I want everyone to thank JJL Electric for supplying Deep River Little League with a replacement soda cooler in the Snack Shack.

Also, please thank the Kateley Family and the Tiezzi Family for donating baseball gloves and a pair of cleats. Any Little League player in need of a glove or pair of cleats, please notify the league.

Coaches not receiving a First Aid Kit will be given one on Saturday. I will have the kits in my car and/or left in the snack shack on Saturday.

REMINDER – ALL COACHES ARE REQUIRED TO EMPTY THE BLUE BUCKETS IN THE DUGOUT!!! If you have a game against another town, you’re required to go to their dugout and dump their blue bucket. IT’S EMBARRASSING TO HOST OTHER TOWNS WHEN WE HAVE FILTHY FIELDS!

Teams coming to the field that encounter a filthy dugout, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! ANY TEAM INCAPABLE OF CLEANING UP WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.

Here are the boys majors standings as of 5/6/2010:

Plant Sale pickup will be held Thursday May 6th at Flowers For Awhile located directly across from Devitt Field between Union Street and Route 154. Please pickup your plants between 2:30pm and 5:30pm.

Grace Petroka will be at Flowers For Awhile between 2:30pm and 3:30pm, and is looking for a Team Mom to help hand out plants from 3:30pm to 5:30pm, as Grace has a personal commitment she needs to attend to.

Please email any questions or your nomination for participation to Grace directly at gpetroka@att.net.

Thanks.

Patience is a virtue! Thank you all for being so patient for this information. It’s been tough coordinating a lot of end points, and pulling it all together for Opening Day has been challenging, but WE’RE READY!!

If you don’t save the following information for Opening Day, no worries – we’ll pass out flyers for everyone to follow along during the ceremonies. Here’s the schedule for Opening Day

8:45 Rocky arrives (Sportography will take pictures throughout his stay, but have your own camera’s ready!)

9:00 Ceremonies begin

- Player Announcements / Charge on Devitt A!
- National Anthem
- Little League Pledge by Dick Smith, Deep River 1st Selectman
- President’s Comments

9:50 First Pitch Thrown by Zachary Kirla

Game Day start times for Opening Day are as follows (DR Thunder will travel to Chester for their game):

10am Knights at Rockhounds, Devitt B
10:30am Raptors at Scrappers, DRES
11:00am Chester Reds at Yankees, Devitt A
11:30am Essex Iron Birds at Volcanoes, Devitt B
11:30am Bats at Bees, DRES
12:30pm River Dogs at Mud Cats, Devitt B
1:30pm Red Sox at Orioles, Devitt A
2:00pm Essex Angels at Storm, Devitt B

As we previously announced, Sportography will be at our Opening Day taking pictures of all our players and teams. You are responsible for getting your player to the picture area by the designated time your players’ team is scheduled to begin pictures. Please use the following schedule to coordinate players/team pictures throughout the day:

9:50 Buddy Baseball
10am Yankees
10:15 Thunder
10:30 Orioles
10:45 Volcanoes
11:00 Rockhounds
11:15 Knights
11:30 Mud Cats
11:45 Storm
12:00 Scrappers
12:15 Raptors
12:30 Red Sox
12:45 Bees
1:00 Bats
Last in line – River Dogs!

Schedules for the upcoming season for each division and team are currently being finalized. There are some minor changes that need to be made, and should be finalized before Opening Day. All schedules will be updated on the website as soon as I can get them up, but please adhere to schedules given to the coaches on or before Opening Day. If changes to the schedules need to be made, we will notify everyone affected as soon as possible.

I am excited – this is my first Opening Day as President, and I am eternally grateful to the Little League Board that supports me and our community, the Coaches that make this a reality for our kids, the sponsors and contributors that fund our efforts, and, MOST OF ALL, the players and parents we serve!

Thank You!

Mark Grabowski

Please have your completed plant sale forms, and payment with you at Opening Day April 24th. You can drop them off at the Snack Shack anytime during the day. If you misplaced your forms please click the the following links to download and print prior to Opening Day.

Click here for the PLANT SALE FLYER

Click here for the PLANT SALE ORDER FORM

Plant Sale proceeds help to fund trophies, the end of year picnic, and other league costs.

Thanks.

I added a new page to the “LEAGUE INFORMATION” section in the right sidebar, called Coaches Corner. The first addition to the Coaches Corner are instructions on how to get access to the LittleLeagueCoach.org website, and, more specifically, the Little League Coaches Resource Center.

The intent of the Resource Center is to provide the Little League Baseball and Softball Coach with the tools they need to be effective leaders of children, to run efficient and productive practices, and to teach children the baseball or softball skills they need to be able to excel.

The highlights of each section of the Resource Center are:

Role of the Little League Coach
Little League Season Planning
Parental Involvement
Rules of the Game
Teaching the Skills
Drills and Activities
Planning a Practice
Safety, Fitness and Conditioning
Managing on Game Day
Pitching Education

The Coaches Resource Center is packed with very helpful and useful information – best of all, it’s FREE!

I’ll add more info soon – 2010 Rule Changes, and Pitching Rules. Any suggestions for the “Coaches Corner”, just send me an email.

As part of a four town cooperative, Deep River is participating with Chester, Essex and Westbrook in creating a Challenger Division. We are looking for two coaches from Deep River to volunteer every Sunday for two hours starting April 25th, and continuing every Sunday for eight weeks. Please email me your Name, Phone Number, and Email if interested. Challenger Division information is below:

The Challenger Division was established in 1989 as a separate division of Little League to enable boys and girls with physical and mental challenges, ages 5-18, or up to age 22 if still enrolled in high school, to enjoy the game of baseball along with the millions of other children who participate in this sport worldwide.  Today more than 30,000 children participate in more than 900 Challenger Divisions worldwide.

Teams are set up according to abilities, rather than age, and can include as many as 15-20 players. Challenger games can be played as t-ball games, coach pitch, player pitch, or a combination of the three.

In a Challenger game, each player gets a chance at bat. The side is retired when the offense has batted through the roster, or when a pre-determined number of runs have been scored, or when three outs are recorded. Little League recommends that no score be kept during Challenger games.

One of the benefits of having a Challenger Division is that it encourages the use of “buddies” for the Challenger players. The buddies assist the Challenger players on the field but whenever possible, encourage the players to bat and make plays themselves. However, the buddy is always nearby to help when needed.

Again, your help is needed! Our Challenger Division has “buddies” assigned, field assistants, and parent participation. To complete this effort, I’m looking for two coaches.

Thank you,

Mark Grabowski

Deep River Little League will conduct a clinic for new and returning little league umpires on Saturday April 3rd at the Deep River Library Community Room from 10:00 to noon. There will be a discussion of rule interpretation, and umpires will be given guidance and instruction. High School students with LL experience, and adults are encouraged to attend. This clinic will address both baseball and softball rules. If you’ve always had the interest in umpiring Little League games, please feel free to attend this free clinic.

For further information, please contact Paul Aresta, Umpire Coordinator for DRLL at pmer4@att.net.

Coaches night from 6-7 pm tonight at the Deep River Elementary School will be moved from the cafeteria to the library upstairs. The school is still pumping out water in the cafeteria, and cleaning that area up.

Parents night from 7-8pm is cancelled.

Any questions email me or call. Sorry for the inconvenience.

The 2010 Little League Coaches meeting will be held March 31st from 6 – 7pm at the Deep River Elementary School Cafeteria. All coaches will be assigned teams, and any rule changes for 2010 will be discussed. We’ll have a signup sheet for Farm and T-Ball coaches to reserve nights and fields for practices. This is especially important for Farm Coaches, as we’ll be using this information to setup dates and times for mandatory team clinics performed by Rob Corraro. Coaches are asked to remain in attendance for the “Parents Night” portion of the meeting, as additional safety and conduct messages will be delivered by DRLL Board Members, as well as, a Q&A period.

PARENTS NIGHT! - Parents night will be held March 31st from 7 – 8pm at the Deep River Elementary School Cafeteria. All parents are welcome! Starting this season we will be asking all parents and coaches sign a “Little League Code of Conduct” document in an effort to promote league wide sportsmanship. Additional agenda items include:

President’s Message – Mark Grabowski
Player Safety – Dr. Mike Baldwin
Sports Psychology – Dr. Tom Allen
Open Forum Question & Answer (Coaches in attendence)

Maximum parent participation is encouraged. All Little League board members and coaches will be in attendence to answer ALL questions!

Coaches & Parents – Please make every effort to attend.

Thanks!

Mark Grabowski