Wednesday, April 28, 2010

EGR Baseball Team Fundraiser

East Grand Rapids Baseball Fundraiser  
A great cause
and some great food
Your browser may not support display of this image.
All friends, family and supporters of the East Grand Rapids Baseball Team
are invited to participate in their fundraising event on
Sunday, May 2, 2010 
Everyone is invited to gather at Buffalo Wild Wings in Grand Rapids (2035 28th St.) for lunch, dinner, or a snack. On this day 20% of purchases* accompanied by the certificate below will be donated to the 
East Grand Rapids Baseball Team.


Present this certificate to your server at the time of your order and 20% of purchases* will go to support the
East Grand Rapids Baseball Team
Only valid at 2035 28th St., Grand Rapids, MI (616) 241-2999


Buffalo Wild Wings is a Southern Little League sponsor and will do fundraisers like this for other schools as well.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Change to Juniors Baseball Schedule: Vaughn, Danhof, Boeve & Buffinga

At the request of the coaches, we have switched two games around on Mon-3-May and Tue-4-May. These games are shaded orange on the online schedule.
  • Vaughn vs Danhof will now play at 6:30pm on Mon-3-May.
  • Boeve vs Buffinga will now play at 7:30pm on Tue-4-May.
As a rule, whenever we make a change or correction to a schedule, we always announce it to all our email subscribers. That means some of you might receive schedule change announcements for leagues not of interest to you. But hopefully you can understand the importance of notifying players, families, umpires and volunteers about schedule changes.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Change to Majors Baseball Schedule: Markham & Vandenberge

At the request of the coaches involved, we have made a change to the majors baseball schedule on June 2 and June 4. The changes are shaded orange on the online schedule.
  • Markham will now play against Antonini on June 2.
  • Vandenberge will now play against Antonini on June 4.
As a rule, whenever we make a change or correction to a schedule, we always announce it to all our email subscribers. That means some of you might receive schedule change announcements for leagues not of interest to you. But hopefully you can understand the importance of notifying players, families, umpires and volunteers about schedule changes.

Changes to Juniors Baseball Schedule

Due to double-booking conflicts on the Henwood Field, we have had to re-schedule the first couple of weeks of Juniors baseball. We also made a switch on May 26 & 27. So rather than list all the individual changes, we recommend you revisit the online schedule and consider reprinting it. All the changes are shaded orange.
As a rule, whenever we make a change or correction to a schedule, we always announce it to all our email subscribers. That means some of you might receive schedule change announcements for leagues not of interest to you. But hopefully you can understand the importance of notifying players, families, umpires and volunteers about schedule changes.

Correction to Minors Softball Schedule Sat-1-May

We have discovered an error in the minors softball schedule. We had inadvertently listed the game on Sat-1-May with a 6:30pm start time. The schedule has now been corrected to show a 10:30am start time. The game is now shaded orange on the online schedule.
As a rule, whenever we make a change or correction to a schedule, we always announce it to all our email subscribers. That means some of you might receive schedule change announcements for leagues not of interest to you. But hopefully you can understand the importance of notifying players, families, umpires and volunteers about schedule changes.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Metal Tech (Henkey) 5, Exclusive Garbage & Recycling (Olsson) 3

by Southern's Field Reporter

One hit. It was one big hit that decided the winner on Friday evening and sent the 2010 Southern Little League Majors season into full swing.

That hit was a shot to right-center in the fourth inning by Bryce Henkey that knocked in two runs. Henkey then scored on an error to put his team up 5-3.

Coach Olsson’s team had led since the first inning. Brennan Burke, Mike Clifford, and Jonathon Olsson had consecutive hits, and the team went through seven batters while knocking in three runs. Coach Henkey’s club managed to bring two runners across the plate in the bottom of the first.

Olsson’s team held the lead thanks to Jonathon Olsson’s pitching. He threw four innings of two-run ball before giving up three hits and three runs in the fourth frame.

After giving up the three runs in the first, the home team’s starter, Mark Primus, settled down and pitched shutout ball before giving the ball to Will Kortz in the sixth. Kortz saved the game for Metal Tech by retiring Ben Loos on a grounder to third with runners on first and second.
If you'd like to submit a game report for publication, write it up and send it to the webmaster.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

All Games are ON as Scheduled Today

We're told the rain is almost past GR now, so we're still planning a full day of games at Southern.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Baseball Majors Schedule Change: Henkey, Campbell/Norton, Vandenberge & Combs

At the request of the coaches involved, we have made a change to the schedule for the baseball Major League on Thu-13-May and Fri-14-May. The changes are now shaded orange on the schedule.
  • Campbell/Norton vs Henkey will now play on Fri-14-May.
  • Vandenberge vs Combs will now play on Thu-13-May.
As a rule, whenever we make a change or correction to a schedule, we always announce it to all our email subscribers. That means some of you might receive schedule change announcements for leagues not of interest to you. But hopefully you can understand the importance of notifying players, families, umpires and volunteers about schedule changes.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Juniors and Seniors Baseball Schedules Now Available

We have posted the schedules for baseball junior and senior leagues. Look for the "Schedules" link on the right sidebar. (Seniors rosters have not yet been announced.)

Softball and Minors Baseball Schedule Changes

Because of a conflict on the city-owned JC East and JC West fields, we are forced to push back the start times of the following games. The dates and fields are the same. The changes are now shaded orange on all schedules affected.
  • Baseball Minors
    • Mon-26-Apr: Adams, Schneider, Abdalla, and Murray now play at 6:00pm.
    • Mon-3-May: Billo, McCulloch, Berglund, and Doezema now play at 6:00pm.
    • Mon-10-May: Ferrick, Hoppman, O'Connor, and Tietema now play at 5:30pm.
    • Mon-17-May: Boender, Billo, Bell, and Berglund now play at 5:30pm.
  • Softball Minors
    • Mon-3-May: Prince vs Northview #2 is now at 7:30pm.
    • Mon-10-May: Northern vs Kellogsville is now at 7:30pm.
  • Softball Majors
    • Mon-26-Apr: VanHoven, Northern, Southern #2, and Northview #3 now play at 7:30pm.
    • Mon-3-May: VanHoven vs Northview #1 is now at 7:30pm.
    • Mon-10-May: Southern #2 vs Northview #1 is now at 7:00pm.
    • Mon-17-May: VanHoven, Northview #2, Southern #2, and Northern now play at 7:00pm.
As a rule, whenever we make a change or correction to a schedule, we always announce it to all our email subscribers. That means some of you might receive schedule change announcements for leagues not of interest to you. But hopefully you can understand the importance of notifying players, families, umpires and volunteers about schedule changes.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

78ers Schedule Change: Passinault & Hollern

At the request of the coaches involved, we have made a change to the schedule for the 78ers League on Sat-24-Apr. The changes are now shaded orange on the schedule.
  • Hollern's team will now play at 2:30pm on the JC West field. Passinault's team will now play at 9:00am on the West field.
As a rule, whenever we make a change or correction to a schedule, we always announce it to all our email subscribers. That means some of you might receive schedule change announcements for leagues not of interest to you. But hopefully you can understand the importance of notifying players, families, umpires and volunteers about schedule changes.

Reminder to Coaches

Coaches in the baseball minors, majors, juniors and seniors:

Please remember to phone in your scores after every game. Just call 827-7882 after every game. You can read more details here. If you neglect to phone in your score, then the standings are not current and I end up having to nag you. That's a big inconvenience for me. So this year, as an incentive to you, I'll be keeping track of how many times I have to nag each coach. That way I can commend those coaches who call in the most and embarrass those coaches who neglect to call in the most.

-Paul

Monday, April 19, 2010

Corrections to Majors Softball Schedule

Thanks to an alert parent for bringing to our attention an error in the majors softball schedule. We had inadvertently listed two weekday games as having daytime start times. They have both now been corrected to be the usual 6:30pm start time. The only exceptions to this are Saturday games as indicated on the schedule.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Rule Changes for 2010 and More

You can view the 2010 rule changes on the Little League website here. We have also added this link to the Coaches page for your convenience.

Also, coaches, please take a moment to review your upcoming field and batting cage reservations. We'd like to remind you that you are asked to limit your field reservations to one slot per week. This does not mean one slot per field per week. It means one practice field slot plus one batting cage slot per week in total. We're still seeing a number of coaches who are well beyond this limit. Some of you have reserved batting cage time before every game. That's clever, but if it ends up being more than once a week, you're not in compliance. Please help us out by reviewing your reservations now to make sure you comply. If you see other coaches in violation, have a polite word with them or contact the webmaster.

One more thing, coaches. Have a look on your league's schedules page. If you don't see your team's sponsor name or team name beside the coach's name, please email the webmaster with that information so we can update the schedules and standings to include it.

Thanks!

Thanks to all those who volunteered to clean up at Southern on Saturday. We're all set for opening day this Friday with two major league and two minor league baseball games that evening.

Financial Help for Southern Field Improvements

Southern Little League has committed to additions of the West Field dugouts and a large fencing replacement and improvement project. Included in this project are the additions of the dugouts on the West field, Backstop overhangs on both the East and West fields, and the replacement of fencing on the Senior Field (Henwood Field) down the lines and the outfield which is over 40 years old. WE NEED YOUR HELP WITH CHARITABLE DONATIONS TO SOUTHERN LITTLE LEAGUE!! As with any large project the costs keep going up and we could really use your financial support for your Little League. What do you get in return? A charitable contribution write off on your taxes and most importantly the satisfaction of knowing that you have contributed to one of the longest operating Little Leagues in America. 57 years Southern has been serving the youth of Southeast Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids. WITH YOUR HELP WE CAN MAKE IT ANOTHER 57 YEARS. Please drop of your checks this weekend to Myself, Rob Henkey, Will Jager or Bernie Malewitz. Please make your check payable to Southern Little League and we will send you the appropriate receipts. $100, $200, $500 or $1000. Everything helps. I challenge you all with a $500.00 donation that I will hand to Bernie and Rob Saturday.

Hope to see you all Friday or Saturday,
Sincerely,
Bob Hams
Southern Little League

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Team Names

Coaches, once you have your equipment and are assigned a team name or sponsor, please email the webmaster so we can place your team/sponsor name on the schedule and standings. Please include your league, coach name and team/sponsor name in the email.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Saturday is Clean-Up Day

Please plan to come out to Southern Little League on Saturday, April 17th. We'll be working to clean up our facilities and prep the fields to get Southern ready to kick off the season. We need volunteers of all ages! The day will begin at 9:00am, and we expect to be done by noon. All help is greatly appreciated. Bring an extra rake if you have one. Also, please note that if we need to cancel due to the weather, we will post it on the website. So come out and pitch in!

Softball Majors and Minors Schedules Now Available

We have posted the schedules for softball minor and major leagues. Look for the "Schedules" link on the right sidebar.

The juniors schedule is coming soon. We'll post it as soon as we receive it.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Thanks, Coaches!

Thanks, Coaches, for a great turnout at the coaches meeting on Wednesday night. 48 out of 53 teams were represented!

78ers (Coach-Pitch) Equipment Pick-up

78ers Coaches,
Please pick up your team equipment at the equipment shed at Southern on Thu-15-Apr at 7pm. You'll get all your team equipment plus shirts and hats for the players.

Calling All Umpires!

All Umpires:
Don’t forget to sign up to receive emails as an “insider.” Future umpire announcements will not be broadcast to everyone, just to that "insiders" email list. Click here to sign up for that.

First-Year Umpires:
All first-year umpires are required to attend a full training session before working their first game. If you did not attend the information session at EGR HS, please show up 30 minutes before the scheduled start of training for registration information.
Beginning umpire training clinics at Southern:
  • Sunday April 18 3:30-6:00pm
  • Sunday April 25 1:00-3:30pm
Returning Umpires:
All returning umpires who plan to umpire this year must send an email to: umpires@southernll.org stating you wish to umpire this season. Please include:
  • your name
  • your cell or home phone number
  • number of years as an umpire
  • highest level umpired at Southern
  • your current grade in school
  • your current baseball level (school and little league)
Umpires wishing to move up from Minors to Majors:
You must attend an intermediate training session.
Intermediate training clinics at Southern:
  • Saturday April 17 4:30–6:00pm
  • Sunday April 18 1-2:30pm
Questions? Contact our umpire coordinator.

New Email List for Southern "Insiders"

In an effort to keep the unnecessary emails to a minimum, we have created a separate mailing list for Southern Little League "Insiders."

Who are "Insiders"?
Coaches, assistant coaches, each team's "team parent," umpires, league directors, board members and any other folks who want to get emails intended for this narrower audience. (Just to clarify, the term "Team Parent" here does not mean every parent of every player. The "Team Parent" is the one parent on each team who has volunteered to help the coach organize the team's picture day, raffle sales, snack schedule, etc.)

If you're a Southern "Insider," please read the details and sign up here. It's the best way for you to get the announcements you need.

Everyone else, you can sit back and be assured that you'll still be getting all the announcements that might matter to you, but not those intended for the narrower "insider" audience.

Questions? Contact the webmaster.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Softball Rosters

Here are the rosters for all levels of the 2010 softball teams. If you have not heard from your coach yet, feel free to contact him/her. You can see the schedules once they are available by clicking the schedules link on the right sidebar. To view this document on its own or to print or download it, click here.

Coaches and Team Parent Meeting Wed-14-Apr

The Southern Little League Coaches and Team Parents meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday, April 14, from 7:00 to 8:00pm at the East Grand Rapids Middle School cafeteria. This is a mandatory meeting for at least one coach from every team and a Team Parent from every team. (Just to clarify, the term "Team Parent" here does not mean every parent of every player. The "Team Parent" is the one parent on each team who has volunteered to help the coach organize the team's picture day, raffle sales, snack schedule, etc.) Topics will include picture day, raffle, sponsors, concession stand volunteers and general operating information for the 2010 season. Please bring along your schedules to the meeting. We appreciate your attendance as this is the most important meeting of the year for organizational purposes.

Regards,
Southern Little League Board

Friday, April 9, 2010

Coaches: New Practice Field Reservation Slots Now Available

Coaches, we have managed to claim another two hours of practice field time at the Lakeside and Breton Downs fields. We have all four of those fields now on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7-8pm. The online reservations system now shows these new slots. We have also extended the schedule for these fields through the first week of June. Please be considerate and reserve only one slot per week. And remember, too, to wait the five minutes after making your reservation before making another one.

We also have a new letter of permission from the city of East Grand Rapids that lists the times when those fields are available for Southern's exclusive use. You can find that on the same page where you make field reservations. We recommend you print that letter and keep it with you in case there's another group at one of those fields during your scheduled practice time.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Softball Rosters Coming Soon

We expect to post the softball rosters some time the week of April 12. Meanwhile, the webmaster and the softball coordinator are on Spring Break, so we ask for your patience. We'll post those rosters as soon as we can. Thanks.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Seniors Baseball Rosters

Here are the rosters for the 2010 Seniors baseball teams. If you have not heard from your coach yet, feel free to contact him. You can see the schedules by clicking the schedules link on the right sidebar. To view this document on its own or to print or download it, click here.

Juniors Baseball Rosters

Here are the rosters for the 2010 Juniors baseball teams. If you have not heard from your coach yet, feel free to contact him. You can see the schedules by clicking the schedules link on the right sidebar. To view this document on its own or to print or download it, click here.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

78ers (Coach-Pitch) Baseball Rosters

Here are the rosters for the 2010 78ers (coach-pitch) baseball teams. If you have not heard from your coach yet, feel free to contact him. You can see the schedules by clicking the schedules link on the right sidebar. To view this document on its own or to print or download it, click here.

Coaches: Practice Field Reservations Now Available

Coaches only: You can now go to the coaches page on the right sidebar and reserve practice fields at Breton Downs and Lakeside elementary schools as well as Southern's east and west fields. We also have reservations available for the two batting cages at Southern. As always, please read the instructions carefully. The password is the same as last year. If you don't know it, email webmaster@southernll.org.

Majors Baseball Rosters

Here are the rosters for the 2010 Majors baseball teams. If you have not heard from your coach yet, feel free to contact him. You can see the schedules by clicking the schedules link on the right sidebar. To view this document on its own or to print or download it, click here.

Minors Baseball Rosters

Here are the rosters for the 2010 Minors baseball teams. If you have not heard from your coach yet, feel free to contact him. You can see the schedules by clicking the schedules link on the right sidebar. To view this document on its own or to print or download it, click here.