Clairemont Hilltoppers Little League

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Our third annual Poker Tournament, held Saturday, October 24 at the Best Western Seven Seas, was another roaring success and enjoyed by all who attended.

An evening of music, food, fun, camaraderie (and even a little card playing), was capped off with the championship going to Larry Perkins. Larry won the grand prize of a two-night stay at the beautiful Bristol Hotel in downtown San Diego. Dozens of Clairemont Hilltoppers parents, friends and relatives turned out for what has become an annual social highlight for our Hilltoppers community.

Congratulations to the others who reached our "final table" and walked away with prizes: Denise Pelletier, Will Bechtel, Ed West, Kevin Bonner, Dan Fauth, Bebe Pearson and Henry Garnett.

A big thank you to league parent Joe Tocyzlowski for providing the venue once again, as well as our grand prize. Thanks also to Cathy Campbell and the rest of the hotel staff who made our event run so smoothly, and to all those who donated our fun and wonderful prizes. Appreciation also goes to our fine dealers, who worked tirelessly throughout the evening, along with tournament directors Roger Otterson and Troy Keltner.

If you missed the tournament this time, to someone who was there and hear just how much fun it was. Be sure to look for our announcement in the spring of our next tournament (probably in April), and come out and join the party!

Former San Diego State and San Diego Padres pitcher and Clairemont resident Royce Ring is now offering private instruction to individuals, from children to adults.

Royce has seven years of Major League pitching experience, and just completed the 2009 season as part of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League champion Memphis Redbirds. He is offering private lessons on throwing, catching and warm-up techniques. He is also offering clinics for four or more individuals at a reduced rate.

For more information, click on the flyer handout below, or call 619-316-6265.

With games starting on Sunday, September 13, the 2009 Winter Ball season is now in full swing at Clairemont Hilltoppers.

This year, we have teams in the Farm, Minors (3), Majors (2), and Juniors divisions. There is still room for additional players in both the Majors and Juniors divisions, so if you have not yet signed up, please contact Mike Van Cleave (858) 274-6420 or Ken Cicalo (858) 586-1861, and we can still get you on a team in those divisions.

The season runs until November 23, with games only once a week on Sunday afternoons, This fun, instructional season is a great opportunity for players to try new positions, adjust to a higher division, or work on things that they learned during the regular season.

Games will be played with some of our neighboring leagues, including Clairemont Mesa, Mission Bay, University City, Presidio and a few others. It's a lot of fun and a great way for your kids to keep enjoying the fun and friendships they developed during the regular season.

Even if you're not playing this season, click on the handout below for a complete list of winter ball schedules, and come out and enjoy some games!

Park View's Little Leaguers, from Chula Vista, CA, are champions of the Little League world.

With a come-from-behind 6-3 victory over Chinese Taipei on Sunday, August 29, Park View captured the Little League World Series, becoming only the second team from San Diego County to ever reign as World Champions. This capped a weekend where they won the United States Championship with a dominant 12-2 victory over San Antonio, Texas, the only team to defeat them during the tournament in Williamsport, PA.

Their electrifying 11-10 comeback win over Warner Robbins, GA on August 26 set up the final weekend's achievements, which captivated viewers and fans, not just in Chula Vista, not just in San Diego County, but all over the country.

Park View, from District 42 in Chula Vista, captured the Sub-Division III Tournament hosted by Clairemont Hilltoppers during their tournament run, and went on to win the Southern California Divisional Championship. They then won the ultimate Little League trip... to Williamsport, PA and the Little League World Series, sweeping through the West Regional tournament and winning the final 11-4 over Northern California on August 16.

With wins in all six of their games at the West Regional in San Bernardino, Park View dominated the tournament, scoring double digits in all six games they played. The championship game, televised nationally on ESPN2, was very close for four innings, before Park View erupted for eight runs in the last two innings. Park View broke longstanding records in both the World Series (with 19 homers in six games) and the West Regional (where they clobbered an astounding total of 38 home runs in six games).

Park View becomes the first San Diego County team since El Cajon/La Mesa Northern in 1961 to capture the Little League World Series.

Park View's road through this tournament season was exciting, but not without a few bumps. They lost a game in their initial District tournament to Sweetwater Valley Little League, before bouncing back to sweep through that tournament, as well as their Section 7 tournament. In the Subdivision tournament at Hilltoppers, they won their first game against Corona National, 14-4, but had to eke out a 5-4 win over Rancho Santa Margarita in the semifinals, before breezing to the championship with a 16-1 win over the same Rancho Santa Margarita team.

That title brought them to Encino for the best-two-of-three divisional final the weekend of August 1-3 against Torrance Little League. On Saturday, August 1, Park View fell behind early, and all of the wheels came off in an 18-0 loss to Torrance. They bounced back, however, posting a nail-biter 7-6 win on Sunday, and followed that with a 19-12 slugfest win on Monday, August 3.

Congratulations to our friends from Parkview and District 42 for bringing the Little League World Series Championship back to San Diego County!

The District 32 tournament kicked off our month-long festivities, with games from June 27 to July 15. The winner of that tournament, Coronado, progressed to the Section 6 tournament, which we hosted from July 18-23. Mission Trails Little League, from District 33, won that tournament, advancing to our Sub-Division III tournament from July 25-29.

That title was captured by Park View Little League from District 42 in Chula Vista. They have since advanced to the semifinals of the West Regional in San Bernardino, representing all of Southern California. The winner of that tournament goes to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA, and Park View is now just wins on Friday and Sunday from making that trip.

This is the first time Clairemont Hilltoppers was given the opportunity to host all three of these tournaments. Thanks to our great volunteers, we had four weeks of great fun, excitement and baseball being played on our beautiful fields. Players, coaches, parents and league officials from all over Southern California were exposed to Clairemont Hilltoppers baseball and hospitality. Thanks so much to all who made this possible!

Clairemont Hilltoppers' Senior Division All-Stars (District 32 and Section 6 Champions) ended their great 2009 post-season, dropping a heartbreaking 9-8 decision to Spring Valley Little League on July 28.

The loss eliminated Hilltoppers from the Subdivision tournament, hosted by Canyon Springs Little League in the Moreno Valley/Riverside area. On July 27, Rialto Park Little League posted a 10-1 victory that was Hilltoppers' first loss of the season by more than one run.

It was an amazing season for this team, and great thanks go to coaches John Milisitz, Ross Majam and Randy Darman for all of their tireless efforts with this team. Thanks also to the parents and friends of the team, who lent such wonderful support throughout this exciting season. This group of kids has a lot to be proud of, and went where no Hilltoppers team has been in 25 years... to District and Sectional titles!

Named as Charter Members were 17 individuals whose achievements, contributions and leadership will forever be recognized with this honor. A permanent plaque listing the names of all current and future Hall of Famers hangs in our scorebooth building.

Following are the Inductees along with year named:

• Frank Adams (2006)
• Ron Conkle (2006)
• Ken Henderson (2006)
• Tom Franklin (2006)
• John Adams (2006)
• Link Lincavage (2006)
• Harold McCoy (2006)
• Jim Gerstenslager (2006)
• Dave Stephenson (2006)
• Mike Winters (2006)
• Dave Bermudes (2006)
• George Kovacevich (2006)
• Bill Salonius (2006)
• Jeanne Morrow (2006)
• Cesar Carmona (2006)
• Dave Pursel (2006)
• Mike Van Cleave (2006)
• Steve Conner (2008)

These members were recognized for their contributions in one or more of these four categories: Inspirational, Leadership, Volunteer and Special Recognition. Future members will be selected by a committee of current and former Hilltoppers.

Congratulations to all of these Hall of Famers, and many thanks for all you have meant to Clairemont Hilltoppers Little League.