To say there was a little symbolism in Sunday’s final home game for the Selma Cloverleafs might be an understatement.

The Leafs won 7-2, thanks to a huge second inning when Jose Colon tripled and scored two. Joe Whitmer homered later in the inning to plate two more. In all, the Leafs put up five in the first.

Baton Rouge, who won two-of-three from the Cloverleafs, scored two in the fourth and tried to rally late in the game.

In the top of the seventh, the River Bats loaded the bases, but no one crossed home plate.

In a way, that’s about how the Cloverleaf’s season went. They started strong &045;&045; more than 1,000 attended the season’s first home game.

Throughout the rest of the year, the Leafs struggled, both on the field and in the ticket box. For more than a month, rarely did the crowd swell past the 100 mark.

That’s when Noopie Cosby, the team’s principal owner, took over. He designed corporate night. He gave away prizes. He went out and found a new ownership group.

And then there was Sunday &045;&045; a day when one lucky fan could have won $1,000.

Based on a season-ending promotion, the Cloverleafs announced that anyone who attended the Friday or Saturday home games against Baton Rouge would be eligible to win a grand. On Friday night &045;&045; thanks in part to Peoples Bank Night &045;&045; more than 500 walked through the gate. On Saturday, that number slipped below 300. And on Sunday, when the $1,000 was on the line, less than 200 appeared.

Nobody won the $1,000. In order to win, the lucky fan had to be in attendance at Sunday’s game, and there was only one drawing.

There again, the parallels are uncanny. This was a thousand-dollar season. Next year, Cosby promises a two thousand-dollar season. And in the years after that, he promises bigger and better, both for Selma and for the league.

With Selma leading 7-2 headed into the top of the ninth, the Cloverleaf defense took the field for the last time. And as the symbolism continues, the knowledgeable fans who did watch Sunday’s game gave the home team a standing ovation.

Afterwards, young children walked onto the field and asked players for their autographs.

The scene at Bloch Park summed it up better than any script might. Selma is interested in pro baseball, though that interest started small and remained fairly small throughout the season. The players, as any person in Selma knows, felt appreciated. And in the end, the home team won.