Yalesville Little League: News

Due to inclement weather, all games scheduled for today, Tuesday, July 21st, have been cancelled. This includes all games at the Yalesville Complex, Dag and Westside Field. Coaches will inform players as soon as makeup information becomes available.

Frank Benham, a founding member of Yalesville Little League and a long time coach in the 1950s and 1960s passed away recently. On behalf of the children of our League, the Board of Directors, and the Auxiliary, we extend our sincere condolences to Coach Benham’s family and friends.

We have been humbled by the outpouring in honor of Coach Benham in the way of memorial contributions that have been made to our League in his memory. To date those contributions have totaled almost $1000.00.

Sign ups have begun for the 2009 Wallingford Panthers season. For all those who couldn't make it to the first sign up, there will be another one this Thursday (August 6th) from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the field house above the concession stand at the Yalesville Little League complex. All other information regarding the season and registration fees can be found at the official website for Wallingford Panthers Fall Baseball (www.wallingfordpanthers.org).

*Wallingford Panthers Baseball is an independant organization and does not have any direct affiliation with Yalesville Little League, Wallingford Little League or Little League Baseball.

The regular season for the 2009 Summer Classic Tournament concluded with many of the teams needing a win to get into the eight team playoff. Congratulations to the teams that made the playoffs and all the teams who participated in the tournament, as this was our most exciting year of summer baseball at Yalesville Little League. Four teams tied with a record of 4-4 and the tiebreaker used was runs allowed per defensive inning. Attached below is the the playoff bracket for the tournament. The bracket was updated at the conclusion of the game on Monday. Southington North won Game 1 of the Summer Classic Championship 4-3 to force a Game 2 tomorrow.

The website has been updated to include all schedules, results and standings of our 12, 11 and 10 year old district all star teams. Results and standings are up to date to include most games played through July 9th, and can be viewed by clicking the tabs on the left hand column. Some non-Yalesville games have yet to be posted on the district website.

 The 2009 Yalesville Little League 9 and 10 year old Summer Classic Tournament is underway. Full schedules and standings for the tournament can be found by clicking the links in the left hand column. Check back to this site the following morning after all games for updated scores and standings. Also, if you are questionable about the weather, check the main page for any cancellation information.

The rosters for the 2009 All Star teams have been posted and can be viewed by clicking the link in the left hand column. Congratulations to all who made the individual teams.

Opening Day is this Sunday, May 3rd. Teams will begin the walk in at 11:30pm. All players, parents and relatives should plan ahead to get to the fields early, as parking is limited. The games for the day will begin after the ceremony concludes.

Due to the inclement weather expected for this weekend, the pitching clinic originally scheduled for this Saturday (April 11th), has been moved to the following Saturday (April 18th). All other details remain the same, with the clinic running from 9AM to 1PM at the Yalesville Little League complex. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused, but the league wanted all participants to have the best learning experience possible.

Tom Girouard will be running a clinic for all umpires on Saturday, March 18th at the Yalesville Little League complex. Umpires and prospective umpires young and old are welcome to attend. The clinic will be on Field 4 and will be rain or shine. If you have any questions, you can contact Tom at (203) 630-1805.

 Yalesville Little League will be holding its annual Field Day on Saturday, March 28th starting at 9am. Come down to the fields and help the crew get our complex ready for another great season. Any time you can volunteer to rake or clean the fields would be a great help to the field crew and our league as a whole. In the case of rain, Field Day would be rescheduled to the following day, Sunday March 29th.

Yalesville Little League will be hosting a coaching clinic on April 4th at the Sheehan High School Gymnasium in Wallingford. The league is bringing in a Bill Asermely, an assistant coach at Yale and instructor at the North East Baseball School, who will be going over many fundamentals covering topics such as hitting, fielding and how to run an effective practice. All coaches and parents are recommended to attend as this is a great learning experience for all. From a coach who has 20 years experience, all the way down to the parent who just has catch with their child in the backyard, all will learn valuable ways to improve the ways they communicate the game. The clinic will run from 9AM to 1PM and is free of charge. We are also encouraging not just coaches and parents of our league, but other local leagues (Wallingford Little League, Girls Softball) to attend as well.

In addition to the above mentioned coaching clinic, Yalesville Little League will be holding a separate clinic for coaches and players that will focus solely on pitching. This clinic will be run on April 11th at the Yalesville Little League complex by Ken Welch and Mike Cappetta, who are some of our most experienced coaches. The clinic will begin at 9AM with a warm-up and stretch session for players and an instructional period for coaches. Following that, each player will have a chance to take the mound and be evaluated while the coach is present to give feedback on their technique. This is a great experience for both players who been pitching for a while and for those who have never pitched and want to learn. It is also beneficial for all coaches to attend so they can take the fundamentals taught in this clinic and present them to their teams at individual practices. The clinic will run from 9AM to 1PM and is free of charge.

The annual coaches meeting is scheduled for March 25th at 7PM at Moran Middle School. All new and returning coaches are strongly recommended to attend as this is where we will be introducing Board members, explaining procedures and rules, and distributing schedules. Coaches will also be given rule books, their medical release forms, accident notification forms and uniform patches for those coaches at the Majors and Junior League levels.

To accommodate the registration director in setting up evaluation times for all players, the following online registration deadlines have been set.

February 7th, 2009 - Majors & AAA

March 1st, 2009 -  AA & A

March 27th, 2009 - Juniors & Challengers

April 1st, 2009 -  T-Ball

After these dates, no more online registrations will be allowed for players in the pertaining division.

The Yalesville Little League Auxiliary is seeking volunteers to work in the concession stand. If you are interested, please contact Susan Kolakowski at slkolakowski@sbcglobal.net.

 Attached below is a survey that we ask all potential coaching candidates take and bring with them to registration. A document on how coaches are selected can also be found by clicking on the handout tab to the left.

Registration dates for the 2009 can be found below. All dates are held at the Wallingford Park & Recreation Department:

January 14th, 2009 from 6:00PM to 8:00PM

January 17th, 2009 from 1:00PM to 4:00PM

January 21st, 2009 from 6:00PM to 8:00PM

January 24th, 2009 from 1:00PM to 4:00PM

A pre-registration letter is attached below this announcement. The letter includes important information such as fees, evaluation information, and all ways you can register. Also, the registration form can be found under our handouts tab to the left for anyone who plans to mail in their registration.

With the New Year comes preparation for the 2009 Yalesville Little League season. The calendar tab to the left has been updated with all important dates through May 2009. There are new handouts and forms in the handout section to the site such as the Pre-Registration Letter, the Registration Form, 2009 Important Dates and 2009 Parent Code of Conduct Form. Be sure to check back to this site for information and announcements regarding the upcoming season as it will be updated frequently. For any questions, please feel free to contact the webmaster (matthew.cerasale@gmail.com).

 Sign ups have begun for the 2008 Wallingford Panthers season. For all those who couldn't make it to the first sign up, there will be another one this Saturday (July 26th) from 10:00am to 12:00pm under the pavillion across from the concession stand at the Yalesville Little League complex. All other information regarding the season and registration fees can be found at the official website for Wallingford Panthers Fall Baseball (www.wallingfordpanthers.org).

Congratulations to all the teams that advanced on to the Summer Classic playoffs. The playoff bracket can be found below this message, while the scores can be accessed by clicking on the schedules tab located on the left hand column. Good luck to all the teams remaining.

The 2008 Yalesville Summer Classic 9-10 year old all-star tournament is back and better than ever. This year will again showcase some of the best young talent in the state of Connecticut. The Summer Classic runs from June 28th to July 23rd with games on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Coaches and players can find their complete schedules by clicking the schedules link in the left hand column and all the scores and standings will also be updated after each days games. Come down to the field and root on your team, watch some great baseball and stop at the improved concession stand with many new items.

The schedules for the 10, 11 and 12 year old District 5 all-star teams have been posted under the schedules tab on the left hand column. Come out to the games and support all of the league's players as they make their runs at District 5 titles. Coaches, players, parents and fans can find directions and addresses to all the fields by clicking on the "Locations" tab on the left hand column. The scores will be updated the following day for anyone who can't make it out to a game.

*For a complete list of all the games including district teams from other towns, check out http://www.eteamz.com/ctd5/handouts.

Congratulations to Bolio's Sporting Goods for finishing a very emotional season on top. Shirt Graphix took the early lead 2-0 in the second game of the Junior League Championship, but Bolio's was able to come back and win 3-2. Shirt Graphix was the third team in all three divisions to force a second game in the championship series.

Bolio's played all season in honor of Tyler Priore, who tragically passed away in a January car accident. Like all games prior, his jersey hung in the dugout and following the game, both teams gathered on the field to cheer his name.

Congratulations to Tom's Barber Shop on winning the Majors Championship. Frenchy's Auto pushed Tom's to the limit before falling just short in the second game of the championship. All of the Majors teams made it another eventful season, especially in the playoffs and they should be proud.

*Many thanks must go out to all the people that miraculously were able to get the field back to shape after heavy rain interupted Game 1 of the Majors Championship. The field crew and all the volunteers spend countless hours preparing the fields and making them playable after even the worst of storms and they deserve a thank you.

Congratulations to AFSCME on winning the 2008 AAA Championship. Amore took them to a second championship game, but AFSCME was able to pull it out. All the AAA teams should be proud of themselves on another great season of AAA baseball.

Introducing Single A Division:

Starting in 2008, this division will be an itermediate step between Tee-Ball and Double A.  First year 5 and 6 year olds will still play in Tee-Ball.  Tee-Ball Graduates that are 6 and 7 Years old as well as some less experenced 8 year olds will play in Single A which will be Machine Pitch and will feature the same rules as we have previously used in Double A.  Double A will be a combination of Machine Pitch and Player pitch.  We will no longer allow 6 year olds to play at this level.

 In addition to re-emphasizing pitching instruction at a younger level, the higher level of competition will allow for a smoother transition from Double A to Triple A.

We have completed registration and team rosters for the 2008 Spring Season.  Any players that have not signed up yet can be put on a waiting list in the event that a spot opens up for the following levels:  T-Ball, Single A, Double A, Triple A, Majors & Juniors.

We are still taking registrations for Challengers, which is designed for special needs players age 5 through High School.

Senior League (Ages 15-16) teams will be put together after High School Baseball seasons come to a close.  Any player wishing to play Seniors can contact Rob Croston (269-5623)or Ray Gomes (265-7580)

Have any questions about this website, comments about anything or suggestions about what should be added or done to help, then contact Matt Cerasale (matthew.cerasale@gmail.com).

For all other questions concerning league issues, please refer to the contact tab on the left hand column.