Wisconsin District 4 Little League: Welcome

With 4th of July fireworks celebrations behind us, it's time for fireworks of a different kind.  These are the fireworks of our very own all-stars as they battle in the district tournaments.  Tournament games, held throughout July, always feature fun times and great plays at the ballpark.  Check out the schedules for the district tournaments and head on down to the ballpark to cheer on your favorite team.

Tournament schedules are posted on the "News" page.  Important information regarding coaches meetings for the district tournaments can be found there as well.  And, if you can't make it out to the ball park, be sure to check our website for the latest scores and updates.

If you have pictures of your favorite Little League All-Star in action on the diamond, please send them to the webmaster.  We'll compile all the submissions and post them on our webpage. 

District 4 Little League fans, this is your webpage!  We hope that it is your first home for information on Little League baseball and softball in southcentral Wisconsin.  If there is anything you feel needs to be added or changed, please send an e-mail to jjkautza@charter.net.

Jeremy Kautza--Webmaster

If you need to contact someone from District 4:

Jeff Wolfe, Wisconsin District 4 Administrator, has released schedules for the 2009 District 4 Tournaments.  The schedule for the Majors division can be found in the article below.  To access the schedules for the remaining tournaments, click on the handout below and then choose the appropriate age division. 

Mandatory coaches meetings have also been announced.  These meetings will allow league representatives and coaches the opportunity to hear District 4 Umpire Coordinator, Rob Ruhle, go over rules for tournament play.  Team affadavits will also be processed at the meeting.  In addition, District 4 Administrator, Jeff Wolfe will outline tournament expectations.  A representative from every team playing in the tournament is REQUIRED to attend.

Coaches meetings will be held at Bowl-A-Vard Lanes on Madison's far east side according to the following schedule:

• 9-10 and 10-11 year old teams:  July 20th at 7pm
• Majors:  July 12th at 6pm
• Juniors and Seniors:  July 13th at 7pm

Good luck to all teams!

Bill Battista (Majors Tournament Coordinator) with cooperation from Jeff Wolfe (District Administrator) has released an updated schedule for the 2009 Majors District 4 Tournament.  The tournament will be held at Madison East LL from Monday, July 13 through Tuesday, July 21. 

The schedule was changed due to Ripon LL dropping its team from tournament play.  It will still feature 3 pools of teams playing round-robin style.  The first and second place teams will advance to tournament style play to determine the WI District 4 champion.  The championship team will advance to the state tournament hosted by WI District 6 at Lakeland LL.

Click on the handout below for the complete schedule.  Good luck to all teams!

District 4 is pleased to announce the addition of Jason Kelley to our staff.  Jason began his LL "career" playing for Madison East LL.  Soon after his LL playing days were over Jason found a new passion in umpiring.  Jason was a quick study and soon found his roles and responsibilities increasing.  He was named to the district umpire staff and has worked numerous regular and post-season games. 

Jason attended umpire schools at the Central Region in 2003 and 2004, at Williamsport in 2004, and at the Western Region in 2008.  In addition, Jason's umpiring accomplishments already include 2 Junior Regionals.  The first was for the EMEA (2007) and the latest for our very own Central Region (2008).

Jason's passion recently has turned to helping new umpires learn the craft.  After a very successful showing at the Jim Evans Umpire Academy and a chance to umpire in the minor leagues, Jason returned to his roots actively pursuing learning and teaching opportunities for LL umpires.  He has been an instructor for both the Central and Western Region Umpire Schools this past spring and most recently has been named our district's assistant umpire coordinator.  Jason also runs an internet board for umpires who have been to a LL umpire school where he moderates discussions specific to LL rules and situtations LL umpires encounter.  

District 4 is fortunate to have such a fine umpire helping coordinate and instruct umpires for south-central WI. 

As reported in January, West Madison LL is going to begin offering a Challenger Division for children with disabilities.  The division will be part of the Fall Ball Program and games will be held on Saturday mornings, starting September 5 (times may be adjusted based on Badger Football games). 

The season will be 4 or 5 weeks and games will be played on the Major Field along Forward Drive at the WMLL complex.  If there are enough registrants, there could be two leagues; one for players with limited abilities and one for players with higher skill levels.  Age range will be 8 through 16 (this might also change depending upon numbers--LL allows 5 thru 18).

A planning committee consisting of several WMLL board members, as well as some outsiders who represent several organizations with experience dealing with children with disabilities (West Kiwanis Club, Easter Seals and WI Special Olympics) has already been formed.  The committee has already assisted in the planning stages and customization of registration and information forms that will aid us in determining what level of play is appropriate for these children.  In addition, the West Kiwanis Club will provide buddies for each player during the game), and Easter Seals is providing a Dane County mailing list to use to spread the word to families and agencies who deal with children with disabilities.  In addition to the committee above, District 4 Umpire, Jason Kelley, has been involved in the planning process and has volunteered to head up the effort to secure umpires.

What can you do to help?  Right now, one of the most important things to do is to get as many people as possible spreading the word about this new program for these special athletes.  If every Little League in Dane County would be willing to spread the word to all your LL families and put some basic info on your websites, that would be great.  We will probably start taking formal registrations sometime after the start of the regular season this spring.

For more information please contact Bill Battista, Executive Director of WMLL at eartags@aol.com or by calling 608-233-2413.

Central Region Headquarters has announced that two umpires from WI District 4 have been selected to work at the Regional Tournament level this summer.  This is one of the highest accomplishments an umpire can achieve. 

Congratulations to Marianne Kelley who will be headed to Indianapolis for the Majors Central Region Tournament.  Maryann has been a volunteer district 4 umpire for over 30 years with a large portion of her work dedicated to Madison East LL. 

Congratulations also goes out to Tim Shaw who will be headed to Fort Wayne, IN for the Junior Central Region Tournament.  Tim has been a member of the district 4 staff for nearly 10 years.

These are the first regional tournament assignments for both umpires.