Cape Coral American Little League took a hit and received a “black eye” a few years ago when a past president was accused of stealing money – as much as $25,000 – from the league budget.

It meant the loss of reputation and the loss of players to other area Little League organizations and the emerging Cape Coral Cal Ripken League at Pelican Field.

The league, though, appears to be on solid ground once again.

Jeff Koza, who is in his first year as president, said it’s been a strong year from a competitive standpoint and because of the way the board has worked together.

“It’s gone real smoothly,” he said. “We’ve had a real great year.”

Cape Coral American is one of several area baseball and softball leagues preparing for the All-Star tournament season.

The 9-10 and 11-12-year-old baseball teams are expected to be announced Friday. The Little League division (12-year-old) and softball teams aren’t allowed to be announced until Monday.

As usual, it’s difficult to determine how the teams will fare against the opposition.

“You never know,” Koza said. “You never know how the kids are going to come together and play as a team when they’re not used to playing together.”

Jeff Koza is the son of Joe Koza, one of the founders of the Cape Little League program and a longtime coach.

For years, Cape American flourished and had enough players to divide into two charters. The drop in numbers in recent years has led to the league becoming one charter, but they’re still required to select two different All-Star teams in each division.

The league hopes to have that changed eventually, but for this year they’ll have two teams in the 9-10 and 11-12 divisions.

The regular season offered some thrills. The Major Twins won the regular season, but were upset by the Athletics in the league tournament. The Minor A Orioles and Minor Double-A Dodgers also claimed titles.

Cape Coral National, which operates at Jason Verdow Park, will select All-Star teams in three divisions – 9-10, 10-11 and 11-12.

The Rookie Brewers won the season title for the second year in a row. The Major Cardinals won both the regular season and tournament title, and in the Minor Division the Phillies took first in the regular season, but the Pirates won the league tournament.

Top players from all the teams will make up the All-Star squads. The District 9 All-Star 9-10 and 10-11 tournaments begin June 22 and the Little League division tournament starts June 29.

“It’s going to be nice to see what our teams can do with the best players from our field,” Cape Coral National president Dan Freed said.