Major and Minor Fall Ball is Full and Signups are Closed

78er and Junior players are still needed. Contact Bob Hams at bhams@roofmelt.com or Ethan Rohen at erohen@rivercitymech.com to sign up for Junior or 78er Fall Baseball. Online registration is closed so you will have to contact one of them to sign up.

Last Chance to Sign Up for Fall Ball

Please sign up for Fall Ball ASAP. You can read all the details and sign up online here. The deadline is midnight TONIGHT.

Fall Ball Deadline is This Sunday

Please sign up for Fall Ball ASAP. You can read all the details and sign up online here. The deadline is Sunday, August 17.

Register Now for Fall Ball

It's time to think about Fall Ball again!

• Fall baseball will be for ages 7-14.
• This is a fun and instructional season. There are no practices, and we don't keep standings.
• The 7-8 age group will play coach pitch. The 9-10 age group and the 11-12 age group will play on the East and West small fields. Ages 13-14 will play on the Henwood big field.
• Please note that if you played as an 8-year old in coach pitch this past Summer, you now move up and play in the 9-10 age group for the Fall. If you played as a 10-year-old in the minors this past Summer, you will move up and play as an 11-year-old for the Fall. If you played as a 12-year-old in the majors this Summer, you will play as a 13-year old on the Henwood big field for the Fall. If you played as a 14-year old in the Juniors this past Summer, you continue to play as a 14-year old on the big field for the Fall.
• The season will start on Sunday, August 24, skip Sunday, August 31, for the Labor Day weekend, with the final games on Sunday, October 5. That's a total of six Sundays of play.
• All games will be played on Sunday afternoons at 1:00pm and 3:00pm, with some games at 5:00pm only if required by the number of teams.
• The cost has been reduced to $60 this year and includes a jersey you can keep. This fee helps us cover the costs of umpires, baseballs, etc.
• Please note: You must live within Southern's official boundaries to be eligible to participate in Fall ball. The only exception is if you used to live within the boundaries while playing baseball at Southern, you continue to qualify. If this is too confusing or if you're hoping for an exception, please contact Bob.
• Interested in Fall Softball? If enough people email Wendi Moore (weemoore@comcast.net), then we will organize a fall softball season with Sunday afternoon games at Manhattan Park. Please do not sign up yet for softball, but do email her ASAP.
• You can sign up online here. To help us organize teams, recruit coaches and order shirts, we ask that you please sign up online as soon as possible.
• The deadline for signing up is Sun-17-Aug.
• If you have any questions contact:
  Bob Hams, league director (bhams@roofmelt.com)
• We need coaches! Please contact Bob if you are interested in coaching. (No full teams will be allowed this year so we can achieve an even competitive balance.)

One More Thank-You

OK, for all of you who think I am 40 years old, you are wrong. My old age has kicked in. There is one person I forgot to mention in my previous thank-you note: our own webmaster, Paul VanderLei. Paul, your skill and ability to design our website is second to none. What a great service you provide on behalf of all of Southern. Thank you for your time!
Joe Mead
President, Southern Little League

A Huge Thank You to All Our Volunteers

Southern, we have completed the hosting of the Seniors  and the 9-10 state tournaments. If I had a $1000 to put in the "kitty" for every compliment we received, we wouldn't have to worry about fundraising!

I would like to recognize the following people and groups:

• Jen Rowe - concessions. She and all of her teammates and the volunteers did an awesome job. "Courteous" and "friendly" were a few of the adjectives used to describe them.
• Joe Malewitz and the grounds crew. What can we say? Our fields were second to none!
• Jim Weiss and Rick Stockhill - umpires. The umpires were professional and timely as usual.
• Dave Wallet - the master griller. Dave put full days in at the grill. Quite an accomplishment with the weather. Special mention to Ethan Rohen as well.
• All of our own Southern players who donated their time for pitch counting, score keeping, and announcing. Parents please pass along our thanks to them.
• Mathew Sullivan, the announcer for the Senior tournament and the 9-10 championship game. I can't even begin to tell everyone all of the compliments we received. Thank you, Mathew!
• Bridgette Billo and Doreen Lambert for having our merchandise tent ready to go and stocked every day.
• Let's not forget our committee - Bob Hams, Tim Kolk, Jamie Billo, Bridgette Billo, Doreen Lambert, Natalie Bernecker, and Amy Stuursma. Their behind the scenes work and tireless hours made a huge contribution to the success of these tournaments. I can't thank you enough.
• Finally, to all of the Southern volunteers who I didn't mention who stepped up. Thank you again! I can guarantee you, for those visiting teams who were not familiar with Southern, they are now! 

Southern Little League does it the right way!

Note of Thanks from a Visiting 9-10 State Tournament Team

Southern President Joe Mead received this email from the coaches of one of the visiting teams in the 9-10 state tournament:

Joe, I would like to thank you, your staff, the Southern LL, and all your Volunteers, for hosting a fabulous, classy State Tournament. You folks made us all feel welcomed and made the experience for our kids and parents something they will not soon forget. On behalf of the Grosse Pointe Woods Shores LL I salute the Southern LL for doing such a tremendous job in hosting not 1 but 2 State tournaments at the same time. Kudos to you and your community for a job well done you deserve a long break.
Respectfully
Bill Babcock
Manager of the GPWS LL 9 10 District 6

This speaks volumes for the great contributions from so many folks in the Southern community. Thanks everyone for helping to host two successful tournaments simultaneously!

Note of Thanks from a Visiting Seniors State Tournament Team

Southern received these kind words of thanks from one of the visit teams in the seniors state tournament:

We were just there for the Senior Baseball tournament, we came in second. I am the president of Taylor North Central, as well as one of the coaches. I wanted to say thank you for running an awesome tournament and welcoming our group the way you did. From the concession crew, to the umpires,to the best announcer we have heard in years, the tournament was top notch. The umpiring was second to none, very fair and professional. Just thought you would like to know, thank you and we hope to see you next year. -Doug Cloutier

Congrats and thanks to all our Southern volunteers for helping put together a "top notch" tournament!

Come Watch the 9/10 State Championship Game on Wednesday Night

Wednesday night at 6pm at Southern's east field, District 9 champion and Southern rival Western Little League takes on District 14 Essexville-Hampton Little League in the 9/10 state championship game. Both teams are undefeated in pool and bracket play, so expect a great matchup. It's a great way to show your support for Southern and to help us celebrate a successful 9/10 state tournament.

Welcome District Champions

Southern Little League welcomes you to the 2014 Seniors and 9-10 State Tournaments. Please click on one of links below to go to the website for your tournament:

• Seniors Tournament Website
• 9-10 Tournament Website

Congrats District 9 Regional Big League Champs!

The District 9 Big League team won the Central Region this week. They now advance to the World Series in Easley, SC. Good luck!

Junior and Senior League Players Needed for Scorekeeping and Announcing

Southern needs you to volunteer to keep score, pitch count and announce. This is a volunteer opportunity that is a great way to use service hours and also give back to Southern Little League. We will have an in person signup SATURDAY MORNING AT 9:00 AM at the office building behind Henwood field.

 

Players please volunteer and experience a great tournament next week!!

District 9 Big League Team Advances

The District 9 Big League team won 5-1 over Illinois Wednesday and plays Michigan District 16 on Thursday night at 8:00pm at Pinery Park. Come cheer on your Southern players and cheer on D-9 at Pinery Park on Thursday night!

Parking Shuttle, Raffle Sales, and Grilling VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

In addition to volunteers at the concession stand, we also desperately need folks to sign up for a few other jobs during the state tournaments:

Parking Shuttle: We need folks to drive fans between the far parking lots and the fields.
Raffle Sales: We need volunteers to sell 50/50 raffle tickets.
Grillmasters: We need people to staff the grill.

Sign up for all these jobs here.

Thank You!

Seniors State Tournament VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

The 2014 Senior League Baseball State Tournament will be hosted at Southern starting July 24. The tournament features eight district champs from around the state and players age 15 and 16 years old. Southern will host games at 10:00am, 1:00pm, 4:00pm and 7:30pm on Thu-24-July, Fri-25-July, and Sat-26-July and at 10:00am and 1:00pm on Sun-27-July. Southern’s Seniors won the state tournament last year and are just starting district play so we are hoping they can pull it out and compete again this year.

Volunteers are needed very badly. You have seen a few blasts about volunteering for the 9/10 tournament. We have a single sign-up sheet because both tournaments are running at the same time. If you can volunteer on Thursday, July 24, in particular, please sign up for that ASAP. We need grillers and concession stand workers. We also need volunteers to sell 50/50 tickets and 21 or older adults to drive the club cart to the back of the parking lot and assist people to our fields. We'll send out more information about signing for those jobs soon.

Sign up here.

This is going to be an exciting and very fun week at Southern. Please volunteer and bring out the whole family!

Thank You!

We REALLY need your help!

A group of Southern parents and staff have been working on the planning for the State Tournament for 9 and 10 year-olds July 24-30. Southern is the host for the state tournament this year. This is a wonderful opportunity for Southern Little League that only comes around once every 16 years. This has potential of being a HUGE money maker for our program if it is run well and staffed by many volunteers.

We will have 256 nine and ten year-olds and all of their families descend upon Southern for 6 days of games. We plan to have the grill going every day with daily specials. We will need help staffing the concessions stand, selling apparel and grilling. I know your child may not be playing in this tournament, but our organization is hosting and therefore we must fill all of the volunteer spots.

Come join us, bring your kids while you volunteer to watch some good baseball and support Southern Little League.

Please click on here to sign up for one or more volunteer spots...support our organization.

Please consider forwarding this on to other families who are part of the Southern family who may be willing to volunteer for an hour or two. (Children 16 and older can volunteer as well.)

Thank you!

Southern Needs Your Help!

Southern is hosting the state tournament for the 9-10-year-olds and for Seniors in July. We desperately need your help in staffing our concession stand! The sign up system is up and running. Please make your selection now. We need to fill ALL of the volunteer spots to make this a successful event. We are asking each volunteer to commit to a 90 minute time slot in the concession stand. Click here to sign up. Thank you!

Congratulations 2014 Seniors Baseball All-Stars

Jared Allen
Brennan Burke
Scott Boeve
Tanner Hoppman
Joe Ens
Mark Primus
Bryce Henkey
Mike Clifford
EJ Sullivan
Emmett Warners
Quinton O'Connor
Jonathan Winkle
Tristan Ogdahl
Will Berglund
Ben Burroughs
Sam Ward
Manager: Rob Henkey
Coach: Matthew Sullivan

Congratulations Juniors Baseball D Tournament Champs

Coach Jamie Billo's juniors baseball team won their class D district team tournament!

Congratulations Juniors Baseball C Tournament Champs

Coach Bernie Malewitz's juniors baseball team won their class C district team tournament!