Team Tournament Games Tonight at Southern

Coach Olsson's team plays tonight for the District 9 Team Tournament crown in Majors Class E. Meanwhile, Coach Ward's team plays a semifinal game tonight in Class I. Both games take place at 6:00pm at Southern, so come on out, enjoy the nice weather, and cheer on your Southern Little League teams!

If you have a big tournament game coming up and you'd like us to make an announcement like this one, just email the webmaster.

East GR Baseball Clinic

• Taught by East GR Varsity Baseball Coach Chris LaMange and East GR Varsity Players 
• Players entering grades 3-7  July 12 - 16 9:00 am - 11:00 am
• Players entering grades 7-9  July 19 - 23 9:00 am - 11:00 am
• Contact East GR Recreation Dept. at 949-1750 to sign up

Equipment Return Clarification

Parents, please note that all player equipment should be returned to your child's coach and not to Southern directly. Once the coach has all the players' equipment, then the coach will turn it all in on one of the announced equipment return dates.

Big League Schedules Now Available

You can view, download or print the 2010 schedules for Big League baseball from our Schedules page.

USA Baseball National Team Identification Series

Please take a look at their flyer here.

All Games for Fri-18-Jun are Canceled

The weather started getting rough....

Majors Baseball Team Tournament Assignments

Southern's baseball majors teams have been assigned to the following brackets in the District 9 team tournaments:

Class A: Sullivan (Southern 1)
Class A: Henkey (Southern 2)
Class B: Markham
Class C: Campbell/Norton
Class D: Vandenberg
Class E: Olsson
Class F: Vulpetti
Class G: Combs
Class H: O’Connor
Class I: Ward (Southern 1)
Class I: Southwell (Southern 2)
Class J: Antonini

You can track Southern's teams in the district brackets on the District 9 website here. We encourage you to come out for Southern's home tournament games. Remember, we do not notify our subscribers of schedule changes or weather cancellations for tournament games.

Good luck to all of Southern's teams!

Tournament Season: Maps and Directions Now Available

With team and all-star tournaments getting underway, we have posted some useful maps and directions to the away fields. Look for the link on the right side bar: Directions to Away Fields.

Final Pairings for Juniors Baseball

The juniors baseball schedule now shows the pairings for the final two sets of games. The pairings were based on the standings as of Mon-14-Jun. The tie for second place was broken by the most average runs scored. Click here to see the updated schedule.

Congratulations Majors East All-Stars

Manager: Rob Henkey
Coach: Chris Norton
Brendan Boman
Sean Campbell
Mike Clifford
Bryce Henkey
Will Kortz
Jack Liszewski
Sam McCulloch
Jacob O'Donovan
Jon Olsson
Brendan Oosse
Jim Vandyke
Jonathan Winkle

Congratulations Majors West All-Stars

Manager: Mark Warners
Coach: Scott Markham
Tommy Alkema
Brennan Burke
Alex Jennings
Zach Markham
Justin Miller
Jack Norton
Quinton O'Connor
Tristan Ogdahl
Mark Primus
Harrison Rohen
Jack VanGessell
Emmitt Warners

Congratulations 11-Year-Old All-Stars

Manager: Matt Sullivan
Coach: Dave Southwell
Will Berglund
Ben Burrows
Caleb Correll
Jack Foy
Josh Rabideau
Jackson Reid
Teddy Russo
Easton Schultz
Johnny Southwell
EJ Sullivan
Ethan Tellier
Andrew Vernum

Congratulations 9/10 East All-Stars

Manager: Dan Tietema
Coach: Jeff Hoppman
Colin Beggs
Henry Breems
Jacob Elzinga
Connor Goulet
Noah Groen
Matt Henkey
Jake Hoppman
Elliot Jung
Kevin Korte
Mike Malewitz
Jack Tietema
Maria VanderLei

Congratulations 9/10 West All-Stars

Manager: Jamie Billo
Coach: Rob Murray
Cooper Bell
Elliot Bergsma
Jack Billo
Canes Coleman
Samuel Ferrick
Ben Forstner
Lance Hoezee
Max Lundeen
James Lykins
James Murray
Ethan Tipping
Max Vicari
Marty Ward

Coaches: Equipment Return Dates

Coaches in 78ers, Minors and Majors:

Please return your team's equipment on one of the following scheduled equipment return dates:

• Tue-22-Jun, 7:00pm
• Thu-24-Jun, 7:00pm
• Tue-13-Jul, 7:00pm

If you have any questions, please contact Steve Bender, our equipment manager:

• 780-8048
• launchllc@gmail.com

Only Once a Year

by Southern's Field Reporter

Another Family Day come and gone. Another day of sun shining down on Grand Rapids (except during the All-Star Game, of course). Another day of bounce castles, slip-and-slides, and steak kabobs. This is what we play baseball for.

78ers White Sox #14 Aidan Callahan

We play so that all the people outside of the fence with their corn and butter dripping down their chins can watch us hit RBI singles and tag out our friends from school and then rub it in after the games.

Even though Southern isn’t the biggest organization and Grand Rapids isn’t the biggest city, even though reporters from all over the country didn’t see Teddy Russo go deep twice against Vandenberge’s Old Orchard team or the AL Minors All-Star team turn a double play, we Little Leaguers still love Family Day, and now we’ll have to wait another year for it to come around again.

Important Team Tournament and All-Star Tournament Dates

Team Tournaments for Baseball and Softball

• Majors: 19-Jun - 1-Jul
• Juniors: 26-Jun - 9-Jul
• Seniors: 5-Jul - 9-Jul

All-Star Tournaments

• 9/10 Baseball and Softball:
• Districts: 12-Jul - 24-Jul
• State: 31-Jul - 7-Aug
• 11 Baseball:
• Districts: 9-Jul - 17-Jul
• State: 22-Jul - 29-Jul
• 11 Softball:
• Districts: 17-Jul - 22-Jul
• State: 31-Jul - 4-Aug
• Majors Baseball:
• Districts: 5-Jul - 18-Jul
• State: 22-Jul - 2-Aug
• Regional: 5-Aug - 14-Aug
• World Series: 17-Aug - 31-Aug
• Majors Softball:
• Districts: 5-Jul 5 - 15-Jul
• State: 17-Jul - 27-Jul
• Regional: 30-Jul - 8-Aug
• Juniors Baseball:
• Districts: 12-Jul - 21-Jul
• Sectional: 24-Jul - 25-Jul
• State: 29-Jul - 5-Aug
• Regional and World Series: TBD
• Juniors Softball:
• Districts: 12-Jul - 24-Jul
• State: 29-Jul - 4-Aug
• Regional and World Series: TBD
• Seniors Baseball:
• Districts: 12-Jul - 20-Jul
• Sectional: 24-Jul - 25-Jul
• State: 27-Jul - 4-Aug
• Regional and World Series: TBD
• Seniors Softball
• Districts: 10-Jul - 15-Jul
• State: 17-Jul - 24-Jul
• Regional and World Series: TBD

Congratulations Raffle Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of our Family Day Raffle:

• $2000 - Brad Uhl
• $1000 - Bob Hams
• $500 - Darcy Hoppman

Congratulations, too, to Scott Markham's team in the Baseball Major League for selling the most raffle tickets. Markham's team will be heading to a White Caps game in July for an on-field experience with the team during the National Anthem.

John Belanger, our raffle coordinator, is eager to hear any feedback, comments or questions you may have about the raffle. Your opinion matters. You can contact John at:

• john.belanger@att.net
• 520-3231

Southern Little League really depends on success of the raffle every year as an important part of our overall fund raising activities. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to make this year's raffle such a success.

4:30pm 78ers Games are Canceled for Tue-8-Jun. ALL OTHER GAMES ARE ON!

Because of field conditions, the 78ers games scheduled for 4:30pm today on the JC fields have been canceled. We're still hopeful that later games can go on as scheduled. Please check the website again before you head to Southern tonight. We'll make another announcement as soon as we can.

As of 4:42pm, we are trying to play all other games tonight. Please proceed to your ballfield for further news.

Change to Juniors Softball Schedule

We have made a change to the juniors softball schedule. The affected games are now shaded orange on the online schedule.

• The game originally scheduled for 6:30pm on Fri-11-Jun has been changed to a double-header. The first game will begin at 6:00pm.

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.

Majors and Minors Softball Crossover Games

We have updated the schedules for major and minor softball to show the recently announced crossover games. The games begin TONIGHT. Please have a look at the online schedules to see the details.

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.

14th Annual Family Day

Today is Family Day. Thirty ball games and lots of other activities will be going on all day long, so bring the whole family.

Volunteers:

• We still need lots of volunteers of all kinds at various times on Saturday.
• Please sign up at the concession stand or contact Amy at volunteer@southernll.org.

Enjoy our expanded menu:

• Mom's marinated steak-on-a-stick
• Pulled pork sandwiches
• Hamburgers, jumbo hot dogs and Johnsonville stadium brats
• Meal deals
• Famous sauteed onions and all your favorite condiments
  
• Corn-on-the-cob

Activities for the kids: free!

• Water Run - a bouncy runway that leads to a shallow pool at the end
• Bounce Land - a place for kids to bounce around
  

Raffle:

• Reminder: Please sell your raffle tickets and turn in the money and stubs before the deadline on Saturday at 6:00pm.
• The big raffle drawing will take place at 7:00pm.
  

All-Star Games:

• Plan on staying for the Minor and Major Baseball All-Star Games at 7:30pm.

Hope for good weather! We'll see everyone out at Southern today!.

All Games are ON as Scheduled Wed-2-Jun

Please check the website again for the very latest update before you leave for your game tonight. Be sure to thank the grounds crew if you see them. They pumped water off the fields for 3 hours today!

Reschedule of Rain-out in Majors Baseball: Combs & Ward

We have rescheduled a rained out game in majors baseball. The new game is shaded orange on the online schedule.

• The Combs vs Ward game that was rained out on Fri-21-May will now be played on Sun-6-Jun at 1:00pm

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.

Raffle Reminder

Please turn in all raffle tickets and money to John Belanger on or before Family Day, Saturday, June 5. John and Brendan will be at Southern all day on the 5th near the concession stand collecting money and selling more tickets. The drawing will take place just before the 7:30pm all-star games. Remember, you need not be present to win.

You can read all the details about the raffle here.

Don't forget the great prizes: $2,000, $1,000, and $500 cash for first, second, and third prizes.

And kids, don't forget the sales incentives lined up for this year:

• a limited edition water bottle for every player who sells 5 or more tickets
• the top ticket selling team will join our own West Michigan White Caps on the field for the National Anthem later in July.

Please call John if you have any questions or concerns, including requests for additional tickets, ideas on how best to succeed in your sales efforts, and information on how to return ticket stubs and money.

Thank you all for your efforts,
John Belanger
520-3231

Family Day Volunteers Needed

Family Day is coming up soon - Saturday, June 5th. We are looking for volunteers to work in the food tent and to staff various kids games that day. Jobs include serving food, taking orders, managing the bounce house, etc. None of these jobs is very difficult, but we need lots of volunteers.

The activities run from 10:00am until 8:00pm. We divide this time into two-hour shifts. If you're willing to take a two-hour shift, please call or email Amy, our Family Day volunteer coordinator and let her know the times you are available:

• familyday@southernll.org
• 813-3512

Thanks for your support. See you at the ballpark on Saturday.