Coaches and Parents,

Here is something I recently received from the Positive Coaching Alliance addressing a question related to select or travel teams versus in house play. I think it is very telling and certainly illustrates what we are doing here at Four County Little League.

Pat Ronan
Coaching Director, FCLL

Will House League Play Diminish My Son's Talent?

"My 11-year-old son's select-team baseball coaches are upset that he is also playing house league Fall Ball, which my son loves, because it is so relaxed and fun. These select coaches say that playing with 'bad' players will hurt my son's talent. I'm curious what the general thought is on this."

-- Troubled in Texas

Here is part of the response from Eric Eisendrath, Lead Trainer-New York for the Positive Coaching Alliance.

“I would ask the coach to identify what he or she values most in a player. Research of college athletes has found that athletes who play for a coach who they (the athletes) believe values hard work and effort above all else, improve more and perform at a higher level than coaches who value talent foremost.”

New Board of Directors for 2011

We would like to congratulate the following members who were elected on to the 2011 Board of Directors for the league.

• Craig Abell - Equipment
• Tim Askeland - Minors Director
• Bryan Berndt - At Large
• Pastor Paul Buchanan - Secretary
• Jenny Burke - Sponsorship
• Billy Casper - Player Agent
• Jeff Ference - At Large
• Jim Gill - President
• Scott Groene - Vice President
• Dan McGuire - At Large
• Mike Money - Juniors Director
• Dave Perry - Field Maintenance
• Donald Poorman - Communications
• Rex Parker - Umpire in Chief
• Myra Smith - Treasurer
• Pat Ronan - Coaching Director
• Eric Reese - Majors Director
• Rob Rhodes - At Large
• Tim Warehime - Safety Director

We are starting the planning for the 2011 season.  We are still in need of a few director positions. These are positions that are essential each and every season.  Please consider helping out.  The following positions are vacant:

T-Ball Clinic Director

T-Ball Director

Rookies Director

Uniform/trophy Director

If you are interested in helping with any positions, please email president@fcllbaseball.org

2011 Board of Director Elections

At the October Annual Meeting, we will hold our annual elections to determine our 2011 Board of Directors. The BOD's are responsible for the decisions made for the 2011 season. The nominations were held earlier at the September meeting and the ballot it set. All current 2010 members, any players parent/guardian is a member, is entitle to a vote. Please come to the annual meeting which will be held on October 6 at the New Beginnings Church near Russell Windsor Field. In the event a member can not attend the annual meeting, an absentee ballot can be requested by emailing secretary@fcllbaseball.org. The absentee ballot must be mailed to our P.O. Box (P.O. Box 512, Mount Airy, 21771) and received by October 6th.  If you have questions, please contact us.

Here are the current Nominees for the 2011 BOD Directors.  20 BOD members will be selected.

• Craig Abell
• Tim Askeland
• Bryan Berndt
• Doug Brice
• Pastor Paul Buchanan
• Jenny Burke
• Billy Casper
• Mike D’Andrea
• Jeff Ference
• Todd Flower
• Jim Gill
• Scott Groene
• Michelle Kaye
• Mark Lane
• Dan McGuire
• Mike Money
• Dave Perry
• Donald Poorman
• Rex Parker
• Myra Smith
• Pat Ronan
• Eric Reese
• Rob Rhodes
• Tim Warehime

The above list are the individuals who have accpeted the nomination to be on the ballot.  If you would like more information about any one of the nominees, please email nominations@fcllbaseball.org.

Snap Fitness A's headed to the Championship Game.

The Four County A’s did it again this evening at Brunswick in the Tournament of Champions, defeating Frederick American by a score of 7-3. Kyle “Pablo” Brodt pitched a complete game for the victory, keeping the American team off-balance by changing speeds throughout the contest. The A’s got down 2-0 in the top of the first, but came back with a run in the bottom of the first on a leadoff single by Jake Moorman and an RBI double by Mayes Lane. The A’s then broke it open in the bottom of the second with a 6 run outburst, powered by hits from Mitchell Kline, Eddie Katonka, Jake Moorman, Charlie Ronan, Pablo Brodt and Dylan Nylander. The A’s then played solid defense the rest of the game to preserve the lead and secure the victory. The A’s will now play defending champion Brunswick for the T.O.C. championship on Monday evening at 6 pm at Brunswick Little League.

Walk off home run wins it for the Snap Fitness A's.

The Majors A’s represented Four County LL in the first round of the District 2 Tournament of Champions today at Brunswick Little League against the representative from Frederick National. It was a very tight game the entire way with no team leading by more than one run at any point. National took the lead in the first inning with a couple of solid hits of A’s starter Charlie Ronan. However, Ronan (who pitched a complete game for the win) settled down and kept National scoreless for the next four innings. Meanwhile, the A’s fought back with a clutch two out hit by Zach Federici to score the tying run in the fourth inning. In the top of the fifth, Kyle “Pablo” Brodt made the defensive play of the game when he caught a fly ball in center field and quickly fired a strike to first base to double off the runner who had strayed too far off the bag. The A’s took the lead in the bottom of the fifth on an infield single by Dylan Nylander which scored Mayes Lane. Lane was on second to start the play, but he never stopped as he came around third and beat the first baseman’s throw to the plate. National tied the game with a clutch two out single in the top of the sixth. But, in the bottom of the sixth, with the score tied 2-2, Logan Buckner led off. On an 0-2 pitch he smashed a ball well over the center field fence for a walk off win for the A’s.

PCA at its best...Armando Galarraga "We're human..."

We are so used to reading or hearing in the news stories about baseball players and athletes who get arrested, get drunk or get tossed from a game.  This week we have one of the best examples of good sportsmanship and all we hear about is how Bud Selig should reverse the call or we should have instant replay.  What is lost in this story is the way Galarraga has acted from the moment this whole incident transpired.  With a smile and a nod, he continued to pitch after the controversial call.  He did not say a word to the umpire.  Later he was quoted as saying, "We'er human...we make mistakes".  There are only 20 other pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball who have thrown a perfect game.  This umpire cost him his perfect game and all he has to say is "We'er human...we make mistakes".  What is wrong with this guy?  Nothing is wrong with him.  He is the best example of true sportsmanship there is.  Part of what we teach our league is "ROOTS".  One of the "O's" is for Officials.  We learn to respect the officials and know that they have a difficult job.  Galarraga must practice ROOTS because attitude and graciousness is second to none.  We can learn alot from this fine player.

Here are a few stories about his graciousness after the incident.


'Perfect game' pitcher handles call with grace
Joe Girardi compares Tigers pitcher to 'one of the true gentlemen of the game'

2010 Hit-A-Thon - A Big Success

Our annual Hit-A-Thon was a big success this season.  We raised over $13,000 for the league.  The annual fund raiser helps to defray the cost of equipment, field upgrades/maintenance and other yearly expenses.  Four County Little League's registration rates remain the lowest in the area because of events like this.  We are committed to provided quality Little League Baseball to boys and girls in the four county area and registration fees, sponsorships and fundraisers like this allow us to continue to provide your youth the best baseball in and around Mount Airy.  To see a list of Hit-A-Thon winners, click here.