Field Notes

Arden Teams on All Three Fields: Wednesday, June 8th

Come out to Valley Oak on Wednesday, June 8th and watch three Arden teams in action in the District 5 Tournament of Champions. The Arden Junior Giants play at 5:30 p.m., while the Arden Major Giants and Arden Minor Rays play at 6:00 p.m. The Snack Bar will be open, so come out with the family, have a tri tip sandwich, and cheer on the Arden teams!

Tournament of Champions Start on Monday; Volunteers Still Needed

The District 5 Tournament of Champions starts Monday at Arden Little League’s fields! The top teams of each Little League in our area will compete for the District title. Come out with the family and have dinner at the Snack Bar (bar-b-que running most nights this first week) and cheer all of the Arden teams’ first games:

• Monday, 6/6, 6:00pm, Arden Major A’s
• Monday, 6/6, 6:00pm, Arden Minor Brewers
• Wednesday, 6/8, 6:00pm, Arden Major Giants
• Wednesday, 6/8, 6:00pm, Arden Minor Rays
• Friday, 6/10, 5:30pm, Arden Junior Giants

We would like to thank those who have already volunteered to help at the tournament thus far, but we still are in need of more volunteers on all dates (June 6 through June 20). It is a great honor to host this tournament, and all teams participating love to play at our wonderful facility. If you are able to help, please contact one of the volunteer coordinators below. If their particular area is filled, they will direct you to another area of need:

• Stuart Nelson, Tournament Director, s.nelson@pointwestins.com
• Catherine Smith-Moore, Scorekeepers, casmith@smithmooreassoc.com
• Patrick O’Donnell, Announcers and Sound, patrickodonnell@ardenlittleleague.com
• Samantha Smith, Snack Bar, quisam@sbcglobal.net
• Craig Hegland, Field Set Up and Take Down, Craig.Hegland@lexisnexis.com

On behalf of all the organizers of this event, we thank you in advance for your time.

Stuart Nelson
Tournament Director

Minor Brewers vs. Rays: June 1, 2011

Championship game lives up to expectations

The Rays and Brewers battled it out Wednesday to set the seeding for the upcoming TOC games. Carter Benbrook pitched four and a third shutout innings before the Rays were able to finally get a hit. With run support on great hits by Lincoln Tadewald and Carter Benbrook, the Brewers had a 5 to nothing lead going into the 5th inning. But the Rays don’t ever go away and came racing back to tie it up at the end of five. Jay (the beard) Wilson, in to relieve Mitchell Dixon’s who had a great performance, shut down the Brewers bats in the sixth, leaving the door open for the Rays to grab a come-from-behind victory. Mitchell Dixon drove in the winning run with a walk-off single, giving the Rays the victory. Both teams played well, with terrific team and individual efforts from a number of players including Ryan Young, Spenser Davis, Jake Nelson, and Jack Harris for the Rays, and Drake Charamuga, Phil Cloeter, Colin Brannan and Finlay Thomson for the Brewers. We wish both teams good luck in their upcoming TOC games next week!

Major Yankees vs. A’s: May 31, 2011

A’s 6, Yankees 2

The Yankees Mason Lafond and the A’s Kyle Smith locked up in a dominate pitchers dual. Both pitched 5 1/3 innings and were fantastic. Jake Virga got the save for the A’s and with the win, the A’s will represent Arden Little as the number two seed in the Major TOC. LaFond had a triple to lead the Yankess attack and the A’s had major contributions from Jake Virga and Brett Moore.

Arden to host Minor, Major, and Junior TOCs; Volunteers Needed

As the final regular season games concluded this weekend, we truly hope everyone had a great season of baseball, and want to thank all the volunteers who have helped us in all areas thus far. We are now moving to the very exciting post season TOC tournaments, and in a few weeks, All Stars.

Arden Little League has been chosen to host the District 5 Area Minor, Major, and Junior TOC tournaments. This is a great honor for our league, as our fantastic facilities, from the fields to the snack bar, are always the desired venue for post season tournaments. As is during the regular season, we could not host games without the generous support of our volunteers. With that said, we are reaching out to all league families to help staff this year’s tournament duties. We especially hope to staff games where Arden is participating with enough volunteers so those families with children playing can watch those games.

There are many ways to help, from set up, to snack bar, to scorekeeping and announcing. Some tasks last an entire game, while some only require 30-45 minutes to complete. The tournament starts Monday, June 6, and lasts about 10 days, so we have many slots that we need to fill. If you are able to assist us, please contact one of the volunteer coordinators below by Friday, 6/3:

• Stuart Nelson, Tournament Director, s.nelson@pointwestins.com
• Catherine Smith-Moore, Scorekeepers, casmith@smithmooreassoc.com
• Patrick O’Donnell, Announcers and Sound, patrickodonnell@ardenlittleleague.com
• Samantha Smith, Snack Bar, quisam@sbcglobal.net
• Craig Hegland, Field Set Up and Take Down, Craig.Hegland@lexisnexis.com

Volunteers are the lifeblood of our league. We thank you in advance for your time.

Major Royals vs. Yankees: May 30, 2011

Royals 12, Yankees 6

Johnny Hartman helped the Royals finish the year on a three game win streak, pitching 5 and 1/3 innings, plus hitting a single and a double. JP McKeever added two hits for the Royals. Corwin Benskin had two hits for the Yankees.

Minor Brewers vs. Cardinals: May 29, 2011

Brewers 9, Cardinals 8

Ryan Macomber of the Brewers had a dramatic game winning hit to push the Brewers over the top in yet another grueling match-up between the Cardinals and the Brewers. The Cardinals started strong with great pitching from John Keeney and broke out to an early 6 to 1 lead behind Matthew Lynch’s multiple hits, including a deep line shot triple. Pitching from the Brewers Lincoln Tadewald and a fabulous running catch in center field by Carter Murray-Hartley helped keep the game close while the Brewers scored three runs behind key hits from Zack Muilenburg, Drake Charamuga, and Carter Benbrook. The Cardinals fought back with two runs late in the game resulting from a key hit from John Keeney and smart base running from Casey Honaker. The Cards stopped one Brewer rally in the fifth inning with a triple play, leaving the Brewers with an 8 to 4 deficit going in to the bottom of the sixth inning. The Brewers hitters all came through in the sixth scoring five runs with hits from Tadewald, Benbrook, Finlay Thomson, Muilenburg and Macomber. Natalie Hemond made two great defensive plays for the Cards getting outs from hard hit balls to second base and third base.

Major A’s vs. Giants: May 28, 2011

A’s 8, Giants 2

The A’s and Giants finished their regular season with a well played game. The A’s three pitchers performed well. The hitting attack was led by Clayton Towle, John Olsen and Loren Nitsos. The Giants had outstanding pitching from Nathan Barry and their hitting was powered by Josh Davis. Giants finished 8-2 in second half and 17-3 overall. The A’s finished 6-4 in second half and 15-5 overall.

Minor Dodgers vs. Yankees: May 28, 2011

Dodgers 16, Yankees 3

Yankees could not get there bats going today. Spencer Nitsos came to the ball park today wanting to play some ball. Behind great pitching and hitting from Spencer, the Dodgers beat the Yankees 16 – 3. The Dodgers also had great offensive and defensive games from Nate Witte and Grant Deary. Mason Bonagura also had a key hit. John Fuhrman came in to strike out the side to finish the game.

Major Royals vs. Pirates: May 28, 2011

Royals 8, Pirates 2

Jack Flaningam hurled a complete game that included eleven strikeouts, leading the Royals to victory. John Riley Palmer continued his second half hot hand by adding two more hits for the Royals. Blake Harris gave up just one run in pitching 2+ innings for the Pirates, while also adding a hit for his team. Holden Cave lined two singles to help the Pirates’ attack.

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