Hot Rods Signing off for 2011 – Few Points of Business

Hot Rods!

It was a great year. I had a terrific time coaching, watching and making friends. I have never seen so much improvement in one team in one year. Thank you for letting me be your coach. And thank you for the gift cards too.

If you left a blue fold up canopy chair at the last game, I have it my garage.

Thank you Maureen for putting together a great end of year party.

Finally, I posted some videos of the team from our last game at http://caryhotrods.blogspot.com/ . While everyone is in the team videos, my son Andrew and I tried to catch everyone in action, but we missed one or two players. I apologize if we missed your son. If you want a higher resolution video sent to you, send me an e-mail at pthronton4@yahoo.com.

Thanks again. You were a great team and great parents! Signing off for 2011. Hope to see you 2012.

Coach Peter

Last Inning

Go Nick



Charlie at First




Go William



Go Will



Go Adam



Go Andy



End of the Game

The Jax

Batting Videos

Go Carter



Go Liam

Go Tad

Hot Rod Videos

Double Play

Another Double



Hot Rods in the Field



Go Ben!

Final Game Reschedule for Thursday

Our final game that was cancelled due to rain has been reschedule for Thursday at 6:00. We are playing at Mills Field near Cary Mall. See you there!

Thursday,	June 30	Mills Field (Lions Park)
6:00 p.m.	Hot Rods	Twins

Directions:

Coming from North or South: Turn onto Cary Towne Blvd/Walnut Street go west and turn left onto Tanglewood Drive. The park will be on the left side of the road.

From East or West: Take 54 (Chapel Hill Road) to Maynard Road, go south and turn right onto Cary Towne Blvd/Walnut Street go west, then turn left onto Tanglewood Drive, the park will be on the left.

Elizabeth Angel's Photography

Hot Rods, You can view these photos in a full-screen screen slideshow, download full-resolution copies for free, or order prints from Kodak! I hope I got at least one shot of each player. Many of the boys look alike in their uniforms. : ) Enjoy! Elizabeth

A big thanks to Elizabeth Angell for taking and posting all these pictures of our team on line! You can find game pictures at http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=6520467600103%3A2045945682&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Top

You can find pictures of our parent player game and the Mount Olive game at http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=1620467600103%3A9605997&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Top

Mt Olive College Introductions - Thank you Elizabeth Angell

Thank you Elizabeth. You are a great photographer!









Sorry for the delay in getting these pictures up on the website. It turns out that our webpage is considered dangerous to the Chinese government, which bans access to it in China.

Giants Game May 7

Rescheduled game:

The Mite League-South Division baseball game that was not played on May 4 has been rescheduled as listed below.

Sunday,	May 22	Ritter #2
1:30 p.m.	Giants	-vs-	Hot Rods

Revised practice schedule:

The Hot Rods and Giants will have a game on Sunday, May 22 and therefore will not practice on May 22. The practices have been rescheduled as listed below. Remember that coaches can call 469-4062 to reschedule practices.

Saturday, May 14	Ritter #2
9:00 a.m.	Hot Rods

NCAA Division II Baseball Championship 5:00 pm game on Monday, May 30 (Memorial Day)

The Town of Cary is once again hosting the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship. This years Championship runs May 28 - June 4. The Hot Rods will run onto the field of play and be announced prior to the game. Player names will be announced along with the NCAA team rosters. Players will then stand on the foul line with the NCAA players during the singing of the National Anthem.

We are scheduled for the 5:00pm game on Monday, May 30 (Memorial Day). We need to arrive at 4:00. The game will be at:
USA Baseball National Training Complex
Thomas Brooks Park
200 Brooks Park Lane
Cary, NC 27519

All players should wear their baseball uniforms w/ team cap (no cleats, tennis shoes only). Players and 1 head coach will be permitted free of charge and are welcome to stay and watch games this day. Parents may purchase tickets at the gate for $7 each (Wake County Rate), or may purchase discounted tickets for $4 each by using the following Promo Code: CARYLEAGUEPLAY

Please note that discounted tickets are only on sale until May 17th.
Here is the link to purchase tickets:
https://www.etix.com/ticket/online/venueSearch.jsp?venue_id=6945&cobrand=ncaa

Practice Schedule

All Practices are at Ritter #2. They are for 1 hour and 15 minutes each.

Saturday, 7-May 3:15 (Now game vs Giants at 2:45, arrive by 2:30)
Saturday, 14- May 9:00
Saturday, 28-May 10:15
Sunday, 5-Jun 2:15
Saturday, 11-Jun 4:30
Sunday, 26-Jun 2:15

Baseball Bash

Schedule
The Baseball/Softball Blast for this year is scheduled for Sunday, May 15th. We play the Angels at 2:45 on field #7. The town of Cary asks us to please make sure to keep the following things in mind:

-GAME TIME IS START TIME

-Coaches should plan on having their team at the field 1-hour prior to the start of their game to allow time for team & individual photos and reporting to the tower. That means we need to arrive on field #7 at 1:45

-Each team is automatically scheduled a session with their league photographer 1-hour prior to the scheduled game time. Our photographer is scheduled to be on field 7. (team & individual photos are not required and there is no obligation to use the photographers we have partnered with), although we do want to get a team picture. Team photographer Elizabeth Angel, please bring your camera.

-Game Time has priority over scheduled photo sessions.

-The head coach for each team will be required to check-in at the tower no later than 30-minutes prior to game time to receive their Information packet and any additional instructions needed for the day.

-Coaches will need to have a parent or assistant coach, with a team roster, sent to the tower 10-minutes prior to game time to announce the line-ups for their team. (announcing the line-ups should include each child's name on the team, their number for the day, and name of the head coach. having an enthusiastic announcer is a plus). We are looking for a volunteer to do that.

Photographer
David Herlong Photographer will again be providing photography services for Mite teams during this years Baseball/Softball Blast event. Cary will be sending details and pricing information to Coach Peter to share with you. Dave's full contact information is below if you would like to proactively contact him. Dave will be setup in the foul territory of Field #7, outside the temporary fencing. Even if your game is on another field, you will be reporting to Field #7 for photos.

Photographer:
Dave Herlong - Mite
Herlong Photography
919-467-7459

dherlong@pipeline.com
www.herlongphoto.com

Photographer Note: Again, there is no requirement to have team or individual photos taken. Also, you are under absolutely no obligation to use this photographer's services. We have tried to select photographers that provide a large range of products at competitive prices.

Schedule Reminder
1-Hour prior to game time Team Photos
30-Minutes prior (or earlier) Head Coach reports to Tower
10- Minutes prior Team Announcer to the Tower

5- Minutes prior Team Line-Ups are Announced by a team representative

Roster

1 Andy
2 Adam
3 Nick
4 Cormac
5 Tad
6 Jack
7 Jackson
8 Charlie
9 Shane
10 Liam
11 Ben
12 William
13 Ben
14 Will
15 Carter

Cary Hot Rods Game and Practice Schedule

These are game start times. Arrive 15-20 minutes BEFORE the game starts.

Home team is listed first and will occupy first base dugout.

Wednesday, May 4 Ritter #2
6:00 p.m. Giants - vs.- Hot Rods --- Snack - Angell
Wednesday, May 11 Ritter #2
6:00 p.m. Twins - vs.- Hot Rods --- Snack - Bowling
Saturday, 14- May
9:00 practice Ritter #2
Sunday, May 15 Thomas Brooks #7
2:45 p.m. Angels -vs.- Hot Rods --- Snack - Kurtz
Baseball Bash, Arrive at 1:45
Tuesday, May 17 Ritter #2
6:00 p.m. Hot Rods - vs.- Cardinals --- Snack - Maul
Sunday, May 22, Ritter #2
1:30 - Giants - vs.- Hot Rods --- Snack - Woodard
Tuesday, May 24 Ritter #2
6:00 p.m. Hot Rods - vs.- Braves --- Snack - McCabe
Saturday, 28 -May Ritter #2
10:15 practice
Monday, May 30 - Thomas Brooks Bark
5:00, arrive at 4:00, for NCAA Division II Baseball Championship on field intros
Friday, June 3 Ritter #2
6:00 p.m. Hot Rods - vs.- Mudcats --- Snack - McLeod
Sunday, 5-Jun Ritter #2
2:15 practice
Monday, June 6 Middle Creek #3
6:00 p.m. Cubs - vs.- Hot Rods --- Snack - Moore
Saturday, 11-June Ritter #2
4:30 practice
Friday, June 17 Ritter #2
6:00 p.m. Hot Rods - vs.- Diamondbacks --- Snack - Parker
Saturday, June 18 Ritter #2
1:00 p.m. Hot Rods - vs.- Giants --- Snack - Peeler
Sunday, 26-Jun Ritter #2
2:15 practice
Tuesday, June 28 Ritter #2
6:00 p.m. Hot Rods - vs.- Twins --- Snack - Robinson

Batting Cages

The batting cage at Bond Field #3 and Green Hope High School can be reserved for our team. If there is an interest in doing batting practice in a cage, let me know.

Coaches may schedule a time at the cages by calling 469-4062 on the
Wednesday before the week they wish to schedule a time.
Teams may schedule only one (1) time per week. If the field is closed, the batting cage is closed.

Welcome Letter

Welcome to the 2011 Cary Hot Rods Mite Baseball team. My name is Peter Thornton, more commonly known as Tad’s Dad. I have volunteered to coach the Hot Rods.

I will be calling you this evening. This will be my first year coaching Mite Baseball. I have, through three sons, been coaching T-ball for the past seven years. The rules for Mite are very similar to T-ball, except we start with coach pitch, so I am very comfortable about being promoted up a league.

My coaching philosophy follows that stated by Cary Parks and Recreations. Everybody plays, everybody learns and everybody has fun.

I post updates on a blog, which can be found at http://caryhotrods.blogspot.com/

You will notice you are on a Google groups e-mail list serve for this team. The Google groups name is caryhotrods@googlegroups.com. Google Groups give you the option to add and remove e-mail addresses as you wish. Or you can just send me an e-mail address and I will add it myself.

At this point and this evening when I call you, I would like to cover three topics. Equipment, Volunteers and Practices.

EQUIPMENT
Shirts, hats, bats, balls, helmets and other baseball equipment are provided by Cary Parks and Rec.

Each player will need to bring to practice:

Baseball Glove
Sneakers or rubber cleats (no metal cleats allowed)
Water bottle (with water)
Baseball type hat until we get our very cool Hot Rods hats.

When the games start players are suggested to have:

White baseball pants
White baseball socks with black stripes
No batting gloves please

Please write your name on your personal equipment including your water bottle.

VOLUNTEERS
WE ARE ALL SET ON VOLUNTEERS. YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!

Volunteer #1 – Assistant Coach. THANK YOU CRAIG MCCALL! BUT... I will still call on all parents to help out at practice, Craig is the erson to be the official assistant, to cover when I can’t be there and to be in charge when I have to be somewhere else on the field.

Volunteer #2 – Shirts. THANK YOU TANA! Pick up shirts from Cary Parks and Rec. Take then to Logo Joes at 1375 SE Maynard Rd Cary, NC 27511. Have the players first names put on the back of the shirt. Collect money from parents for shirts. (50 cents per letter).

Volunteer #3 – Trophies. THANK YOU MAURINE MAUL - Collect approximately $5 from each parent and order trophies to be given out at end of year party. Best deal last year was found on the internet. (Best case scenario, coordinate with shirt volunteer and collect money from each player to pay for both names and trophies!)

Volunteer #4 - End of Year Party - THANK YOU MAURINE MAUL AGAIN - Organize a party after last game of the year.

Volunteer #5- Team Photographer - THANK YOU ELIZABETH ANGELL
Take team and individual pictures and distribute to the team.

PRACTICES
Our spring training practice schedule can be found at http://caryhotrods.blogspot.com/2011/03/spring-training-schedule.html

Games begin week of May 2. Game schedule will be posted as soon as we receive it.

The schedule is on our web page, which also has links for directions to the parks as well as a link on ball field status. You will want to bookmark the ball field status link to check if we have practice on rain days or days following a heavy rain.

Program for Practices - Here is how we conduct practices. We will need lots of help to do all this, so if you can, please wear sneakers!

1 - Group Discussion on one principal of baseball (e.g. running to 1st). Coaches explain, coaches show how to do it and then players do it.

2 - Break up into four groups for practice stations (Will need all parents available to help at stations). Will practice at each station for 5-7 minutes then rotate to the next station.

Station 1 - Batting
Station 2 - Catching
Station 3 - Throwing
Station 4 - Fielding

3 - End practice with fun activity or game such as kickball, musical baseballs, etc.

I know your boys are going to want to know if their friends are on the team. Attached is our roster.

I look forward to meeting all of you. The best way to get in contact with me directly is by e-mail at pthornton4@yahoo.com.

Spring Training Schedule

Thursday 7-Apr 6:30 RITTER #2
Saturday 9-Apr 3:15 RITTER #2
Thursday 14-Apr 6:30 RITTER #2
Saturday 16-Apr 5:45 RITTER #2
Thursday 21-Apr 6:30 RITTER #2
Monday 25-Apr 6:30 MIDDLE CREEK #3
Saturday 30-Apr 12:45 RITTER #2

Games begin week of May 2.