Photos from Catholic Central vs East GR

Thanks to Paul Soltysiak for these great photos of the varsity action last Friday night.

Saturday is Picture Day at Southern

Just a reminder that Sat-15-May is picture day.

• Each team is given a specific time slot for pictures, and by now your coach should have contacted you about what time you need to be there.
• There's also an opportunity for players to have individual pictures taken.
• Even if you're not planning on purchasing a team or individual photo, as a courtesy to others on the team, please make sure your child is present for the team picture anyhow.
• Save time by filling out your order form ahead of time if you have one. If not, the photographer will have forms available there.
• Pictures are taken over near the Mackay Jaycee soccer fields, under the pavilion in the woods, near the playground.
• They run a tight ship, so be on time for your team's scheduled slot.

All Games for Thu-13-May are Canceled

All games at Southern for Thu-13-May are canceled. The fields have taken more water than they can handle, and the weather continues to be questionable. No makeup dates will be determined until after Memorial Day weekend.

Catholic Central vs East GR at Southern Friday Night

Come on out and watch some great varsity baseball at Southern on Friday night as Catholic Central takes on East Grand Rapids in a doubleheader. The first game starts at 4:30pm. We'll also have some great majors and minors baseball on the east and west fields as well as some softball on the JC fields. The weather forecast is decent, and we'll be grilling Southern's famous burgers, brats and hot dogs, so come on out and support your Southern teams.

Juniors Softball Schedules Now Available

We have posted the schedules for the softball junior league. Look for the "Schedules" link on the right sidebar.

Changes to Softball Majors Schedule Fri-14-May and Fri-4-Jun

Southern's two majors softball games on Fri-14-May and Fri-4-Jun have been moved to an earlier start time. Those games' start times are shaded orange on the online schedule.

• Southern#1-VanHoven vs Southern#2 will now play at 6:00pm on Fri-14-May.
• Southern#1-VanHoven vs Kellogsville will now play at 6:00pm on Fri-4-Jun.

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 Juniors Schedule: Tolonen & Boeve

Thanks to an alert parent for catching an error on the juniors schedule on Fri-4-Jun. We had inadvertently scheduled two games for 5:30pm that day. The changed game time is shaded orange on the online schedule.

• Tolonen vs Boeve will now be played at 7:30pm on Fri-4-Jun.

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.

Adams A's 8, Berglund Nationals 7

by Southern's Field Reporter

A’s 8, Nationals 7
It might have been the weather, or maybe the early time, or maybe everybody just wanted to be at home instead of out in the cold drizzle. Whatever the reason, Saturday morning’s minors game between the A’s and Nationals at SLL West Field started pretty sloppily.

The A’s were trying to maintain their undefeated start, while the Nats were looking to get their third win of the season. But the showers in the first inning also brought a shower of mishandled balls.

The Nats gave up five runs in the top of the first on walks and passed balls. The A’s also had trouble with the ball in the first. An infield single by the Nationals’ James Lykins turned into a two-run inside-the-park home run, due to a series of errors.

Both teams settled down after that.

Nationals pitcher Maria VanderLei came back in the second and struck out the side on fourteen pitches. But the A’s scored two more runs in the third. Alex Adams hit a triple deep to the left-center field fence that scored one run. Adams later scored to make it 7-4.

The Nats made a run at a comeback in the bottom of the sixth. Down 8-5, with one out, two Nationals batters got on base and came around to score on passed balls. Suddenly, the Nats were looking to tie with two outs.

But, it didn’t work. The A’s closer finished the game with a strikeout. The A’s kept an undefeated record, while bumping the Nats down to 2-3.

If you'd like to submit a game report for publication, write it up and send it to the webmaster.

Changes to Majors Schedule: Henkey, Olsson, Antonini & Campbell/Norton

We have switched two games in the majors on Wed-26-Apr and Thu-27-Apr. The games are shaded orange on the online schedule.

• Campbell/Norton vs Antonini will now play at 6:30pm on Wed-26-May.
• Olsson vs Henkey will now play at 5:00pm on Thu-27-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.

Weather Update

• The 4:30pm 78ers game on the West field (Masek vs Hollern) has been canceled.
• All other games are still ON as scheduled.
• Continue to check the website for up-to-the-minute updates.

Please remember our universal recommendation about weather:
If the weather is questionable, check the website before heading out to Southern.

Umpires: Get Text Message Alerts from Jim Weiss

Hey, umpires!

Whenever Jim needs an umpire on short notice or if he ever has to send out a last-minute announcement to his umpires, wouldn't it be great if you could just get a text message? Well, now you can! It's easy and it's free. (Standard text messaging rates on your phone apply).

Our system uses Twitter. You've heard about it, but you don't quite get it, right? No problem. It's so simple, you won't believe it. Just send this text message to 40404:
     follow slluic
Then follow the instructions in the text message replies you get back from Twitter. Easy!

Already have a Twitter account? Then just log in to Twitter and follow slluic. You know how to do it.

Change to Juniors Schedule: Vaughn & Tolonen

Because of a field scheduling conflict, we have a game on Fri-14-May to be played on Sat-15-May. The game is shaded orange on the online schedule.

• The Vaughn vs Tolonen game that was originally scheduled for 6:30pm on Fri-14-May will now be played at 4:30pm on Sat-15-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.

All Games are ON as Scheduled Sat-8-May

We know it's damp and chilly today, but the fields are in playable condition. So we're going ahead with all 26 scheduled games at Southern today.

Some of you may have inadvertently received an email at around 1:00am about games being canceled. That email was just an accidental repeat of the cancellation of Friday night's games. Sorry for any inconvenience.

We apologize, too, for the short time between reminding you that all Friday's games were on at about 4:00pm, only to then tell you 30 minutes later that they are all canceled. We do our best to keep you informed. The weather and hence field conditions change by the minute. We still recommend that you always check your email and/or the website before heading off to Southern. If you get there and discover that the games have been canceled, you can be assured that we did our utmost to get that word out to our 900 participants as quickly as we could.

Sorry again for any inconvenience.

All Games Canceled

Because of the weather, all remaining games for today have been canceled.

The softball majors game at Northview Quad has also been canceled.

All Games are ON as Scheduled Today

Despite the wet weather, the fields are in playable condition, so all games for this evening are ON as scheduled.

Announcing the 2010 Raffle!

Grand Prize: $2,000 cash

Second Prize: $1,000 cash

Third Prize: $500 cash

• Tickets cost $20 each. They have been distributed to all coaches and/or team parents. It's important that we sell all these tickets to make the raffle a success.
• The drawing takes place on Family Day, Saturday, June 5, prior to the All-Star Game. (You need not be present to win.)
• Individual players who sell five or more tickets will win a Southern Little League sports bottle.
• The team that sells the most tickets will attend a Whitecaps game and be on the field for the National Anthem.
• If you have any questions or need extra tickets, please contact john.belanger@att.net or 520-3231.

All Today's Games on East and West Fields Delayed 30 Minutes

Because of the weather, we've decided to delay all today's games on the East and West fields by thirty minutes. And yes, this does mean that even the 5:00pm games will start at 5:30pm. All games on the JC East and JC West fields, however, are unaffected by the delay and will start as scheduled.

Sign Up Online for 2010 Big League

• DEADLINE IS JUNE 15! Online sign-up will close after the deadline.
• The cost is $110. After the deadline, the cost increases to $125.
  
• You can sign up and pay online by clicking here.

Changes to Minors Baseball Schedule

To avoid any team playing two games on the same date, we have made some changes to the minors baseball schedule on Mon-24-May and Wed-26-May. All games affected by these changes are shaded orange on the online schedule.

• Hoppman vs Doezema will now play at 5:30pm (instead of 5:00pm) on Mon-24-May.
• Bell vs Adams will now play at 7:30pm (instead of 7:00pm) on Mon-24-May.
• Ferrick vs Berglund will now play at 5:00pm (instead of 5:30pm) on Wed-26-May.
• Smith vs McCulloch will now play at 6:30pm (instead of 7:30pm) on Wed-26-May.
• Boender vs Schneider will now play at 8:00pm on Wed-26-May (instead of Mon-24-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.

EGR Baseball Team Fundraiser

East Grand Rapids Baseball Fundraiser  

A great cause

and some great food

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 28^th 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Rosters and Schedules Coming Soon

Thanks for a great turnout on our tryout day on Saturday. The volunteers at Southern Little League are working hard this week to finalize all the team rosters, coaching assignments, and team schedules. We expect to post all the rosters and schedules by Thursday, April 1. If you're signed up to get email updates, you'll get an email as soon as this information is finalized.

Tryout Session and Umpire Meeting Reminder

A reminder that the tryout session is scheduled for Saturday, March 27, at the East Grand Rapids High School gymnasium. Only certain players need to attend, so please take the time to read through the information about tryout day to determine if and when your child needs to be there. Click here to read all the details.

One slight change from our original note: softball players will not be having a tryout session. They can expect to be contacted by coaches once the rosters are finalized.

Also, a change in policy from previous years: If your child is 10 years old and wishes to try out for the Major League (baseball), he or she must be present at tryouts. Otherwise, 10-year-olds will be placed in the Minor League by default. Also, all 10 year olds who are new to Southern this year should plan to come to the tryouts. 

Finally, umpires, don't forget the informational meeting immediately following the tryouts.

Reminder: Southern's Supplemental Training Program

Southern Little League has developed a new supplemental training program for players who wish to have additional baseball training, above the normal practices held by their regular coaches. This training program will be conducted by two of West Michigan’s leading youth baseball coaches; Harry Berrios and Michael Spiegel. The program begins March 23.

Hurry, there are only 15 spots left!

To see all the details, click here to view or download the brochure.

Coaches Clinic March 21

Hey coaches,
District 9 is hosting a coaches clinic on Sunday, March 21, from 1 - 4pm at Rogers High School. We're urging every Southern baseball team to send at least one coach to this clinic. Southern is picking up the cost, so please review their brochure and plan on attending.

Sign-up Reminder

Just a reminder that sign-up for the 2010 Little League season is almost over. And if you haven't signed up yet, there's still time to guarantee your child a spot before the March 15 deadline. If you have already signed up - thank you! And thanks for your patience with our efforts to coax everyone else to register, too.

• The deadline is March 15. After that deadline, the price goes up from $110 to $125 and we can no longer guarantee your child a spot.
• The in-person sign-up sessions are over, so.....
• You'll need to sign up online.
• All the other details you need to know are here.

Announcing Southern's Supplemental Training Program

Southern Little League has developed a new supplemental training program for players who wish to have additional baseball training, above the normal practices held by their regular coaches. This training program will be conducted by two of West Michigan’s leading youth baseball coaches; Harry Berrios and Michael Spiegel. The program begins March 23. Space is limited.

To see all the details, click here to view or download the brochure.

One Last In-Person Sign-up Session

Thanks again to all of you who have already signed up for the 2010 season. For those still procrastinating, we've decided to add one last in-person sign-up session:

• Saturday, March 6, from 10am-noon at Breton Village Mall.
• After Saturday, the only way to sign up will be online.
• The deadline is still March 15.
• All the other details are available here.

Reminder: Sign Up Online for the 2010 Season

Thanks to those of you who have already signed up online for the 2010 Little League season. For those who have yet to sign up, you can sign up online any time on our website. Read all the sign-up details here.

Reminder: In-Person Sign-Ups Begin Wed-Feb-3

Thanks to those of you who have already signed up online for the 2010 Little League season. For those who have yet to sign up, you can sign up online any time or in person starting Wednesday, February 3, at Breton Village Mall. Read all the sign-up details here.

Field Location: Rockford River Valley

View Rockford River Valley in a larger map

Field Location: Rockford High School

View Rockford High School in a larger map

Field Location: Northeastern Huff

View Northeastern Huff in a larger map

Field Location: Forest Hills Northern

View Forest Hills Northern in a larger map

Field Location: East Rockford Middle School

View East Rockford Middle School in a larger map

Field Location: Belding High School

View Belding High School in a larger map

Aquinas Softball Clinic Sat-30-Jan

Aquinas is hosting their annual softball clinic on Saturday, January 30. Click here to download their flyer.

Sign Up for the 2010 Season

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Time to start thinking about Southern Little League baseball and softball.

Here's what you need to know. Please take the time to read this information thoroughly.

• Deadline: You must sign up online or in person no later than March 15.
  
• Cost: $110 per player before the deadline. $125 after the deadline based on availability. This is the same cost as last year. (No player will be denied based on inability to pay. Please see our sign-up staff for details.)
  
• How to sign up: Online (click here) or at one of our in-person sign-up sessions at Breton Village Mall (click here). The cost is the same either way. If you'd like to fill out the player registration form before you come to register in person, you can download the player registration form here. You cannot sign up by mail. 
• Age eligibility and divisions: Signup is for all divisions of baseball and softball. Read more here.
  
• Geographical boundary eligibility: See our official league boundaries here. You must reside within these boundaries or have played in Southern last year to be eligible.
  
• Tryouts: After signing up, players in certain situations MUST attend their player evaluation (aka "tryout") session. Click here for details.
  
• Umpiring: Anyone 13 years old or older who is reliable and passionate about baseball can earn some extra cash umpiring at Southern. Sign-ups for umpiring will be held after tryouts at 2:30 on Saturday, March 27, in the East Grand Rapids High School gym. Training will take place at a later date.
  
• Volunteering: Southern depends on volunteers for a wide variety of roles. Make sure to fill out a volunteer form when you sign-up. Learn more here.
  
• Important dates:
• In-person sign-up sessions: February 3, 6, 10 and 13
  
• Sign-up deadline: Saturday, March 15
• Player evaluation/tryout day: Saturday, March 27
• Clean-up day: Saturday, April 17, 9am (we need lots of volunteers)
• Practices begin: After March 28 (depends on coach)
• Games begin: Week of April 18
• Family day: Saturday, June 5 (volunteers needed)
• Our website: We make all our weather and schedule announcements and we keep all our schedules, results, standings and other information here on our website. So bookmark us! Better yet, make sure to stay on top of all the latest news by signing up for automatic email updates here. It really is the simplest way to make sure you don't miss an important announcement.
  
• Questions? Call Mark Norton at 954-0504. Make your message only your name and clearly state your phone number twice.
  

Happy New Year!

The volunteers at Southern Little League have begun planning another season of great baseball. Within the next few weeks, we'll be making announcements about how and when to sign up for the 2010 season. And we make all our announcements right here on this website. So in the meantime, if you haven't already, please take a moment to sign up to get email updates here. That way you won't miss any important announcements.

Umpire Schedule for Juniors Softball

• Changes made after May 13 to the original schedule are shaded in orange below and will be announced via email.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

2011 Juniors Softball Schedule

• Southern's Softball Director: Kristin Groenhout
  email: softball "at" southernll.org (replace "at" with @)
  phone: 308-0108
• Southern does not track scores or standings for this league.
• Southern does not announce schedule changes for this league.
• You can find maps and directions to the away fields here.
• Click here to view the schedule on its own page, download it, or print it.
• Click here for instructions on how to print documents.

Umpire Schedule for Seniors Baseball

• Changes made after April 15 to the original schedule are shaded in orange below and will be announced via email.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

Seniors Baseball Schedule

• League Director: Jim Henwood
  email: seniors "at" southernll.org (replace "at" with @)
  phone: 901-9896
• We will try to make up rain outs only if first place is involved.
• Team Tournament starts July 5.
• Home team will occupy the first base dugout.
• If you see a discrepancy in the scores or missing scores, please contact your coach, NOT the webmaster. Games without a score in this schedule will not be included in the standings.
• Changes made after April 20 to the original schedule will be announced via email and marked on the schedule with a C in the C column. Rescheduled rain-outs are denoted by an R in that column.
• Family Day is Sat-4-Jun. A coin flip will determine home field that day. Please note that Family Day game times are shorter so that all Junior and Senior teams can play.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

Umpire Schedule for Majors Baseball

• Changes made after April 15 to the original schedule are shaded in orange below and will be announced via email.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

Seniors Baseball Standings

• These standings are up to date to include all the scores that have been phoned in and appear on the schedule page. If you see a discrepancy in the standings, first check the schedule page to see if scores are missing. If scores are missing on the schedule page, contact your coach, NOT the webmaster.
• Family Day scores do not count in the standings.
• Click here to view the standings on their own page.
• Click here to download these standings as a PDF you can print.

Umpire Schedule for Minors Baseball

• Changes made after April 15 to the original schedule are shaded in orange below and will be announced via email.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

Juniors Baseball Standings

• These standings are up to date to include all the scores that have been phoned in and appear on the schedule page. If you see a discrepancy in the standings, first check the schedule page to see if scores are missing. If scores are missing on the schedule page, contact your coach, NOT the webmaster.
• Family Day scores do not count in the standings.
• Click here to view the standings on their own page.
• Click here to download these standings as a PDF you can print.

Umpire Schedule for Majors Softball

• Changes made after April 15 to the original schedule are shaded in orange below and will be announced via email.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

Umpire Schedule for Minors Softball

• Changes made after April 15 to the original schedule are shaded in orange below and will be announced via email.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

Umpire Schedule for Juniors Baseball

• Changes made after April 15 to the original schedule are shaded in orange below and will be announced via email.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

Juniors Baseball Schedule

• League Director: Rob Henkey
  email: juniors "at" southernll.org (replace "at" with @)
  phone: 293-1607
  
• Home team will occupy the 3rd base dugout.
• If you see a discrepancy in the scores or missing scores, please contact your coach, NOT the webmaster. Games without a score in this schedule will not be included in the standings.
• Changes made after April 20 to the original schedule will be announced via email and marked on the schedule with a C in the C column. Rescheduled rain-outs are denoted by an R in that column.
• Family Day is Sat-4-Jun. A coin flip will determine home field that day.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

Rosters

These are the rosters for the 2011 season. If you know of any changes or errors, please email the webmaster. Rosters without highlighting are not available yet. Stay tuned.

• Fall Minors
• Fall Majors
• Fall Juniors
• Majors Baseball
• Minors Baseball
• 78ers Baseball (coach pitch)
• Softball Minors
• Softball Majors
• Softball Juniors
• Juniors Baseball
• Seniors Baseball
• Big League Baseball

Minors Baseball Standings

• These standings are up to date to include all the scores that have been phoned in and appear on the schedule page. If you see a discrepancy in the standings, first check the schedule page to see if scores are missing. If scores are missing on the schedule page, contact your coach, NOT the webmaster.
• Family Day scores do not count in the standings.
• Click here to view the standings on their own page.
• Click here to download these standings as a PDF you can print.

Standings

These are the standings for the 2011 season. If you know of any discrepancies in any of these standings, please contact your coach first.

• Big League (not available)
  
• Seniors Baseball
  
• Juniors Baseball
• Majors Baseball
• Minors Baseball
• 78ers Baseball (coach pitch) (not available)
• Softball (not available)
• Fall Majors (not available)
  
• Fall Juniors (not available)
  

Majors Baseball Standings

• These standings are up to date to include all the scores that have been phoned in and appear on the schedule page. If you see a discrepancy in the standings, first check the schedule page to see if scores are missing. If scores are missing on the schedule page, contact your coach, NOT the webmaster.
• Family Day scores do not count in the standings.
• Click here to view the standings on their own page.
• Click here to download these standings as a PDF you can print.

Schedules

These are the schedules for the 2011 season. If you know of any schedule changes or errors, please email the webmaster. Schedules without highlighting are not available yet. Stay tuned.

• Fall 78ers
• Fall Minors
• Fall Majors
• Fall Juniors
• Baseball Majors
• Baseball Minors
• Baseball 78ers (coach pitch)
• Softball Minors
• Softball Majors
• Softball Juniors
• Baseball Juniors
• Baseball Seniors
• Big League Baseball: Gold Division | Blue Division

78ers Baseball Schedule

• League Director: Eric O'Connor
  email: 78ers "at" southernll.org (replace "at" with @)
  phone: 292-2388
  
• We do not keep standings for this league, so there's no need to phone in scores.
• Home team will occupy the 3rd base dugout.
• Changes made after April 20 to the original schedule will be announced via email and marked on the schedule with a C in the C column. Rescheduled rain-outs are denoted by an R in that column.
• Family Day is Sat-4-Jun. A coin flip will determine home field that day.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

Minors Baseball Schedule

• League Director: Ethan Rohen email: minors "at" southernll.org (replace "at" with @) phone: 318-4647
• Home team will occupy the 3rd base dugout.
• If you see a discrepancy in the scores or missing scores, please contact your coach, NOT the webmaster. Games without a score in this schedule will not be included in the standings.
• Changes made after April 20 to the original schedule will be announced via email and marked on the schedule with a C in the C column. Rescheduled rain-outs are denoted by an R in that column.
• Family Day is Sat-4-Jun. A coin flip will determine home field that day.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

Majors Baseball Schedule

• League Director: Joe Mead
  email: majors "at" southernll.org (replace "at" with @)
  phone: 304-8794
  
• Home team will occupy the 3rd base dugout.
• If you see a discrepancy in the scores or missing scores, please contact your coach, NOT the webmaster. Games without a score in this schedule will not be included in the standings.
• Changes made after April 20 to the original schedule will be announced via email and marked on the schedule with a C in the C column. Rescheduled rain-outs are denoted by an R in that column.
• Family Day is Sat-4-Jun. A coin flip will determine home field that day.
• Click here to view this schedule on its own page.
• Click here to download this schedule as a PDF you can print.

2010 Tryout Schedule

PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE NOTE

First off, keep in mind that the term "tryout" here is a bit of a misnomer. It's actually more of an evaluation to help determine the appropriate league for each child. No one is omitted from participation based on this evaluation. We use the term "tryout" regardless, so bear with us.

To determine your child's official Little League Age, use their online age calculator here. Please use ONLY this official Little League age when considering which tryout session to attend.

All of the time slots listed below are for baseball. There will not be a softball tryout session this year.

Please notice that only kids in certain situations need to come to tryouts. Read the conditions below carefully. If you find that your child does not fit into any of these situations, then there's no need to come to tryouts. Get it? If you're still not sure, you can contact the director.

Here is the schedule for tryouts:

• Date: Saturday, March 27th
• Location: East Grand Rapids High School Gym.
• Please plan to arrive 30 minutes prior to your scheduled time slot.
• 9:00am-10:00am: all 9 yr olds (baseball)
  
• 10:30am-11:30am: all 10 yr olds (baseball) who were not in the majors last year and who wish to try out for majors this year. Also, any 10 yr olds (baseball) who are new to Southern this year must attend at this time. (For 10-yr-olds who were in minors last year and want to play in minors again this year, you do not need to attend the tryout.)
  
• 12:00pm-1:00pm: all 11 and 12 yr olds (baseball) who were not in the majors last year
• 1:30pm-2:30pm: all 13 and 14 yr olds (baseball) who were not in the juniors last year
• 2:30pm-3:00pm: umpire sign-up and meeting

If you have any questions or concerns, or if you know your child will not be able to attend, please contact the director.

Sign Up In Person for the 2010 Season

You can sign up in person for the 2010 season. The in-person sign-ups will take place at Breton Village Mall, not at Southern as in prior years. The sign-up table will be located near the fireplace inside the mall.

• Where: Breton Village Mall (near the fireplace)
  
• When:
• Wednesday, February 3rd, 6-8pm
• Saturday, February 6th, 10am-noon
• Wednesday, February 10th, 6-8pm
• Saturday, February 13th, 10am-1pm
• Saturday, March 6th, 10am-noon
• A parent or legal guardian must be present at sign-up.
• The child need not be present.
• Please bring a birth certificate to the sign-up. (We just need to see it; we don't keep it.)
• Cost is $110, payable by check or cash only.
  
• You can fill out the player registration form on-site, or save time and print your own form to fill out before you come. Click here to download the player registration form. Notice that you can type your info directly into the form before you print it. Please do not mail forms to us.
• If you plan to coach or volunteer in any way, you will need to fill out a volunteer form. Click here to download the volunteer form.

Sign Up Online for the 2010 Season

• DEADLINE IS MARCH 15! (Deadline for Seniors is May 10.) Online sign-up will close after the deadline.
• The cost is $110. After the deadline, the cost increases to $125.
  
• You can sign up and pay online by clicking here.
• Please note: The online sign-up is hosted by a third party (active.com). There have been reports of high volume on their site. Please keep trying. There is nothing the Southern webmaster can do about this.
  
• There is no additional fee for online sign-up. The cost is the same as in-person sign-up.
  
• New players who sign up online will need to bring their birth certificate to their tryout. We just need to see it. We won't keep it.
  

How to Print Documents

Some folks have had trouble printing schedules, standings, and other documents on our website. Here's the trick: Once you click on the link to the document, you'll see a Google docs page that shows the document. To print it, DON'T use your web browser's print function. Instead, use the File/Print option beneath the Google docs logo. Please let the webmaster know if you cannot open a document or if you're still having trouble printing it.

Official Rosters

Coaches, you can view the official team rosters including all player contact information right here on the website. Please email webmaster@southernll.org if you see any discrepancies or if you need to make any changes.

• We'll be keeping this document up to date as last minute changes are made, so revisit and refresh to see the very latest. Notice the "Last updated" date and time in the table below. That will tell you the last time we imported the late registrations into our records.
• Trades are not final until approved by Bob Hams and reflected on these rosters.
• Once the season starts, continue to keep the webmaster informed of any trades and withdrawals. This is important for tracking returning players next season.
• Please do not circulate this link. We try to keep this information limited to coaches and staff.
• The rosters are grouped by Softball/Baseball, then sorted by age. Once coaches are assigned, they are sorted by division and coach.
• Click here to view or print the 2018 Summer rosters in your browser. Click here to download the 2018 Summer rosters as an Excel spreadsheet.

Insurance Certificates

Click here to enter the password and reveal the hidden content. (The password is the same password as the one we use for field reservations. Be sure to use all lowercase. Hint: It starts with an f.) Email webmaster@southernll.org if you need password help.

2011 Minors Softball Schedule

• Southern's Softball Director: Kristin Groenhout
  email: softball "at" southernll.org (replace "at" with @)
  phone: 308-0108
  
• Southern does not track scores or standings for this league.
• Southern does not announce schedule changes for this league.
• You can find maps and directions to the away fields here.
• Click here to view the schedule on its own page, download it, or print it.
• Click here for instructions on how to print documents.

2011 Majors Softball Schedule

• Southern's Softball Director: Kristin Groenhout
  email: softball "at" southernll.org (replace "at" with @)
  phone: 308-0108
  
• Southern does not track scores or standings for this league.
• Southern does not announce schedule changes for this league.
• You can find maps and directions to the away fields here.
• Click here to view the schedule on its own page, download it, or print it.
• Click here for instructions on how to print documents.

Sign Up for Insiders-Only Email Updates

Coaches, assistant coaches, umpires, league directors, board members, and other Southern Little League "Insiders":

Often we post announcements that are intended for this narrower audience rather than for every player or parent. These special announcements will appear as normal announcements on the website but will not be emailed to our normal subscriber list. They will only be emailed to this "Insiders-only" subscriber list. If you'd like to receive these "Insider-only" announcements via email, you need to sign up below.

Because this list is separate from our normal email list, you'll still want to be subscribed to that one, too. Just to be clear: you'll want to be signed up for BOTH email lists.

Enter your email address:

After you submit your email address, you will be sent a verification email. You must follow the instructions in the email or your subscription will not take effect.

Follow Us on Facebook

If you're a Facebook user, you can get all announcements via Facebook. Just become a fan of our Facebook site here:

Then don't forget to click the "Like" button at the top. If you have unlimited texting on your phone, you can sign up to follow via SMS. That way you'll get a text message any time there's an announcement.