Goodbye for 2012

Hot Rods!

It was a great year. I had a terrific time coaching, watching and making friends.  Thank you to everyone that volunteered and made this a great year. We had a great time and I hope to see many of you in machine pitch next year. We made huge improvements this year. Thank you for letting me be your coach. And thank you for the plaque and gift card too.

You were a great team and great parents! Signing off for 2012. Hope to see you 2013!

Coach Peter

USA Baseball Free Game

For the 3^rd consecutive year, USA Baseball has offered all Town of Cary youth baseball and softball teams FREE tickets to a game.  This year’s game will take place on Thursday June 28^th at 6:05pm.  The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team vs. Catawba Valley Stars.  We may pick up your tickets at the Bond Park Community Center starting today through next Monday, June 25th.  Please note that tickets cannot be picked up between 5-6pm Mon-Fri due to community center programming.   We would will receive a total of 17 tickets, 15 for players, plus two for coaches.  All seating for this game is General Admission, so please arrive early to claim your seats.  We hope that you and your team are able to join us at the USA Baseball National Training Complex on this night.  For additional questions, please email Chris Duty at chris.duty@townofcary.org

 

Additional Tickets can be purchased day of at the gate for $10.  

Let me know if you are interested!

 

Other info:

Parking is free

Gates Open at 5pm.

Full Concession Stand

2 Inflatable Jump Houses

Picture of the week

Thank you Elizabeth for the countless pictures. If you can't find one of your son, you are not looking!

Prictures from the Twins Game

Thank you Elizabeth for taking pictures at the Twins game. .

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4440491012/a=81171837_81171837/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Elizabeth Davis Peeler's Photography

Thank you Elizabeth for taking pictures of the team yesterday.

You can find all 200 pictures  uploaded to Snapfish.  This link should take you to them.  You’ll have to create a snapfish account to view them . http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4381021012/a=81171837_81171837/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/ 

Baseball Blast

Directions to Middle Creek Community Center

123 Middle Creek Park Ave.
See area map.

From the North: From Cary, head south on Kildaire Farm Rd.  Turn left onto Ten Ten Rd.  Turn right onto West Lake Rd.  Turn right onto Optimist Farm Rd.  Take first right onto Middle Creek Park Ave. (at the Middle Creek School/Park Town of Cary Sign).  Take first right into Middle Creek Community Center parking lot.

From the East: From Garner, take US 401 South; Turn right onto Ten Ten Rd.  At McCullers Crossroads, turn left onto West Lake Rd.  Turn right onto Optimist Farm Rd.  Take first right onto Middle Creek Park Ave. (at the Middle Creek School/Park Town of Cary Sign).  Take first right into Middle Creek Community Center parking lot.

From the West: From NC 55, turn left onto Sunset Lake Rd.  Turn left onto Optimist Farm Rd. Turn left onto Middle Creek Park Ave. (at the Middle Creek School/Park Town of Cary Sign). Take first right into Middle Creek Community Center parking lot.

From the South: From US 401, turn left onto Ten Ten Rd.  Turn left onto West Lake Rd.  Turn right onto Optimist Farm Rd.  Take first right onto Middle Creek Park Ave. (at the Middle Creek School/Park Town of Cary Sign).  Take first right into Middle Creek Community Center parking lot.

 

  Additional notes about the Baseball Blast

 

·         Coaches’ shirts will be available. Please go up to the tower when you arrive to pick up your shirt.

·         You will receive from one of our staff a bundle of 15 NCAA Division II Championship schedule cards. The NCAA Division II Baseball Championship is held annually at the USA Baseball National Training Center in Cary. Please give one card to each of your players. Each card is good for one free admission for a Town of Cary youth baseball participant (kids only) to the Championship. Instructions for using the card will be included.

·         If you haven’t already, please make arrangements for one of your team’s parents to go to the tower ten minutes before your game to announce lineups. They’ll need players’ first and last name and number, as well as the head coach’s name. Lineups will be announced five minutes prior to the game.

·         Please plan on taking advantage of the amenities available this weekend, including the concession stand, child ID’s by New York Life, the large playground adjacent to the ballfield complex, and the opportunity to see other leagues in action all at the same time.

·         Warmups will be in the outfield, beyond the temporary fence, out of the way of the photographers.

·         Team pictures for Mustang will be on Field #1, Mite will be on Field #3, and T-Ball and 10 & Under will be on Field #4.

·         Please make sure your parents know…no dogs are permitted in the Middle Creek Park ballfield complex.

 
RE: Baseball blast next week

The Baseball Blast is a great chance to see all the different leagues we offer in the 5 through 10 age groups. There will be a concession stand open the entirety of the event. There will be free Child ID’s offered by New York Life. There will be opportunities to learn more about the Cary Police Department and the Cary Fire Department. The Rotary and Lions Clubs, who are integral to the success of our instructional baseball program, will be represented. There are great recreational opportunities throughout Middle Creek Park, including a Community Center, a large playground right out the back gate of the ballfield complex, basketball and tennis courts, and an 18-hole disc golf course.

Another way we make the Baseball Blast a special event is by arranging for every team’s lineup to be announced on the P.A. system. No later than ten minutes prior to your game, you should send a parent from your team to the tower, with a roster (and a knowledge of how to pronounce everyone’s name). The facility supervisor in the tower will direct them. Announcements will begin five minutes prior to game time. The announcer will call out the team name, the head coach’s name, and each player by name and number. As the coach and each player are announced, they should line up on the baseline nearer your dugout, beginning at home plate and extending out toward first/third base; facing your fans. The announcer should feel free to have fun with the announcements. If your team is announced first, have them stay on the field until after both teams are announced.

Each field will have a temporary fence. Please plan on conducting your pre-game warmup on your field beyond the temporary fence, on the opposite side of the field from the photographers. Warmup on the infield will not be permitted between games.

Arrive by 4:00 in full dress uniform. We have our team picture being taken at 4:15 at station #1 on field 3. Look for the white tents in the outfield.   

For the "before" game photos the photographer will take any requested individual photos as the players arrive. The team photo will be taken when all the players are present.

For the "after" game photos we will take the team photo first followed by any requested individual photos.

An order form is also attached. The photographer requests payment at the time the photos are taken and will accept cash, checks and credit cards. All photos are backed by a full money-back guarantee.

.

Mite photographer:

Herlong Photography, David Herlong

dherlong@pipeline.com

919-649-3395

Cary Hot Rods Roster

1	Matt
2	Colin
3	Owen
4	Aidan
5	Tad
6	Jack
7	Sam
8	Charlie
9	Brady
10	Liam
11	Benjamin
12	Coley
13	Trey
14	Will
15	Carter

Games, Practices and Snack Schedule

Arrive at all games at least 15 minutes early
Day	Date	Time		Field	Snack
Wednesday	25-Apr	6:30	Practice	Ritter #2
Sunday	29-Apr	3:30	Practice	Annie Jones
Monday	30-Apr	6:00	Mudcats	Ritter #2	Astudillo
Saturday	5-May	5:00	RAIN OUT	Middle Creek 2
Wednesday	9-May	6:00	RAIN OUT	Ritter #2	Flood
Saturday	12-May	12:45	Practice	Ritter #2
Thursday	17-May	6:00	RAIN OUT	Ritter #2	Hanes
Saturday,	19-May	9:00	Giants	Ritter #2	Bittner
Monday	21-May	6:00	Twins	Ritter #2	Heard
Saturday,	26-May	3:15	Practice	Ritter #2
Tuesday Thursday	29-May 31-May	6:00 6:00	Diamondbacks Giants	Middle Creek 3 Ritter #2	Flood Howe
Saturday,	2-Jun	2:00	Practice	Ritter #2
Sunday Wednesday	3-Jun 6-Jun	2:30 6:00	Cubs Mudcats	Ritter #2 Ritter #2	Hanes McCall
Saturday,	9-Jun	11:30	Practice	Ritter #2
Wednesday	13-Jun	6:00	Diamondbacks	Ritter #2	Smith
Saturday	16-Jun	12:00	Twins	Ritter #2	Widrick
Thursday	21-Jun	6:00	Cubs	Middle Creek 3	Woodard

Game Times - Arrive Early - and Baseball Blast

Regarding game schedules, the time on the schedule is the start time. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early to each game. It take time to set lineups, get positions set and warm up. 

We set the lineups and positions according to arrival. (After significant research, we have found players who are physically at the game perform better!) The downside to that is if you arrive as the game is starting, i.e., not 15 minutes early, your son will be at the end of the line up.

As you have no doubt noticed, our game on May 5^th is at Middle Creek Park. All games are there that weekend for the Baseball Blast.

 

One feature of the event is the opportunity to schedule time with a professional photographer prior to your game. I will be setting up a time for the team and individual pictures with the photographer soon and will let you know when it is as soon as I find out. We hope you will find this opportunity useful, but you are under no obligation to take advantage if you do not wish to.

 

I will have more information about the Baseball/Softball Blast for you in the next few days.

Season Game Schedule

Mon 4/30 6:00 PM	Mudcats	Ritter #2
Sat 5/5 5:00 PM	Giants	Middle Creek 2
Wed 5/9 6:00 PM	Diamondbacks	Ritter #2
Thu 5/17 6:00 PM	Cubs	Ritter #2
Mon 5/21 6:00 PM	Twins	Ritter #2
Thu 5/31 6:00 PM	Giants	Ritter #2
Wed 6/6 6:00 PM	Mudcats	Ritter #2
Wed 6/13 6:00 PM	Diamondbacks	Ritter #2
Sat 6/16 12:00 PM	Twins	Ritter #2
Thu 6/21 6:00 PM	Cubs	Middle Creek 3

This spring Cary Parks and Rec are  using TeamSideline.com for all of our game schedules. We hope and expect you will find the functionality of this site to be a significant improvement in the presentation of your schedules. In addition to the link below, an easy way to type in the address is “teamsideline.com/cary”. A couple things about the site to note:

• You can sort your game schedule by your team (or any team) by using the dropdown list immediately beside the schedule heading. We highly recommend you take advantage of this.
• If you are interested in schedules for any other league or division, you can find links to them on the left sidebar. You can also find links to the Town of Cary website, as well as the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources page on the Town site.
• The presentation of the schedule can be changed in a variety of ways, by changing what is checked in the “View Options” box on the top right of the schedule page and then clicking “Update”. (The “week banding” can be confusing so we would recommend unchecking it.)
• Click on “Print View” on the right sidebar if you want to make hard copies of your schedule for your team.
• By clicking on “Download” on the right sidebar, you can import your schedule into any of a variety of different calendars, including Google Calendar, Apple iCal, Lotus Notes, Outlook, and others.
• Click on the small green arrow next to the field name to go to a Google Maps view of the location of that field.

There are several other characteristics of the website worth exploring, so please take some time to look around.

The May-June practice schedule will be sent out next week.

Thanks, and good luck this season!    

Here is a link to the Schedule page for the Hot Rods:
Hot Rods schedule

Season Schedule Information So Far

Practices Begin: week of Monday, April 2,  One practice Monday-Friday (5:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.), One practice Saturday-Sunday

Shirt/Hats - Distribution late April (TBA) MLB Hats, rotary screen on shirts with number

Games Begin: Mav-June - week of April 30, 10 regular season games. Most games Monday-Friday @ 6:00 p.m.  No tournament.

Practices During Game Season - Usually one per weekend. (Will have some games on weekends)

Baseball Blast - May 4-6 at Middle Creek Park

Fields - Cary High School, Green Hope High School, Ritter, Bond

Spring Training Practice Schedule

Day	Date	Time	Field
Friday	6-Apr	5:30	Ritter #2
Saturday,	7-Apr	12:45	Ritter #2
Wednesday,	11-Apr	6:30	Ritter #2
Saturday,	14-Apr	3:15	Cary High SB
Wednesday,	18-Apr	6:30	Ritter #2
Saturday,	21-Apr	9:00	Cary High SB
Wednesday,	25-Apr	6:30	Ritter #2
Sunday,	29-Apr	3:30	Annie Jones

Welcome to the 2012 Cary Hot Rods

Welcome to the 2012 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 again.

I am writing you this note from a business trip in China. I will be calling you this Sunday after I get home. This will be my second year coaching Mite Baseball. I have, through three sons, been coaching baseball for the past eight years.

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/. I will update the website as soon as I get home. Currently I can not access it from China because of it’s obviously subversive nature. But I encourage you to take a look at it to see what we did last year.

I will be putting all of you 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. Moms, I have learned that Dads like to be included on that list. Please send me his address too. I will update that also when I get back.

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
BUT - No batting gloves please

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

At the beginning of the year, I am going to ask for a “donation” of $20 per kid to cover expenses for the year. That money will cover names on shirts, trophies and the end of the year party. Doing it ahead of time avoids having to do it over and over again through the year

VOLUNTEERS

Volunteer #1 – Assistant Coach. THANK YOU VANCE MOORE - I will still call on all parents to help out at practice, But I need one person 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 ELIZABETH DAVIS PEELER - 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.

Volunteer #3 – Trophies. – THANK YOU MAURINE MAUL - Order trophies to be given out at end of year party. Best deal last year was found on the internet.

Volunteer #4 - End of Year Party -  THANK YOU HEATHER MCALL - Organize a party after last game of the year.

Volunteer #5- Team Photographer - Take team and individual pictures and distribute to the team.

PRACTICES
Our spring training practice schedule is below. I will post it on the website shortly.

Day	Date	Time	Field
Friday	6-Apr	5:30	Ritter #2
Saturday,	7-Apr	12:45	Ritter #2
Wednesday,	11-Apr	6:30	Ritter #2
Saturday,	14-Apr	3:15	Cary High SB
Wednesday,	18-Apr	6:30	Ritter #2
Saturday,	21-Apr	9:00	Cary High SB
Wednesday,	25-Apr	6:30	Ritter #2
Sunday,	29-Apr	4:45	Ritter #2

Games begin the first week of May. 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 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.