that Major League Baseball and the NCAA have been holding some closed-door meetings regarding greater cooperation between the two groups.

So I will again petition the National High School Federation to monitor those talks and remind Major League Baseball that there could be a great deal more cooperation and help between the two groups than what is now the case.

There are many areas where Major League Baseball and the high school groups could get together to improve the great experience for players in the game. After all, as it comes to Major League draft time, we can again remind the big league clubs that certainly 80 percent of their signing talent will come from the high school level.

Since Major League Baseball has started to depend on international players, it certainly should be time for them to take a look at what's home grown with clinics, grants-in-aid, player development and seminars to improve coaching and techniques. The areas of cooperation could be boundless.

So with Iowa and the high school season under way, why not let the Iowa High School Athletic Association start the dialog with Major League Baseball. I am sure they would be willing to listen.

NOTE: A tip of the fedora to the Iowa golf team on making the NCAA tournament by a shot in a great comeback performance from what could have been an 11th-place finish to become an NCAA qualifier again.

Coach Mark Hankins has recruited well, so well in fact that two players that carried the Hawks to their qualification are true freshmen. So the future is bright. The team will have new facilities come 2013 and the Hawks have qualified to play in the NCAA tournament at an historic course, the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

What a great experience and building block for an Iowa program that has sky-rocketed.

(Bob Brooks is sports director at KMRY and has been one of the leading voices of college and prep sports in Eastern Iowa for more than 65 years. He is a 10-time winner of the Iowa Sportscaster of the Year Award, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana in 2004. His sports reports can be heard weekday afternoons at 4:30 and 5:30, and Saturdays at 6:40 for the Hawkeye football wrap-up.)