Merrill Park Baseball League: Monthly Newsletter

The dates and times for baseball Uniform Distribution have been set.  All uniforms will be handed out at the Merrill Park Clubhouse, Chain O Hills Road, Colonia from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm.

Monday, March 23, Sr. & Pony

Tuesday, March 24, Majors

Wednesday, March 25. Minors

Thursday, March 26, Cubs

Friday, March 27, T-Ball

If you cannot make your scheduled night or if you are unable to come on your specified evening ask your coach for alternatives. For parents who have more than one player registered, you may pick up all uniforms on the same night.  (Please attend the scheduled date for the oldest player – you may pick up the uniform for the younger player(s) the same night).    I would like to thank Karen Comi and Bonnie Vanderveer for once again coordinating, ordering and running the uniform distribution process!! 

OPENING DAY IS SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2009!!

The Merrill Park Baseball Season for 2009 starts on April 4, 2009. We will have our Opening Day parade and opening ceremonies in Merrill Park starting at 9:00 a.m.All players are requested to be in Merrill Park at the Gazebo no later than 8:30 a.m.  We really need everybody to be there at 8:30 a.m. in order to line up the players for the parade.Plan to arrive early in order to park your vehicle in Merrill Park.  The police will be closing the roads leading into Merrill Park prior to the start time of the parade.We will need help throughout the day on Opening Day. Please contact Marianne Tamburello (732) 382-6536 to volunteer some time. 

Travel Teams for Baseball

Merrill Park Baseball League offers players the opportunity to play travel baseball at all levels.  We will have teams made up of players from 8 years old through 15 years old.  These teams are entered in competitive tournaments throughout the Central New Jersey area and play during the months of June and July (sometimes into the beginning of August).  Players must be registered and play during the recreation season and must also try out for these teams.  Travel Baseball is in addition to the recreation season, not in place of the recreation season.  Information on try outs will be announced.  If you are interested in travel baseball, please call the general manager of your child's division. Be advised that tryouts will be in the first or second week of May. Flyers with specific details will be out shortly after opening day. 

Baseball Photos

Individual pictures will be held at the Clubhouse on Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2. Times are to be announced. Team pictures will be taken on the fields at a date TBD. 

Baseball Umpires:

Any player in our league who is interested in umpiring for the upcoming baseball season should contact Marianne Tamburello, 732-382-6536.  In order to be eligible, you must be at least 13 years old and currently registered to play in our league. Umpire Class will be held prior to the start of the season      

MPBL PICNIC:

This years Picnic is planned for Saturday June 20th. The picnic will be $25 per family. This includes immediate family only. All grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins will be charged separately. There will be food, games, and a DJ on hand all day for your enjoyment. All participation trophies will be handed out at the picnic after all games have been completed.  I look forward to seeing you there. 

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

I need to start this message with a tremendous thank you to Lynn Bilawsky for coordinating the candy fundraiser this year and to Paul Johnson for the work that he did with the plumbing in the Clubhouse. It is because of people like this that continue to step up to help us that we have a successful league.Once again I urge all of you to get involved and volunteer to help us out. We are all very busy, but we continue to need help to keep our league running the way it has been for the past 55 years. We are losing very key contributors this year and are looking for fresh blood to get involved. Please feel free to contact me at anytime to discuss how you can get more involved.I look forward to a successful baseball season and to seeing you all on the baseball fields and at opening day. Darren Crocker 

Registration for the 2009 Baseball Season is well underway. We will be holding additional Registration on January 17^th  and 31^st  (See Calendar of Events for times). Spots will be on a first come first served basis in the Open Registration period.  The registration fee for the 2009 seasons will be $85.00. Discounts are given for multiple players.For any questions about registration please contact League Director Paul Johnson at 732-549-1794. THERE IS NO WORK BOND.

BASKETBALL

The season is set to begin on January 6, 2009. You can find a copy of your child’s schedule on our website listed above. You will also be receiving a call from your child’s coach. Basketball pictures will be taken on Friday January 23 and Saturday January 24 2009. All pictures will be taken at the Avenel Middle School. You will be given a time to show up by your child’s coach prior to those dates.

BASEBALL EVALUATIONS

The dates and times for evaluations have been set. You are required to attend one session. The drafts for each division will follow the last evaluations. All evaluations will be held at AVENEL MIDDLE SCHOOL. Please check the calendar of events to make sure you attend the correct session.  

BATTING CAGES

Batting cages will begin on Saturday January 16^th 2009. Set up will be on Friday night at 7:00pm and take down will be Saturday afternoon ~2:00pm. We are in need of additional volunteers for our batting cages. If you would like to volunteer to help set up or take down the cages please contact Jay Stolz at 732-208-0556.

UMPIRES

If you are interested in being an umpire for the upcoming baseball season and are at least 13 years old, please call Marianne Tamburello at (732) 382-6536.

BASEBALL UNIFORMS

All uniform shirts should have been returned. If they have not been, please note there is a $35 charge for unreturned shirts which will be due at registration for the 2009 baseball seasons. There are BLUE BINS outside the clubhouse door (corner or New Dover and Chain of Hills Roads) where shirts may be dropped off at any time. Your cooperation is expected and appreciated. If you have questions contact Karen Comi - 732-266-5840.

FUNDRAISERS:

CANDY SALE:All Basketball Players (ALL AGES) and All Baseball Players (ages 5 –10 )  are required to participate in our League Fundraiser Candy Sale.  Parents who do not wish to sell a box of candy will be charged a fee of $25.00 (which represents the profit that our league makes on each box of candy sold).  The Candy Sale is our League's main fundraiser for the year and provides vital revenues needed to keep our basketball and baseball programs running.  Players who participate in the basketball fundraiser , who also play baseball, will not be required to participate in the baseball fundraiser. Each family will only participate in one fundraiser.  Families with more than one player are only required to sell one box of candy (or pay the $25.00). PLEASE NOTE: If your candy money is not turned in before your first game your child will not be permitted to play.

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Elections for the E-board took place at the general meeting on September 8, 2008. I would like to welcome the new E-board members and thank the outgoing members for all of the hard work for the past year. Anyone interested in becoming more involved and becoming an E-board member for 2009 - 2010 it is never to early to get involved. Below are the guidelines you will need to meet, Per the constitution anyone absent for five(5) of the twelve(12) meetings during the period of September 2008 to August 2009 are not eligible to run, nominate, or vote. If you are interested in running for an executive board position please feel free to contact Darren Crocker. Even if you do not want to assume an executive board position, there are many other ways you can get involved through the various committees.  Simply stated, we are in urgent need of new people to step up and get involved so that our league can continue.  Please visit the website for a full list of E-board members.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Now is the time for all parents in the league to step up and lend a hand. I was very close again this year to having to turn children away this basketball season for a lack of coaches. I reach out to you the parents in this league to do all you can to help us run this league. We all have busy schedules and lives outside of little league, but without your help we will not continue to be a success. Many of you will see me through the basketball season or baseball season, feel free to come up and let me know you want to get more involved. Several of our key E-board members will be leaving us next year and I need people to step up and help replace the many things that they do. Please feel free to call me or e-mail with any questions at anytime.

I would like to thank Bonnie Vanderveer, Andy Berger, Lonny Buchholz, Karen Comi, Paul Johnson, Adam Weinstein and Marianne Tamburello for helping with in-person registration.   

I look forward to continuing to work with and meeting each of you in the upcoming year. Please feel free to contact me at anytime to discuss any issue you have with our league. I truly care about the well being of your child and want to make sure they have the best sports experience they possibly can.

Darren Crocker

 SPECIAL THANKS

I would like to thank the Avenel Fire Department for their help in pumping out the clubhouse basement after the last storm. They were able to pump out about 2 feet of water from our basement. Thank you for being so responsive.

The registration fee for the 2008-2009 seasons will be $85.00 for one sport and $150.00 for both sports.  Discounts are given for multiple players.

THERE IS NO WORK BOND.       

BASKETBALL

The basketball divisions are organized as follows:     

Cub:  Ages 5, 6, 7Minor:  Ages 8, 9, 10's Currently in       4th GradeMajor:  10's Currently in 5thGrade, 11, 12Junior:  13, 14, 15, 16, 17*Playing age is determined by the child's age as of 12/31/08.*17 year olds must have been in the league for the last three (3) years.

TRAVEL TRYOUTS

Try-outs for the Merrill Park Travel Basketball teams will be held on Tuesday, October  28, 2008 Wednesday, October 29; Thursday, October 30.

4th, 5th, & 6th Grade Teams: 6:00pm - 7:30pm
7th & 8th Grade Teams: 7:45pm - 9:15pm
You must attend at least one session. Playing ages are as follows:

5^th grade – born after 07/31/97

The dates and times for evaluations have been set. You are required to attend one session. The drafts for each division will follow the last evaluations. All evaluations will be held at AVENEL MIDDLE SCHOOL.

3rd, 4th, & 5th grade players: 11:15am - 1:00pm

6th, 7th, 8th, & 9th grade players: 9:00am - 11:00pm 

9 -YEAR-OLD ALLSTARSAlthough the 9 year olds did not have many wins our victories came by way of friendship, sportsmanship and good baseball. I want to thank the coaches and parents for their unending support. The boys played their hearts out against some very good teams and made me proud. They held their heads high in difficult times and exemplified that Merrill Park is a class organization built on character and dedication. Thank you Coach Dean

 12-YEAR-OLD ALLSTARSCongratulations to the Merrill Park 12 year old travel team on completion of a successful season. The team finished 14-9 and captured 2nd place in the Roselle Park tournament and 1st place in the Rahway tournament , beating Colonia in the finals 2-1. The team consisted of the following players:ZACH BUCHHOLZ, CHRIS CAMPOS, DAN FERNANDEZ, PETE FIORE, CHRIS FROST, ERIC GIORDANO, ADAM KARLIN, JOHN KEANE, RYAN LOWLES, JIOVANNI MALDONADO, MATT MIZAK, JORDAN ROSENHOUSE, NICK VELEZ. The team was coached by JACK FROST, PETE FIORE , TOM KARLIN AND JOHN KEANE.
 

EXECUTIVE BOARD ELECTIONS

Elections for the E-board will take place at the general meeting on September 8, 2008.  Per the constitution anyone absent for five(5) of the twelve(12) meetings during the period of September 2007 to August 2008 are not eligible to run, nominate, or vote. The reality is, this is a volunteer organization in need of some new members.  If you are interested in running for an executive board position, please attend the September 8, 2008 meeting.  Even if you do not want to assume an executive board position, there are many other ways you can get involved through the various committees.  We are in desperate need of new people to step up and get involved so that our league can continue to run the way it does.   

UNIFORM COLLECTION

If you have still not turned in your baseball uniform please make sure you drop them in the bins outside at the Clubhouse. We are trying to get an accurate inventory so we know what we need for next year. If you have a problem or concern please call Karen Comi at 732-266-5840.

 Volunteer of the Year Award 

Congratulations to Lynn Bilawsky who was named Volunteer of the Year. We always present this award at opening day, but due to opening day being canceled we were unable to officially present Lynn with her award. Thanks Lynn for all your help.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT              

 I would like to thank everyone who made my second  year as president as smooth and easy as the first. I know the weather didn’t cooperate with us during the baseball season but I think we did the best we could given the circumstances we faced. The entire E-board worked extremely hard to make this year as good as it was I would especially like to thank all the E-board members who are leaving us.                I would like to take this chance to welcome the new families who have joined us in the past year and to the families that continued with us. It is at this time I ask that all of you get involved as much as you can. It is because of the parent involvement that we can remain as successful as we have been. Even if you can only give an hour a week, we will find a way to use your services. Along with the efforts of the E-board and your help we will continue to make improvements and grow this league.               Of course, as always if you have any questions or concerns please to do not hesitate to e-mail me or call me.  

                Darren Crocker