FAIRHOPE, Alabama — They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. But those local fans of youth baseball missing the chance to see the Alabama AAA All-Stars from Fairhope play in the Dixie Youth World Series — some 525 miles away in Bartow, Fla.,— this week were able to follow the game live on the internet and share their fan-ship together at McSharry’s Irish Pub and restaurant.

The popular downtown establishment’s owner Ronan McSharry opened his doors more than a wee-bit early for fans of all ages with the www.jockjive.com live broadcasts of the games synced to his big screen monitors including Monday when the pub is usually closed.

“Just delighted to do it. Seemed like a good and neighborly thing and a fun thing to do,” McSharry said. “Candace (Antinarella) asked last week if we could do this and I said, of course, of course. And it’s been delightful. And it’s just so far for most people to go, you know. So I was happy to have the place where we could all get together and have some good food and cheer on the lads from Fairhope.”

The Dixie Youth AAA Alabama State champion Fairhope American All-Stars —Team Alabama — got off to a rocky start Saturday in their first game at the series tournament and took an 11-8 loss to the Florida All-Stars. But “Team Alabama” came back strong Sunday afternoon to defeat Texas 8-4 and stay in the running.

“To get there was a great accomplishment. We’re all so proud of each and everyone of the kids,” said Fairhope Youth Baseball board treasurer and lover of all-things Irish, Jep Pollard. “Kids, coaches and parents have all done great. Things didn't go in their favor (in the opener) but true to form they showed what they are capable of doing in the next one. It’s a group of kids that have gelled into a really good team from the beginning and relied on good pitching, good hitting, good base running and really good defense. They’re tough. They’re 9-or-10-years old, but they’re baseball tough. Still they have never been this far and I think they just got a little nervous. It’s exciting, but at the same time they must have felt some pressure, especially with that delay. They were ready to go, and then had about an hour (due to lengthy earlier games) before they got on the field. But I think they settled down and fought back. And they almost came back in that first game. They just ran out of outs.

“And it’s great for McSharry’s to put this on and let us all root for Fairhope together and — well it’s Alabama now. So as long as we’re still in it, we’ll be here supporting them and the jockjive announcers are doing a great job. Fairhope is getting mentioned a lot. Even though it's team Alabama they keep pushing, they talk about this area and the Eastern Shore. And when they read the shout outs (viewers can text ‘shout outs’ to the jockjive.com announcer during the game) from folks and it’s just a bunch of fun. Way more fun than watching it on your lap top at home. But we hope they’re back on track and just keep playing like we know they can.”

One of the viewers Sunday was Fairhoper John Dempsey, who in addition to being McSharry’s brother-in-law, is also a Dixie Youth World Series Team Alabama alumnus from earlier days of Dixie Youth that played out of the Dothan area.

“Well this Alabama team is already doing better than we did,” he said. “I think that World Series was played in Meridian, Mississippi around 1979 or 80. But we went two and out. Lost both the first game and the second game. But we kind of had an excuse for Texas. That year Roger Clemens (11-time Major League All-Star, 354 wins) pitched for them. We lost the first game to them and then to Mississippi. So it feels good for an Alabama team, especially from Fairhope, to beat Texas. We finally got some revenge.”

In the opener Saturday, Alabama took an early 2-0 lead but quickly fell behind 9-2 before mounting a comeback to score six unanswered runs. But with the tying run at the plate in the final inning, a great catch in the Florida outfield put the Fairhope boys into the single-game elimination bracket.

On Sunday, with their backs against the wall, they bounced back much as they did in the state tournament building an early 4-1 lead. They then held off a three-run burst by Texas in the middle innings before extending their lead for the final 8-4 win.

Players and coaches for Team Alabama from Fairhope are: Players Jon Barnard, Jared Champion, Will Edmiston, Greyson Hooks, Seth Kruse, Sam Malone, Ethan McLaughlin, Micah Morgan, Grant Murray, Parker Owens, Bronson Sloan and Will Stephens along with coaches Kelly Champion, Andy Malone and Jeremy Morgan.

McSharry plans to to keep the www.jockjive.com broadcast link on as long as Team Alabama stays alive in the brackets. Visit the www.jockjive.com website for game times (for the 2012 AAA World Series in Florida) which vary daily the rest of the week.

McSharry’s is also known for opening it’s doors once a month to all who enjoy the time-honored sport of Theology. On the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m., the Theology thirsty can belly up to hear different speakers talk about God and religion in a non-denominational setting.

McSharry, who immigrated from Sligo, Ireland about 16 years ago and met his wife Barbara about six years ago in Fairhope, calls these special evenings, Pub Theology. “It’s just something we started doing a while back now and it’s really quite popular. We've had some great speakers, but you don’t just sit there and listen to someone talk the whole time. After a while you can ask questions and eventually people get into their own discussions and it’s very interesting. The Archbishop (Thomas Rodi) was here last time, but it’s not just a Catholic thing. We’ve had many different ministers from many of the local churches come. We’ve won a lot awards for our food and the atmosphere as a bar or pub and that’s great, but I’d love to see more people coming to the Pub Theology nights.”

The next Pub Theology night is set for Sept. 7, with the Rev. Matthew O'Conner—who happened to attend the same high school in Ireland as McSharry—beginning at 6:30 p.m. O'Conner is pastor of Christ The King Catholic in Daphne. For more information visit: www.mcsharrys.com