2006 Norcross Americans Season Diary

2006 Norcross Americans Diary

5/16/2006 - 7/10/2006

7/10/2006 - View Dave Nelson game two photo's - Some terrific shots of the kids playing against Jasper County at the state tournament.

7/10/2006 - Newton County edges Norcross 6-4 - The Americans were eliminated from the 2006 Dixie Youth State Tournament Monday night in Monticello. The game featured two outfield putouts at the plate and two double plays by Norcross.
( More | Box)

7/9/2006 - Norcross Routs Jasper County 14-1 - The Americans used 4 pitchers, had 12 players reach base and 11 different Norcross Players scored. A total team effort led the way to the elimination of the state tournament's host team - Jasper County. The Americans take the field again tomorrow evening at 6:00pm as they are the home team for the first time in the last 7 tournament games.
( More | Box)

7/9/2006 - View Dave Nelson game one photo's - Some terrific shots of the kids playing in game one of the state tournament.

7/8/2006 - Collins Hill Win's Pitchers Duel - Collin's Hill jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a long home run and held on for the 3-1 victory. The Americans didn't commit an error and held the Eagles scoreless on a masterful pitching performance by Andrew Thunhorst. The Americans play again today at 1:00 pm against the host team Jasper County.
( More | Box)

7/7/2006 - Friday night's Plan - We will get together at Piedmont School's back field in Monticello for a light batting practice at 6:00pm. Once we are all checked into the hotel we can make our way over to the field. Jeff Bell has arranged for us to make use of a private school’s baseball field very close to the park. We have reservations at a place just a few blocks away following practice.

7/8/2006 - Saturday Game Day - Game is at noon. Plan on having your son eat a good breakfast after getting a good nights sleep. With the heat, I have heard it is good to eat a lot of Banana’s (according to Dan Bauer) – so I will bring a bushel full. We will meet for batting practice at 10:15 just as we did for the district tournament – at Piedmont School.

7/6/2006 - Tonight’s Practice - Batting Practice tonight at Berkeley Baseball Academy @ 6:30

7/5/2006 - Practice Week - Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. Back to baseball…

Thursday’s Practice (7/6)
We will be leaving for Monticello at 9:15am from Pinckneyville Park. If we leave on time, we should arrive at the ball park by 10:45am and start practice at 11:00am. We will practice for no more than 2 hours depending on the conditions. We should be leaving Monticello no later than 1:15pm and get lunch on the way home. We should arrive back in Peachtree Corners by 3:45 or so. Here is who I know (from poor memory) is driving: Scott Walch, Becky Bauer, Keith Todd, Wil Craport and Lindsay Stewart. If you planned to drive and I don’t have you down as driving, let me know. By meeting at Pinckneyville Park before hand, we may be able to consolidate and leave a few cars behind.

Wednesday’s Practice (7/5)
We are playing a practice game tonight beginning at 7:15pm on field #2 (T-Ball). A mix of players who remain in town from Norcross National and Southern teams will be our opponent. Please be @ the field by 6:30 for an on field warm-up/practice.

7/3/2006 - Back to Basics - With a week to prepare for Collins Hill, the Norcross Americans will practice this evening at 3pm at Pinckneyville Park. Practices this week will be tonight, a practice game Wednesday night, Thursday during the day and a workout in Monticello Friday evening after the entire team everyone arrives. Jeff Bell is arranging a private practice facility in Monticello for our team. It is only fitting that the Americans will be off on July 4th to celebrate our country.

7/3/2006 - Tournament Tidbits - There will be a gate fee for this tournament. It will be $5 per day for the adults. Optionally, you can purchase a tournament pass for $20. The park has 8 rules to follow, which include No Coolers, No Profanity, No Pets, No Skateboards or bikes inside the park and No Mechanical Noise makers. It has been rumored that Coach Bache is going to start a pool ($5 to enter) to see who can guess how many innings it will take before we see someone tossed out for profanity.

7/2/2006 - Americans 4 South Gwinnett 3 = Division 7 Champs! - The Americans reached their primary goal on Saturday as they defeated South Gwinnett in a come from behind thriller.
( More | Box)

7/2/2006 - South Gwinnett 7 Americans 3 - The "If Necessary" became necessary Saturday as South Gwinnett handed the Americans their first loss of the tournament. The Americans mounted a late comeback but fell short due to some superb defense by South. Both teams go at it again at 3:00pm for all the District 7 marbles.
( More | Box)

7/1/2006 - Americans 10 Mountain Park 1 - The Americans remained unbeaten Friday night as they won their 4th consecutive Dixie Youth tournament game. Ford Higgins had two hits and three RBI's and James Todd chipped in with a 1st inning diving web gem to hold the host team to a scoreless 1st inning. Wylie West hit his second home run of the tournament with an opposite field drive to cap off the Americans scoring.
( More | Box)

6/30/2006 - Americans 10 Grayson National 8 - Norcross upsets Grayson 10-8. Leading 1-0 in the second inning, Wylie West hit the scoreboard on a 3-2 pitch to put the Americans up 2-0. After trailing 6-2 after three innings, the Americans battled back to take a 10-6 lead into the last inning. Cameron Craport seemed to be sailing along in his second inning of work when he gave up a two run shot that cut the lead in half. With a runner on first and one out in the bottom of the 5th Andrew “Franchise” Thunhorst came in from the bull pen – he got the number three batter to pop-up to SS and struck out their big bomber clean-up hitter with 3 straight knuckle curves and earned the save and co-player of the game honors. The Americans are right back at it tonight when they play host team Mountain Park National at 8:00 pm.
( More | Box)
6/30/2006 - Americans 3 Peachtree Ridge 2 - Americans 3 Peachtree Ridge 2 - The Americans put it all together on Tuesday night - Pitching, Defense and timely hitting to defeat the Lions of Peachtree Ridge on a pleasant night in Lilburn. With the game tied at one, two outs and the bases jammed in the top of the fourth inning, Peachtree Ridge took the lead with a line drive to right field when the runner from third scored. But on the very same play, with the Americans shouting "4!!" the momentum shifted when Jarett Bache came up throwing to nail the runner from second trying to extend the lead. Nelson Stewart made a brilliant play to block the plate and the Americans Cameron Craport got out of the inning with minimal damage. After taking the lead in the bottom half of the inning Cameron shut the door in the 5th inning record his first victory of the All Star season.
( More | Box)

6/29/2006 - Americans 13 Mountain Park American 0 - On a hot sunny Saturday afternoon the Norcross Americans got off to a blistering start as they shutout the Mountain Park Americans by a score of 13-0. The "Big Unit" Michael Bauer pitched two scoreless innings followed by a spectacular pitching performance by Brendan Furry shutdown the boys in orange. Both pitchers took home player of the game honors. Bulldog Bell was the third player of the game as he hit a towering RBI double off the center field fence in the first inning.
( More | Box)

6/29/2006 - Norcross Sweeps Home Run Derby - Norcross Americans Wylie West placed 4th place in the home run derby held at Mountain Park on Saturday. Wylie hit 3 out before recording his tenth out. Taking first place with 9 dingers was Norcross Southerns Joe McCrina. Final Standings

Joe McCrina - Norcross S (9)
Chandler White - Norcross S (5)
Ty Burns - Norcross S (4)
Wylie West Norcross A (3)
Carson White Norcross S (2)

6/27/2006 - Photo's Available - Dave Nelson's photo's are now available at his site. Ordering online is pretty easy as they are relatively inexpensive and delivered directly to your home. I have the CD from Jeff Bell as well and will be putting those shots out as well.

6/27/2006 - Tonight's Game - The Americans meet Peachtree Ridge 8:00 pm. Batting practice begins at 6:00 pm tonight and tomorrow night at Berkeley Baseball Academy.

6/26/2006 - Tonight's Game Cancelled - The Americans will now meet Peachtree Ridge on Tuesday 6/27 at 8:00 pm. Batting practice begins at 6:00 pm tonight and tomorrow night at Berkeley Baseball Academy.

6/25/2006 - Today's Game - The Americans were rained out today. The game is rescheduled for 8:00 pm tomorrow (Monday, 6/26) night vs. Peachtree Ridge. Batting practice begins at 6:00 pm at Berkeley Baseball Academy.

6/25/2006 - Today's Game - The Americans take the field again today at 4:00pm against the Peachtree Ridge Lions. It is a match up of the same two teams who played extra innings last season's championship game. Batting practice begins at 2:15 pm at Berkeley Baseball Academy.

6/23/2006 - Preseason Stats and Photos Updated - Stats for the first 3 pre-season games have been updated. Also, more of Jeff Bells pictures have been uploaded.

6/23/2006 - Mountain Park Notes - Home run derby begins at 2pm (following our game) - 4 players per team. Throwing equipment will automatically result in a game ejection - no warnings. Questioning the umpires calls - must take a timeout first then approach the umpire. Player announcements happen 7 minutes before game - be on the field 10 minutes prior to game time. Tournament director: Terry France 404-545-7892

6/23/2006 - Bring Water Balloons Tonight - Let's not let them go to waste, bring them along to the pool party tonight.

6/20/2006 - Photos now available - Jeff Bell has taken a ton of great photo's, check them out by clicking photos from the left.

6/23/2006 - Practice Season Over - The practice season is over and it is finally time to play ball. Remember the practices?

6/22/2006 - Family Photo - Jeff Bell has offered all the families a chance to get a family photo with their player taken at tomorrows game. If you're interested, please get with Jeff prior to the beginning of the game to take the photo.

6/22/2006 - Notes from Jackie - The food is ordered for Friday night. We are having:

Pork Barbecue with buns, Potato Casserole, Corn on the Cob, Lemonade and paper products are included

The total comes to $7 per person. I did not include the players in our count because they are having steak but I’m sure we have more than enough if they would like to have some too. Sherrie is also bringing hot dogs to grill for anyone who wants that too.

This is the count I have right now:
Walch-5, Stewart-4, Thunhorst-2, Todd-5, Bells-4, Hutton-6, Bache-4, Bauer-4, Higgins-4, Evans-4, Craport-4, West-4, Karalexis-4, Furry-?

Items that people are bringing:
Karalexis: chips and appetizer, Walch: dessert, West: dessert, Bauer: dessert, Higgins: dessert, Evans: dessert, Todd: drinks, Bells: drinks, Evans: drinks, Stewart: drinks, Craport: hot dogs/buns

The car decorating will be at 6pm in the PCNM pool. I will pick up the food and then meet you guys.

6/20/2006 - Jackie Update - A few reminders:

Arrive at Mtn. Park Wednesday by 7pm. We play ball at 7:30pm. Wear your practice shirt with navy blue sleeveless shirt over it.
Practice game for Thursday night against Norcross National: Wear your complete uniform. If you have not received your pinstriped pants, please wear either an old pair or white. Remember water balloons. Also, turn in your written cards to Deanna Furry.
Friday: Party at the PCNM pool at 6pm. We will meet in the parking lot to decorate cars. We will have steaks for the 14 boys, barbecue for everyone else. We will also bring some hot dogs to grill for any kids that don’t like barbecue. Dad's remember to bring your basketball shoes.

Snack Schedule: I will just do game by game as we move along.

Game 1: Saturday: Evans

Game 2: Sunday: Todd

6/18/2006 - Practice Game vs. Norcross Southern - The Americans played just good enough to win Monday night by a score of 9-6. Both teams hit the ball well but were mediocre in the field. Next up: Dan Watts field and Berkeley beginning at 5pm.

6/18/2006 - Practice Game vs. Norcross Southern - The Americans take on Coach Jim Green's Southerners at 6:00 pm at Pinckneyville Park. The Americans will pitch 5 players in the game.
Pitching lineup:
1st - Michael Bauer
2nd - Zack Walch
3rd - Brendan Furry
4th - Andrew Thunhorst
5th - Cameron Craport

6/18/2006 - Alumni Game - The 2006 Norcross Americans got off to an early lead and were able to hang on to beat the Alumni team by a score of 10-6. The Alumni came out a little flat but stormed back into the game thanks to a sieve like Norcross Americans defense and strong latter half pitching from Danny Price and Nathan Settlage. The Americans had good enough pitching of their own to hold the Alumni scoreless in last inning to preserve the scrimmage victory.

6/17/2006 - Alumni 6 vs. 2006 Norcross Americans 10

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

1

Lane

P

CF

SS

1B

RF

2

Mark

1B

B

RF

2B

C

3

Andrew

3B

2B

LF

RF

3B

4

Danny

RF

3B

P

LF

1B

5

Ian

B

P

3B

CF

SS

6

Cory

SS

LF

1B

3B

B

7

Ryan

CF

RF

2B

C

P

8

Nathan

C

SS

B

P

CF

9

Trey

LF

1B

C

B

2B

10

Tommy

2B

C

CF

SS

LF

6/14/2006 - Helmet Lettering - John Stewart is planning on collecting all the baseball helmets at the end of the practice season before the tournament and is going to clean, strip of all stickers and will have new names and numbers put on. It will be great to have all the helmets looking the same. If you plan to get a new helmet, please let John know and he may be able to organize an order and get a better deal. If you have any questions about this, please email John.

6/14/2006 - Saturday, June 17th: Practice is 9:00am to noon. - Following practice (10:15 am) we will have the chance to scrimmage previous Walch team players in an Alumni Game. After this fun Alumni Game we will have a fun filled snack given by Michele Walch and Lindsey Stewart. Finally, to cool off and continue the fun we will head over to the “Amberfield Pool” . I will have pizza for all who want to have lunch and a cooler with cold sodas and water. RSVP if you are coming to the pool party with a count for the pizza. I am estimating $10 per family to cover the cost.

6/14/2006 - Pizza Party - Remember that I (Jackie) need an RSVP for the pizza/pool party for this Saturday. I need to know how much pizza to order.

6/12/2006 - Pitchers and Catchers Workout - Friday Night 6/16 4:00pm at Pinckneyville Park.

6/16/2006 - A few reminders about practice tonight:
Check the site to see what time your child is to arrive for practice. Some need to arrive at 4pm and others later. We will be passing out team pants tonight and hats. I need everyone to wear their team pants for the photo. You will not wear them for practice. We are taking the team photo at 5:45pm. Be there! You will need to bring your own blue belt. The team belts have not come in yet but you’ll want them for the photo. We will also give your child their practice shirt tonight. They can wear that for the photo and for the practice. IF you ordered shirts from Sherrie Craport, they are in and will be given out tonight. You must pay her before receiving your shirt. Bring your checkbooks. Saturday we have our practice at 9am followed by the Alumni Game. Sherrie has dark blue shirts for the boys to wear. Thanks Sherrie! We will all go over to the Amberfield Pool to swim and have lunch after the game. I will order pizza and we’ll have a cooler with drinks. Finally, after the Monday 6pm Scrimmage game we will have a water balloon fight against the other team. Please have your child bring (in a bucket or cooler) 40 filled water balloons. Every child is responsible for providing their own filled water balloons. After they game they will have the water balloon fight, clean up and then ice pops and drinks.

6/14/2006 - Team Photo this Friday - We will have a team photo taken before the 6 pm practice. This pitcher is proprietary in nature and shouldn't be discussed when around our competition. We will need everyone there by 5:45pm for the photo. Some will already be there since some need to arrive for the 4:00 pm pitchers and catchers workout. We will give you your Norcross All Star practice shirt that night and you will wear that for the photo. When you arrive I will give your son his pants and he can put them on for the photo only. You may want to put their name on the inside tag. We will practice with their pants they arrived to the park in. We don’t have the belts yet so wear one if you want to have it for the picture. Our new hats are ready so no need to pack the John Deere hat for this picture.

6/11/2006 - Mountain Park Car Pool - We had several email and say that they are driving to the practice. I don't think we will need Lindsay to drive now as we have the cars slotted below for carpool. Mr. Hutton and Keith Todd- thanks much for helping to carpool out there.

Keith Todd Carpool:
Bulldog
Wylie
Jake
James
Ford

Coach Hutton Carpool:
Andrew
Jarett
Patrick

Coach Scott Carpool:
Brantley
Cameron
Nelson
Zack

Becky Bauer:
Michael

For Coach Scott's carpool- he will plan on picking up on Tuesday at 9:30AM. Some have asked for an estimation of time they will be home. I think the practices will run until 12:30. They will have
lunch- and I would bet they will be home around 2PM.

Thanks,

Michele

6/5/2006 - Hello Everyone - I took Zack out to Mountain Park this afternoon to hit a bucket of balls and guess who was on one of the Pee Wee field’s? That’s right, the Mountain Park all star team! We sat and watched them a little bit and I am not sure if they are the coach pitch team or the kid pitch team. I would guess the coach pitch team but we’ll see this Thursday night when we get our bracket placement at the tournament credentials meeting.

Tomorrow begins our All-Star camp – please do me a favor, when your son returns home ask him a few questions and email the group his response: What did you learn today? What did he like best about the camp? –And- What did he dislike (if anything) about the camp? It will be interesting to see their combined responses.

Stats – I am a huge advocate of keeping stats for my teams. I don’t think it is good for the kids to be aware (too much) of their own personal stats from game to game. Of course if they have a particular personal goal that they are keeping track of it is fine if they keep up with them of course, but I don’t really want the kids to be comparing themselves to others on the team or worrying about going 0-3 in a game and what that would mean to their batting average. Looking at last years stats, the most number of hits by an individual on our team was 10 (.588) and the least number was 3 (.250). But the team hit .406 with 7 home runs. The goals we are going to shoot for will be team oriented mix of offensive, defensive and pitching. I don't think the players even need to look at the stats or even be reminded of them until they reach a particular milestone - probably the end of the tournament or when they reach a particular goal. Of course, you will have full access to the stats – it is up to you if you want to share them with your son.

Thinking of pitching stats: Last year our K/BB ratio was 1/1 and our opponents were 5/2. Two things pop out at me there - 1) Our control stunk and 2) We were too aggressive at the plate. We need to improve our pitching to be 2/1 and when we are hitting we need to swing at better pitches and be closer to 1/1.

2005 Actual
--------------------------
Norcross - 52K vs. 50BB
Opponents - 51K vs. 21BB

2006 Goal
--------------------------
Norcross - 52K vs. 26BB
Opponents - 30K vs. 30BB

We purchased our bat bags this weekend, they will be ready for us on June 21st so we should have them when we hand out the uniforms. See below for the write up on the bag we got.

Mizuno Vintage G2 Bat Bag Mizuno's most versatile bag. This medium size shell bag has a hidden extendable sheath perfect for bats or catcher's gear.

5/31/2006 - Preliminary Practice Schedule - Please see the “preliminary” practice schedule below. I say preliminary because I expect it to change slightly to replace a second week practice with a practice game against another organization (e.g. Duluth or Mountain Park).

I know, the schedule looks daunting but the good news is the league actually assigned us fields on Sunday’s but we can rest on Sunday’s! I will be taking vacation June 13, 14 and 15 – so I will provide car pool out to Mountain Park on those days. Any help car pooling on those days will be greatly appreciated. We will try to beat the heat by getting out there by 10:30am and stopping for lunch on the way home (Varsity on Jimmy Carter comes to mind). The Friday before the tournament begins will be a light practice (if any) and a time to reflect on what was accomplished during the two week whirl wind schedule. I am sure Jackie will arrange a few “fun” things for after practices – one being car decorating on the night before the first tournament game. I remember last year seeing the West’s driving around town in early September with the crap still on their car.

After I firm up any changes to the schedule, I will formalize and place it on our team web-site (which will be coming soon).

Practice Schedule
Monday June5th through Friday June 9th - Hardball Warehouse Camp
Saturday June 20th - 9:00am - 10:30am PP3
Sunday June 11th - REST - NO PRACTICE
Monday June 12th - 6:00pm - 7:30pm PP3
Tuesday June 13th - 10:30am @ * Mountain Park
Tuesday June 13th - 6:30pm @ Berkeley Baseball
Wednesday June 14th - 10:30am @ * Mountain Park
Wednesday June 14th - 6:30pm @ Berkeley Baseball
Thursday June 15th - 10:30am @ * Mountain Park (swim night)
Friday June 16th - 6:00pm - 7:30pm PP3
Saturday June 17th - 9:00am - 10:30am PP3
Sunday June 18th - REST - NO PRACTICE
Monday June 19th - Practice Game vs. Norcross National 6:00pm PP3
Tuesday June 20th - 6:30pm @ Berkeley Baseball (for non-swimmers)
Wednesday June 21st - 7:30pm - 9:00pm PP3
Thursday June 22nd - Practice Game vs. Norcross Southern 6:00pm PP3
Friday June 23rd - TBD
Saturday June 24th - Tournament Begin

5/30/2006 - All Stars Notes - I encourage you to take your sons out this week for batting practice – either at the park or one of the indoor facilities.

Reminder: The pre-season get together will be at Jocks and Jill's (States Bridge Rd. location) on Friday, June 2nd at 6:30pm. We reserved the large room and will have each family order for themselves and a 20% gratuity will be added on to each bill.

I have completed our team’s player affidavit and will need to get your signatures prior to the credentials meeting on June 8th. If you are not going to be present at the team party then I will need to get with you prior to the 8th to get it signed.

I will finish the practice schedule and get it out to everyone tonight.

See below for more information concerning the various divisions’ all-star tournaments:

TBALL (@SOUTH GWINNETT and MTN PARK) -
SOUTH - 2
NORCROSS - 3
MTN PARK - 2
GRAYSON - 3
PTREE RIDGE - 1
DULUTH - 1
BROOKWOOD - 3
NEWTON CO. - 3

PEEWEE COACH (@SOUTH GWINNETT)
SOUTH - 2
NORCROSS - 1
MTN PARK - 1
GRAYSON - 2
PTREE RIDGE - 1
DULUTH - 1
BROOKWOOD - 4

PEEWEE KID PITCH (@MTN PARK)
SOUTH - 1
NORCROSS - 3
MTN PARK - 2
GRAYSON - 2
PTREE RIDGE - 1
DULUTH - 1
BROOKWOOD - 0

MINOR (@NORCROSS)
SOUTH - 2
NORCROSS - 2
MTN PARK - 2
GRAYSON - 2
PTREE RIDGE - 2
DULUTH - 1
BROOKWOOD - 4

MAJOR (@BROOKWOOD)
SOUTH - 1
NORCROSS - 2
MTN PARK - 2
GRAYSON - 2
PTREE RIDGE - 1
DULUTH - 1
BROOKWOOD - 2

5/23/2006 - All Stars Odds and Ends - Couple of quick updates for you…

Thanks for everyone getting their birth certificates and money into Jackie and myself this early – this must be an all-time administrative record!
I incorrectly stated at our team meeting on Sunday that Devin Spry would be an “Alternate” on this years team. We offered this years “Alternate” position to Devin Spry, but he respectfully declined. We decided to offer it to Jake Karalexis, which he accepted. Please welcome Jake to our team the next time you see him. It is a very big commitment for the Karalexis family to attend all the practices knowing that Jake may not get a chance to enter a game; so our coaching staff will make sure he feels as much a part of this team as anyone else on the roster.
I am working on getting Coach Billy Boughey to become available to run a few team practices. I first met Billy when hew was a featured speaker at a “Baseball Dad’s” breakfast a few years ago at the Perimeter Church. Billy played professional ball for the Houston Astro’s organization and teaches much more than just baseball technique – he talks about attitude and leadership on the field in a way that kids can really understand and in a way that I have not found with any other professional coaches.
I have received our practice schedule from the Commissioner and before I get it sent out to everyone I am trying to schedule a few practice games in the slots we have overlapped practices with the other divisions. I was planning on taking a few days off the week of June 19th for a couple of day trips out to Mountain Park’s field, but just found out I have been selected for Gwinnett Co. jury duty that week so I may need to switch that to the week of June 12th instead.

That’s all for now, hopefully we will see you tomorrow night.

5/16/2006 - Hello American League All-Stars! - On behalf of our assistant coaches Glenn Bache and Mark Hutton, congratulations on your son’s selection to the team. Here is our official American League Roster:

#34 Jarett Bache
#5 Michael Bauer
#7 Bulldog Bell
#10 Cameron Craport
#3 Brantley Evans
#13 Brendan Furry
#12 Ford Higgins
#42 Patrick Hutton
#17 Nelson Stewart
#4 Andrew Thunhorst
#2 James Todd
#22 Zack Walch
#1 Wylie West

Jackie Thunhorst has graciously volunteered to be our team mom for the season. One of the many tasks performed by Jackie will be to collect your son’s birth certificate, which we will need for the eligibility affidavit we have to file with Dixie Youth Baseball. I already have the birth certificate for the 5 returning players from last year’s team. Also, please jot down your upcoming vacation/out of town plans leading up to June 10th. I have included a schedule outline below and will distribute the actual practice schedule when our commissioner makes it available. I expect to play a practice game against the Southern and National division teams plus an extra game against a team not in our bracket (like Duluth or Mountain Park). I will be taking a vacation during the second week of practice so we can get some day trips out to Mountain Park to practice on their field. The Mountain Park field is very small and actually changes much of the strategy we will play with since we will probably not use a cut-off man. Also, I will do my best to schedule practices around our swimmers on the team – please let me know your swim schedules when you get them. If possible, have your child swim the morning practice session so they are not too tired for our practices.

Official Practice Begins Saturday 6/10 through Friday 6/23 @ Pinckneyville Park
District Tournament Saturday 6/24 through Saturday 7/1 @ Mountain Park
State Tournament Saturday 7/8 @ Monticello, GAs

Jackie will be planning to get the families of the All-Stars together for a pre-season party and will be forwarding more information along as she has it. She will also be verifying your contact information so if you have corrections or additions please forward them to Jackie. Please double check the above roster for last name spellings and uniform numbers since we will be ordering the uniforms tomorrow.

My wife, Michele, will be coordinating our Team Video and Team Music CD. Please email Michele at Michele@walch.biz with a song choice for your son to be included on the team CD. At the end of the season, we will combine the songs with video footage and still photo’s taken during the season onto a DVD that we will distribute to the team (and watch) at the end of the season party. We have had a tradition over the past several years to include Zack’s older brother Jake in the role of the JSPN “sideline reporter”. We team him up with other older siblings on the team and they have fun interviewing the players of the game that we record digitally and use on the year end video. If your son has an older sibling that is interested in working with Jake this season, let Michele know so we can include him/her on the first event.

Besides myself, Coach Hutton and Coach Bache – we are extremely lucky to have a distinguished group of parents that are hands-on, accomplished ball coaches that will be helping with the team. I welcome all parents who have an interest in helping with the team to bring your glove to practice and jump in. I have a series of drills that work on basic fundamentals of ball skills, technique and leadership on the field. Our team will establish team oriented goals that we will refer to every practice. We will improve with every practice and with every game – and our primary goal will be to win the District 7 tournament at Mountain Park. A website link for their park is www.plaympaa.com. I know that every player on our roster has played on a past all-stars team, so please keep in mind the commitment to the team for punctuality to the practices and games.

The cost for each player is going to be 200.00. This amount is the same for all four Pinckneyville Pee Wee All-Star Teams. This cost will include everything from pants, game jerseys, practice jerseys, vests, socks and belts to monogrammed game bags, indoor practice space, trophies, pictures and tournament entrance fees. This amount will also cover other incidentals. Please note that we are going to keep a running ledger of every dollar that is expended. Please make your checks payable to Scott G. Walch and forward them to me at your earliest convenience at the address listed below. (Please note that you are welcome to search out a sponsor to help with your participation fees).

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss the All-Stars at further length, you may email me or call me on my cell (404) 759-0011.

Good luck with the remainder of your regular seasons. Thank you and we look forward to seeing all of you soon!

Scott G. Walch
sgw@netbank.com
cell: 404-759-0011
work: 770-753-1409

4259 Allenhurst Drive
Norcross, GA 30092

Practice Schedule

DATE	TIME	PLACE	ACTIVITY
Saturday 6/10	9:00am - 10:30am	PP3	Bauer Squirt Guns
Monday 6/12	4:30 pm - 5:30 pm	PP3	Pitchers and Catchers Extra Work
Monday 6/12	6:00 pm - 7:30 pm	PP3	Ice Cream Sundae Party
Tuesday 6/13	10:30am - 12:30 pm	Mountain Park	Varsity Lunch after practice
Tuesday 6/13	6:30 pm - 8:00 pm	Berkeley Baseball	Snack and drink - Melissa Bache
Wednesday 6/14	10:30am - 12:30 pm	Mountain Park	Varsity Lunch after practice
Wednesday 6/14	6:30 pm - 8:00 pm	Berkeley Baseball	Snack and drink - Bonnie Evans
Thursday 6/15	9:30am - 12:30 pm	PP3	DQ Lunch after practice
Friday 6/16	4:00 pm - 5:30 pm	PP3	Pitchers and Catchers Extra Work
Friday 6/16	6:00 pm - 7:30 pm	PP3	Ice Pop celebration
Saturday 6/17	9:00am - noon	PP3	Alumni Game @ 10:30 am
Saturday 6/17	1:00 pm	Fields Club Pool	Pool Party (Amberfield Pool)
Monday 6/19	6:00 pm	PP3	Vs. Norcross National
Tuesday 6/20	5:00 pm - 6:15 pm	Dan Watts	*NEW Defensive Workout
Tuesday 6/20	6:30 pm - 8:00 pm	Berkeley Baseball	Snack: Sherrie Craport
Wednesday 6/21	7:30 pm	Mountain Park	vs. Mountain Park National
Thursday 6/22	6:00 pm	PP3	vs. Norcross Southern (rain)
Friday 6/23	6:00 pm - 9:00pm Bring Water Balloons from yesterday's rain out	North Manner	Pool Party Car decorating followed by dinner (Coach Scott grilling Steak and Pasta for the kids) at the PCNM Pool club. Supply all car decorating material: Hutton, Furry, Thunhorst, Walch

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