Welcome to the 2011 Deep River Little League Season! Opening Day Ceremonies will begin at 9am on Devitt A. Please be early as we have a full game schedule on the heels of the ceremonies, and cannot afford delays. Please bring your players to the back of Devitt A to lineup with his/her team. Find your Coach as all Coaches will have the order in which players should lineup to be called onto the field for our March on Devitt. After you have delivered your player to the team lines, please proceed to the bleachers area on Devitt A for the “March”, speeches, announcements, and the first pitch.

We will have “flyers” available to know the agenda for the day, picture schedule, games schedule, etc., however here is a quick run down of what to expect:

9am – March on Devitt / Player Announcements – Rob Partyka

: National Anthem – DRES Chorus

: 1st Selectman Announcements / Pledge – Dick Smith

: President Announcements – Mark Grabowski

9:50 – First Pitch thrown by Jeremy LaCasse

10:00 – New Britain Rock Cats mascot “Rocky” arrives for T-Ball games.

Immediately following Opening Day Ceremonies, here are the game schedules for the day:

10:00 – Bees at Bats – Devitt A
10:00 – Raptors at Volcanoes – Devitt B
11:00 – Knights at Mudcats – Devitt A
11:00 – Rattlers at River Dogs – Devitt B
1:00 – Red Sox at Tigers – Devitt B
1:00 – Chester Phillies at DR Thunder – Devitt A
1:30 – DR Storm at WB Lenny – SB2 (Away game for the Storm)
3:30 – WB Potter at DR Yankees – Devitt A

Full schedules for the season will be made available electronically before Opening Day. We are working through a few scheduling kinks this week, but should have a final schedule available to the coaches for distribution prior to Opening Day.

REMINDER: Plant Sale forms are due on Opening Day. Additional forms and plant sale ordering will be available at the Snack Shack.

PHOTOS: Sportography will be at Opening Day to take team pictures of all the players. Please follow the schedule below for pictures:

10:00 Mudcats (aa)
10:15 River Dogs (aa)
10:30 Rattlers (aa)
10:45 Knights (aa)
11:00 Red Sox  (boys minors)
11:15 Thunder (girls majors)
11:30 Tigers (boys minors)
11:45 Raptors  (tee ball)
12:00 Bees (tee ball)
12:15 Bats (tee ball)
12:30 Volcanos (tee Ball)
12:45 Storm (girls minors)
1:00 Yankees (boys majors)

As always, any questions about Opening Day please shoot me an Email. Thank you to all for your hard work and dedication. 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!

I look forward to seeing you all this coming Saturday.

Please note as a reminder there is an upcoming Umpire Clinic to be held Sunday April 17th @ 1PM.  This will be at Field 4, Peters Complex on Glenwood Road in Clinton.

Any and all welcome.

All the coaches have received the plant sale forms and flyers. Thank you to Bess Ensinger and Maureen Douglas for putting this together. A special thanks goes to Hortus and Laura Miezejeski for giving us an outstanding selection this year!

This is our only fundraiser. Please support Little League by stocking up on plants and vegetables! There is no minimum purchase for the players to sell, however there is no maximum either!!

Thanks!

Attention Youth Baseball Coaches and League Administrators:

The UConn Baseball team will be hosting 3 youth baseball clinics. Schedule below.

Kids, ages 13 and under, are encouraged to attend the clinic to learn baseball fundamentals from their favorite UConn players and coaches.  All clinics are open to the general public and FREE of charge.  We ask that youth teams pre-register so that we can appropriately monitor capacity.  If you are interested in bringing your team(s) to a specified clinic, please fill out the attached registration form.  All participants must also fill out the attached consent form and bring it with them to their respective clinic. Download the form by clicking here.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a baseball bat and glove, and wear athletic sneakers to the event.  Water bottles, sports drinks, beverages, and food of any kind should not be brought inside of J.O. Christian Field.  Concessions will be available after the clinic and throughout the game.

The three clinics will be held prior to the following home UConn Baseball games:

Saturday, April 23 vs. Georgetown @ 11:30am (Game time at 1:00pm)

Saturday, May 14 vs. Louisville @ 11:30am (Game time at 1:00pm)

Sunday, May 15^th vs. Louisville @ 10:30am (Game time at Noon)

Please note that all clinics/games are dependent on weather – times and dates can and will change accordingly.  Please be sure to check UConnHuskies.com for any time changes, postponements, or cancellations.

For more information, or to register in advance, please contact Phil Dwire with UConn Athletic Marketing at philip.dwire@uconn.edu

GO HUSKIES!

Please notify your teams ASAP! I’m receiving far too many emails from parents wondering where their kids are playing this year. A simple email or phone call notifying the player of their coach, practice time and field.

Also, you have the spreadsheet of your team in your team folder. There is a column labelled “Med Rel” and a y or n is next to the player’s name. That means the Medical Release form was either received or not received at the time of registration. I need each coach to collect those Medical release forms at your first practice. You don’t want to have any special considerations (bee stings, peanut allergies, etc.) presenting itself at practice and not know what to do with the child.

Again, please notify your teams ASAP and ask those parents needing to submit a Medical Release form to do so at the first practice.

Thanks!

For anyone interested in Umpiring games this season, Westbrook’s Certified Umpire Jim Krafty will be conducting two clinics for all interested in umpiring, current umpires, and coaches. Below is information on the two clinics:

Clinic #1 —  Umpire Mechanics – Saturday March 26, 12:00 PM Westbrook Firehouse (next to LL field) –  Bring gloves and a ball

Clinic #2 —  Rules – Tuesday March 29, 6:30 PM Westbrook Library basement conference room (61 Goodspeed Drive)

For any additional information, Jim Krafty can be reached 860-339-5212 or by email jakrafty@comcast.net.

LICENSED COMPOSITE-BARRELED BATS (2 1/4 INCH BARRELS) THAT MEET THE BAT PERFORMANCE FACTOR (BPF) STANDARD, AND THE ACCELERATED BREAK IN (ABI) PROCEDURE, ARE LISTED BELOW.

THIS LIST MAY HAVE MORE LICENSED MODELS ADDED TO IT AS MORE BATS ARE TESTED.

THIS LIST IS REPRESENTATIVE OF LICENSED COMPOSITE-BARRELED BASEBALL BATS THAT ARE PERMITTED TO BE USED IN THE LITTLE LEAGUE (MAJORS) DIVISION AND BELOW, AS OF THE LATEST REVISION DATE SHOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE, WHEN THIS LIST WAS LAST UPDATED.

FOR A LIST OF COMPOSITE-BARRELED BATS WITH 2 5/8 INCH BARRELS THAT HAVE RECEIVED A WAIVER TO BE USED IN THE JUNIOR LEAGUE, SENIOR LEAGUE AND BIG LEAGUE BASEBALL DIVISIONS, CLICK HERE:http://www.littleleague.org/learn/equipment/approvedcompbats.htm

FOR A LIST OF NON-WOOD/NON-COMPOSITE BATS THAT ARE LICENSED BY LITTLE LEAGUE, CLICK HERE:http://www.littleleague.org/Assets/forms_pubs/2011ApprovedNonWoodBatList.pdf

Approved BPF-ABI Composite (2-1/4in) Baseball Bats – Visual Guide

Product Name	Model Number	Photo
Mattingly Balistk	BTKYB
DeMarini CF4	CFL10
DeMarini CF4	CFL11
Easton Omen XL	LNC1XL
Easton Omen XL	LNC2XL
Easton Stealth Speed -12	LSS6XL
Easton Stealth Speed -11	LSS1
Easton Stealth Speed -9	LSS2
Easton Stealth Speed -13	LSS3
Easton Stealth IMX – 11	LCN9
Easton Stealth IMX -13	LCN11
Easton Synergy IMX -12	LZN1
Louisville Slugger TPX Maverick	AYB11M
Nike Aero Cx2	BT0573
Nike Aero Cx2	BT0598

On March 18th at Devitt A from 5:30 to 7:30pm, Rob Corraro will be back to give a pitching clinic to any and all Majors and Minors level players (Ages 9 to 12) interested in pitching this season. Rob will instruct on preparation, form, practice drills, game time advice, mental preparation, exercises for arm strength and accuracy, and pitching strategy. This is a prime opportunity for any player interested in pitching to learn from a former Major League Baseball prospect.

Rob Corraro is a two Time All-State and a USA Today All-American in both basketball and baseball at Xavier High School in Middletown. Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Major League Draft, he is a former Division I Scholarship Player at Providence College leading them to a Big East Championship and a NCAA Regional Final. He finished ranked in the top ten of eight different pitching categories. Rob played professionally and also pitched for Italy in the European Cup. Rob was an instructor at the Shoreline Softball and Baseball Institute for two years. He was the Director of Baseball Operations at HomeRun USA in Cheshire, CT and Portsmouth, NH for three years. Rob has instructed players including Little League through Minor League Players. He has worked along side current and former Major League and Minor League Players and Managers as well as International Coaches from Europe and Cuba.

Should we decide to move this clinic due to basketball games, we’ll update the “site” information via email. Thanks.

On Friday March 11th at the Deep River Elementary School Cafeteria we will have our annual Coaches Meeting from 6 to 7pm. We’ll hand out teams to the head coaches, present conduct guidelines and advice from Player Agent Dr. Tom Allen, safety and medical advice from Dr. Mike Baldwin and Safety Officer Mike Joia, and I will also present some basic coaching guidelines and timelines for coaches.

We will also have sign-up sheets to reserve fields for practices, and a Q&A session.

This meeting officially kicks-off the 2011 season. If you cannot make the session, please let me know. I have a good idea where coaches will be coaching, who will be “heads” vs “assistants” — so if you cannot make it, I’ll make sure who you are coaching with, can attend and grab your team. Maximum participation is expected. The safety, medical and player agent messaging is extremely important to hear heading into the new season.

As always, any questions, call me 860-510-2510 or email me.

I just wanted to send a quick post to the parents who endured a long night at Between the Lines (BTL). Next season we’ll cut the assessment in half and stagger the start times to minimize the waiting around time. This is the first time we’ve used BTL, and didn’t realize they would assess each player individually while each of the other players waited. So, thank you for your patience. We promise next season will be a lot more streamlined.

I also wanted to call out a 12 year old player, Jeremy Lacasse, who “just wanted to come out and play.” Jeremy is a 12 year old Majors player and his assessment was not necessary, as his placement is guaranteed by Little League rules because of his age. When asked why he came to the assessment he said, “I haven’t played baseball since the fall, and last spring I wasn’t given the chance to make the Majors. So, I just wanted to come out and play. To finally ‘try-out’.” We have 145 registered players in 2011, I would take 145 Jeremy’s every season! Thank you Jeremy for reminding us last night, that it’s just about the kids – it’s just about playing baseball. Thank you Jeremy!

Again, thank you to all the parents and players who came out last night. Thank you also to Jeff Riggs and the Between the Lines staff. FOUR HOURS! It was a lot of fun! Thank you!