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WELCOME TO OUR 3RD ANNUAL TOWN &
COUNTRY-SPONSORED SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT!
We are glad you are able to join us again for our annual
tournament and be a part of another record-breaking year in
overall participation! We hope you find our tournament
to be a rewarding event, and continue to participate in
future years, as well as spreading the word to our
neighboring communities on what the Town & Country Baseball
& Softball League has to offer!
IMPORTANT DATES & TIDBITS
-
Tournament entry fees
are to be paid before you play!
-
Fees will still be due
if team drops after June 27th deadline
-
Softball Tournament
meeting & bracket distribution – Tues. July 8th
at the traditional restaurant in Denver, IN – 7:00
pm
***** NOTE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT DATES
*****
-
District-level for both the 10u’s & 12u’s will begin as
early as Fri. July 18th, & end on Sun. July
20th
-
Finals for the 10u’s,
12u’s & 14u’s will begin Sat. July 26th, &
end Sun. July 27th
-
8-&-under
tournament will be only one weekend, but due to the
number of entries & that it is being played on only one
field, it will start on Wed. July 16 & end on Mon. July
21st
-
14-&-under will also be
played over one weekend (Finals weekend), as always,
weather permitting in all cases.
***** NOTE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT DATES
*****
-
District-level (1st
round) of State tourney may start as early as Tue July 8th
& end by Mon July 14th (weather permitting)
-
Semi-State level (2nd
round) will start on Thurs. July 17th, thru the
weekend & end by Mon. July 21st
-
State level (Finals)
then on following weekend, starting now on Thursday July 24th,
thru the weekend & end on Mon. July 28th, as
always, weather permitting
WEBSITE HAS MOST INFORMATION THAT YOU NEED
Our
website is available at
www.townandcountrybaseball.com. This is a primary site
to help answer basic questions about the league, our
tournaments, rules & a source for league forms such as
sanctioning, tourney entry, etc. It also has our
league’s lengthy & distinguished tournament history dating
to 1969! Use of this website more than doubled last
year with as it received a record of over 15,000 hits!
PLEASE TRY & USE THIS SOURCE OF INFORMATION BEFORE CALLING –
OUR CALL VOLUME IS VERY SUBSTANTIAL, ESPECIALLY DURING JUNE
& JULY!
SOFTBALL DATES & TIDBITS FOR 2008
We are
committed to sanctioning softball tournaments & making it
work, but we will only continue to do so in future years if
the interest is there. If the softball contact for
your area is someone different, please provide us with that
info ASAP – e-mail works well for this.
A
REVIEW OF 2007:
2007 State Softball
Tournament Results:
Age level Site
Champion
Runner-up
14u
Wabash
Wawasee
Delphi
12u
Upland
Galveston
Eastbrook
10u
Upland
Eastbrook
Galveston|
8u
Galveston
Galveston
Walton
2007 State Baseball
Tournament Results:
Age level Site
Champion
Runner-up
12u
Walton
Delphi
New Paris
10u N.
Manchester Galveston
UCT
8u
North Miami
Southside
Russiaville
HELP
UPDATING LEAGUE CONTACT INFO
Every
year, we need help updating this information. This is
a very important step in order for us to get the necessary
information out to the correct people. Updating our
contact information can only be done with your help. If you
have new info, please let us know ASAP! |
RAIN
MAY PLAY HAVOC – BE PREPARED FOR CHANGES
Be
prepared for tournament playing time alterations that may
come into play due to rain, including the possibility of
eliminating the ‘If Necessary’ game, if need be, or playing
more games in a day than originally scheduled in order to
‘catch-up’ in the brackets. With gas prices above $4 a
gallon, every attempt has been & will be made to avoid extra
or unneeded driving. If the ‘If Necessary’ game has to be
scrapped, the championship game will become a
‘single-elimination’, winner-take-all situation to determine
the champion.
TOURNEY HOST SITES MUCH APPRECIATED
For the
first time last year, we offered an additional incentive to
each baseball semi-state & state-level host site by adding
an ‘advancement fee’ of $65 from each team earning the right
to advance. The new fee is paid directly to the host site
(instead of to league) & can be used to offset umpire costs,
etc. It is to be paid prior to a team taking the field & is
consistent with other youth leagues’ major tournament
structure. This step should increase the number of sites
willing & able to host, as well as offset some of the
costs. All host sites will also receive a supply of
baseballs from Town & Country to assist their hosting
efforts. We encourage sites to consider hosting by
requesting to do so. Loyalty to previous host sites will be
strongly considered.
TOWN
& COUNTRY LEAGUE GROWTH
We have
experienced significant growth, both in terms of the number
of leagues sanctioned & the number of teams participating in
our tournament at each level. Adding the State-sanctioned
Minor (8u) League tourney was a huge success in 2003 & has
become a foundation for growth in upper divisions. Over 175
teams will participate in our 2008 tournaments, which
included several softball teams at different age levels – a
venture we embarked upon in 2006 with a first-ever
State-sanctioned Girls’ softball tournament! Please help
spread the word of what we offer to other towns & leagues,
there’s no better referral source than a good ambassador!
BATTING HELMETS WITH FACEMASKS
The
Town & Country League wants to be at the forefront when it
comes to safety and announced last year a program over two
years that requires facemasks to be used on all baseball
batting helmets, in addition to those already used in
softball. In an effort to avoid budget issues, only the
Minor League (8-&-u) was required to do so in 2007. All
remaining age groups in all tournaments will do so in 2008.
MORE
‘PATCHED’ UMPIRES WANTED -- ALWAYS
Each
year around tournament time, we run into a shortage of
‘patched’ umpire’s dilemma. We are again encouraging folks
to take the Town & Country umpire test in order to receive
an official certification patch. While other leagues
require annual re-certification fees, we only require a
one-time fee of $25 in order to take the open-book test
(additional $10 charge to those who do not pass & wish to
re-take it). We have a database of certified umpires, but
need your help in order to complete. If already certified,
please inform us in order to include your name in database
for a $5 administrative fee. We approve use of umpires who
have earned patches from other sanctioned organizations.
FORMATION OF A LEAGUE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
We have
formed a League Board of Directors to help govern the league
& we are actively seeking more interested parties to share
the leadership responsibilities in order to better provide
for a smooth transition to folks with fresh ideas to ensure
the league’s continued success! Please let us know if
interested.
NEXT
YEAR’S TOURNEY DATES –
will be on website
by Labor Day. We will be consistent with the start of our
Districts on the weekend following the 4th
of July to better enjoy the holiday weekend. We look to
open as early as Tues. July 7th! |
