Little League News Archives

“We can still get out .500 this week and hopefully keep on winning from there.”

If it wasn't for bad luck, Lockport High School senior Dan Greco wouldn't have any luck at all. via Niagara Gazette

“He's devastated because his dreams and his passion got yanked out from under him”

A big controversy for a little league team: a 12-year-old Oregon boy, kicked out of a game because he isn't your typical ballplayer, and the umpire said he wasn't wearing approved equipment. via Today's TMJ4

“With its long history of giving children the opportunity to learn important life lessons, have fun and be active, Little League exemplifies everything that's great about sports”

Official sponsor of baseball league PITTSBURGH -- As baseball season swings into action, Dick's Sporting Goods and Little League Baseball are pleased to announce that Dick's Sporting Goods is now the Official ... via KSBI Oklahoma City

“Baseball player, football player, hockey player retires, he takes up golf. I've never heard of a golfer retiring and taking up hockey. This is the greatest game.”

Ryan Trask and Lucas Delgado, members of the Chico State golf team, have been selected to the all-conference team in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. via Chico Enterprise-Record

The widow of Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Caray and the owner of the Peoria Chiefs were on hand in Freeport to open Little Cubs Field, a miniature replica of Wrigley Field. via WQAD-TV Moline

Dear Pastor: I know God loves everybody but he never met my sister. - Yours sincerely, Arnold, 8 Dear Pastor: My father should be a minister. via San Bernardino County Sun

“It is our main source of income”

A Little League snack shack in east Stockton has been damaged by fire once again, impacting a key source of revenue for youth baseball. via The KCRA Channel

“I told him to relax and to take a deep breath”

From the ripe old age of 10, Nick Franquez has stared down from the mound and found Scotty Kalush 60 feet, 6 inches away, in his catcher's gear, ready to receive his pitches. via San Mateo Daily News

“It's a sport, people get hurt I don't think there's any other safety precaution you can really take.”

It's time to head out to the ball fields. Soon, little league will start and your kids will be playing ball, but how safe is the game? Rules are constantly changing from what bats are approved, to wearing ... via Kansas' CW

Due for release on August 5th, Activision notes that the game is the "first officially licensed Little League video game to hit next-generation consoles," and will let players make their way from "local sandlot ... via Gamasutra

Reader mail fills the box today; let's answer some of your pressing general interest questions. via KEX-AM Portland

A youth baseball field is one step closer to reality, but it still faces a challenge from nearby Wittman Airport. via Oshkosh Northwestern

“This man does so much, does it pro bono and yet stays so humble”

Jack Ruscoe is involved with Little League across the nation and around the world. via Statesman Journal

The sounds of White Park are the sounds of a city at its best: the crack of a bat, the thump of a basketball on a summer evening, the deep boom of a football being kicked, the slap of a tennis ball against a ... via Concord Monitor

“He has controlled intensity and unbridled enthusiasm”

Now that he has moved on to the next level of coaching youth baseball, one might think that Mark McCauley's tenure as coach of the Portsmouth Little League all-star baseball team team has come to a close. via The Citizen

"It will be a great day for the City of Farrell." Those were the words of the city's Deputy Mayor Lou Falconi in referring to opening day this coming Saturday at the newly constructed Little League field near ...

Several weeks ago, I was looking out my back window and wondering if the glacier that surrounded my home would ever recede. via WisInfo

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit Friday against a Melrose Park woman accused of stealing more than $24,000 from the Melrose Park Little League. via NBC 5

Adelanto ex-Mayor Jim Nehmens and his wife have pleaded guilty to stealing money from Little League kids. via Sacramento Bee Newspaper

“Anything you eat or drink you pay for; not paying is stealing.”

There's something about being at the ballpark that sends my appetite into overdrive. via San Bernardino County Sun

“Gee C.J., I'd love to catch for you some more but we've got to get out of the way.”

"Hey, do you need someone to catch for you?" With those innocent, soft-spoken, well-intended words to 12-year-old C.J. Fitch of Middleport, I proceeded to pick up my old glove and walk gingerly towards home ... via Union-Sun & Journal

“But once we got out to Riley Park and I stood on the mound, I had the feeling I was supposed to come here. I love the guys I play with, great teammates and great coaches.”

The Citadel's Asher Wojciechowski has a 4-0 record with a 2.89 ERA over 46 2/3 innings this season. via The Post and Courier

Baseball/Softball - CAYUGA GAMBLERS: The Cayuga Gamblers Silver 16-and-under travel softball team is looking for a player for its 2008 season. via Union-Sun & Journal

“I've been following wrestling since (I was) 7”

The Suffern Football Touchdown Club's sixth annual Night of Professional Wrestling brought local fans of all ages to watch some of the business' most accomplished wrestlers face off in the squared circle. via The Journal News

Though the Major League Baseball season may have begun two weeks ago, opening day festivities for baseball season in Bound Brook and South Bound Brook will be held Saturday. via Courier News

“My great-grandfather was a nice man to get baseball started”

Haverstraw Little League president Ted LoBlanco Jr. rushed to the Leo Laders field yesterday at 6 a.m. to prepare it, after rain overnight, for opening day. via Journal News

“She was always happy and smiling and joking around all the time”

John Seneca stood in the middle of a baseball field Saturday morning, his voice cracking with emotion as he remembered the days when he coached Courtney Achey on that very spot. via Express-Times

“He never really wanted to talk about what would happen after he died.”

Charlie's son Kyle Herndon, has moved up from Little League to pitch for the Boulder Bulldogs. via Daily Camera

“It is the goal of the township to have the youth baseball activities that have taken place at the Willow Road complex for the last dozen years moved to the GSA Depot site, by the time this lease expires”

Neighbors surrounding the township's Youth Baseball Complex on Willow Road might have to wait at least four years until teams are moved to a new location to play. via Courier News

“I do not believe these are the kinds of facts that warrant an exemption”

Eric Dowdell has been an attentive father and a good baseball coach, according to testimony yesterday in Jeffersonville City Court on Dowdell's request to watch his son play at the city's Little League ... via The Courier-Journal

“What is this, the major leagues? C'mon he's 5. Believe me, this is no big deal.”

Another baseball season has begun. About a half a mile from our house is one of the town's three Little League fields. via Pasadena Star-News

The man accused of stealing money from a little league team is expected in federal court today. via WKBW

Two images, more than any other, gripped me over the last couple of months. The first was the description by East Brunswick's Capt. via Courier News Online

Summerville Hawks to hold tryout The Summerville Hawks have openings on their Under-15 and Under-16 travel baseball teams and will hold a tryout Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Boundary Field where the Summerville ... via The Post and Courier

“The kids aren't hanging around on the street. They come up here. They're playing with each other.”

It was an auspicious opening day for Piscataway's Little League season: Crisp and sunny, instead of rainy as predicted; the live performance of the national anthem sounded good; and the new Little League ... via Courier News

“For the first time in my life, I felt star-struck”

The artist tried to play it cool when he presented the painting to its subject. Secretly he hoped Yogi Berra would gasp in astonishment, would be overwhelmed by how lifelike the image was and be transported ... via Journal News

“He made ATM withdrawals at machines that were located at area adult entertainment clubs and adult bookstores”

The man in charge of finances for a youth baseball league in Genesee County was under house arrest Tuesday, accused of using the organization's bank card to purchase Internet child pornography and access to ... via Buffalo News

“They're on the field on their own”

By Kelly VanLeeuwen TRIBUNE-TIMES WRITER kvanleeuwen@tribunetimes.com About 22 Mauldin Miracle League players stepped up to bat without the usual buddies April 1 when the program's new coaches' pitch league ... via Tribune-Times

“Parks and wildlife has actually assured us that the birds are completely fine on the landing with the lights on”

A collection of twigs looks like an out-of-place tumbleweed, or storm debris left on a light pole. via KHOU-TV Houston

What do you take with you to a Little League game? If you're Improv Everywhere, you take a cheering section, a Jumbotron, some play-by-play announcers, and a blimp. via Neatorama

“Local rivalries are always fun to revisit. Let's just hope the weather holds out.”

With the specter of one of the state's top teams hanging over the eight-team field, the second edition of the Madison County Softball Tournament begins its three-day run this evening. via Herald-Bulletin

DEAR MIKE: I have been a Little League coach since my two boys became old enough to play. via Lowell Sun

The City of North Royalton may ban smoking on all of its outdoor property. Mayor Robert Stefanik has introduced an ordinance which would bar smoking at parks, fields, parking lots, and outdoor seating areas. via 96-5 KISS FM Cleveland, OH

“If you didn't read the paper and didn't watch every sports show in town, you'd go, `Who is this guy?' "He's just a quiet professional.”

' Alex Gordon is exhausted. His right wrist throbs from 300 or so autographs, the last of which have gone sloppy with fatigue. via Times Record News

“You run into each other and it's funny how many of us are coaching teams now”

John Wathan, a former catcher and manager of the Kansas City Royals, loves that there is no clock in baseball. via The News-Review

“We just wanted to see the kids excited. Just showing enthusiasm for being there.”

Rain could put a damper on parades and other events CHRIS HAGAN Statesman Journal With the big leaguers taking up the bat and ball again this week, those on the smaller diamonds will join the fun as well today ... via Statesman Journal

LOWELL, Mass., April 4, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a ceremony attended by more than 1,000 people, Speaker Nancy Pelosi today praised former Congressman Martin Meehan of Massachusetts as he was installed ... via Earth Times

As an English major, I avoided the math and science buildings as though each room housed Acting 101 with Professor Ben Affleck. via AdaEveningNews.com - Ada, Oklahoma

By JOHN CARLSON REGISTER COLUMNIST Posted at 04:05 on 04/04/2008 I hadn't seen Craig Hamilton in six years, and I'm sitting here thinking how sorry I am we lost touch. via Indianola Record-Herald

A convicted sex offender is asking a judge for permission to watch his son play baseball at a Little League complex in Jeffersonville Indiana. via WSJV-TV South Bend

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BASEBALL

A A* Central Coast Little League for kids ages 7 to 14 in Morro Bay, Cayucos and Cambria is open for registration. For information, call Brian Machado at 995-1607, or register online at eteamz.active.com/centralcoastlittleleague. Read more

Little League baseball games were called by darkness because thieves stole the copper wiring for lights at a Corona city park. via Fort Mill Times

A convicted sex offender banned by a city ordinance from entering parks has asked a judge for permission to watch his son play baseball at a Little League complex.

Eric Dowdell, 34, said he will seek an exemption from the ban based on his completion of counseling, probation and other requirements set by the ordinance for an exemption. A hearing on the request has been scheduled for April 11 in Jeffersonville City Court.

Dowdell said kids need to be protected from offenders. But he said there should be a distinction between someone like him, who made a mistake years ago and has been a good parent, and someone who might harm children. Read more

“I was a lefty second baseman, if you can imagine that”

Eric Desjardins and Pierre Turgeon grew up playing together and now they have gone into the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Hall of Fame at the same time. via TSN.ca

They were introduced before the first pitch, some to yawns, others to polite applause. via Marin Independent Journal

“He never let his disability stop him”

To say that Little League Baseball had a friend in Bill Dickerson would be like saying that hot dogs taste a bit better at the ballpark than at home. via Herald-Bulletin

“Norman, can you take us to the library?”

Through circumstances somewhat beyond my control, I am now a stepfather. This creates a constant in-home conflict: I just want to sit on the couch; the kids want to do stuff. via Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“It's a special Opening Day in Cincinnati and so close to home”

It was the most requests yet for Brandon Webb, who provided 28 tickets for family and friends who wanted to see him pitch Monday on Opening Day.

Then there were a couple of guys from his native Ashland who managed to find their way into Great American Ball Park.

'I saw a couple (of fans) ... who are always there. They sneak in,' said Webb, winning pitcher in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 4-2 rain-delayed victory over Cincinnati on the city's traditional Opening Day.

'They come from Ashland,' Webb added. 'I don't expect them to be there, but they'll get tickets. I've heard them yell Ashland ... Paul Blazer ... UK ... the Little League teams I played on. You never know what they'll yell at you.' Read more