Parents,

Looking forward to our first practice tomorrow, as a reminder all practices will be held Monday nights (7:00-8:30PM) at Bennett Field (3D).  Each team member should have the following at a minimum:

1. Comfortable mask/face covering
2. Glove
3. Batting Helmet
4. Approved Bat (https://www.leagueathletics.com/Page.asp?n=107038&org=minnetonkabaseball.org)
5. Water bottle

The full rules are found at the following link and if you can find the time I would recommend running through them with your child.

There are a few items I wanted to highlight for both parent and players.

1. Looking ahead to the point we are having games, a team must have 8 players or it will be a forfeit.  As we only have ten players on the team I would ask all parents to please be very diligent in advising of any schedule conflicts you know of and putting an emphasis on being present at every game possible. 

It would be greatly appreciated if you could each sign in to the MBA team site and note any games you will absolutely not be able to make.You can do this by going to the team schedule page and under the actions column clicking on the Thumbs Up icon and then RSVP “Not Attending”.It’s very easy and will help the team to know when we might be at risk of a forfeit.

2. If your child was like my son and unfortunately had to take last year off I want to stress that this will feel much different to the boys than the rookie league.  Some key differences
   1. General Differences:
      1. It will be machine (sling) pitch.
      2. We’ll keep score.
   2. When batting:
      1. There will be a batting order set by the coaches, it will not be based on who was quickest back to the dugout.
      2. Not every kid will bat each inning.  Innings will end after 3 outs or 5 runs.
      3. There will be called balls and strikes but the third strike will only be swinging and they can’t walk irrespective of # of balls.  They will need to learn not to swing at every pitch; they are looking for strikes/pitches they can hit.
      4. There will be no “on-deck” location.
   3. In the field:
      1. Boys will have assigned positions in the field.  They will spend at least two innings in the infield and two in the outfield in each game.  Because we only have 10 there should be nobody who is not in the field.
      2. We will try harder to enforce the closest person gets the ball.  They will not chase the ball on every play.

Some of that seems like it should be a very easy but for 8 year olds, especially if they took a year off, I expect a bumpy start and significant improvement throughout the year.

Any questions let me know.

Kurt

 

Parents,

Cleanup day has been cancelled tomorrow due to weather.

Kurt

 

Parents,

Hope everyone is getting excited for the start of baseball.  For anyone who can make it, field clean-up day is this Saturday, April 10th from 10:30 to 1:00PM.  The community 6 and 8 leagues have been assigned to cleanup the Minnewashta fields in Shorewood.  Location information can be found on the Minntonka Baseball Association website under Menu>Master Schedule>Fields.

The more who attend the quicker it will go, my understanding is it usually only takes an hour despite the longer schedule.  If you can come out and help even for the first hour great.  If you do come, below are the cleanup tasks needed and the tools you should bring with you if possible.

Minnewashta 3 fields Community 6 and 8

 Tools needed (Rakes, shovels, wheelbarrows)

1. Add ag lime around the mound and home use existing ag-lime.

2. Far west field (#1) move the existing ag lime from the first base fence back to the 2nd-3rd base outfield area.  This is a rake, shovel and wheel barrow project.  

3. Add some ag lime where needed, moving what's there.

4. Pick up any loss debris and bag.

5. Rake infield, move ag-lime and level and fill holes where needed.

As respects Covid safety protocal, you should have also received an email today with the MBA safety protocols. If you haven't please let me know. I'll be spending some time going over those and a practice plan over the next couple of days with the goal of getting an update out Saturday with highlights prior to practice next Monday night. The two I immediately noticed were:

1) There will be no sharing of equipment so if that is an issue (i.e. you don't have a helmet and bat) please arrange to have one or if you can't let me know and we'll see if we can't find an extra one your child can use.

2) Masks are only required if the kids don't maintain social distance (6 feet) of space between them.  My initial gut feeling is we should prep kids to wear masks at all times when they are not in the field.  Good news is our kids should be used to wearing masks at this point.

I would really appreciate everyone reading through the protocols and sharing any the general expectations around social distancing with your child. As everyone has had a different experience with COVID I want to make sure we are following the protocols to the best of our ability. If you see anything you're uncomfortable with at practice or games just let me or one of other coaches know.

Any questions please feel free to call or text me.

Kurt Colden

816-260-3149

 

Chartier Orthodontics Parents:

Welcome back to baseball for the Spring 2021 season!  It's time to try on those cleats and have some much needed baseball fun!  My name is Kelly Kress, I am Alex Kress' mom and the team manager for this season's Chartier Orthodontics team.  I have a few quick announcements to bring to your attention before our first practices:

Hat embroidery:  As Coach Kurt mentioned, we have chosen to have each player's last name embroidered on the back of their hat.  The fee for this service is $5.00 and I will be collecting this money for Coach.  You are welcome to get it to me at our first practice or send it to me via Venmo (@KellyKress2008) or Paypal (@kellykress1). 

Our practices will be held at Bennett Field 3D.  Practices will be held on Monday evenings from 7-8:30 and are scheduled to start on April 12th.  The forcast is looking good so I am optimistic that this will happen but I will be in touch if anything changes.

Saturday, April 10th is field cleanup day.  Watch for emails from MBA about times, locations and how you can help get the fields ready!

If you have any questions or there is anything I can help you with this season, please feel free to reach out via email (kellykress2008@gmail.com) or call/text me at 480-717-9229.

Sincerely,

Kelly Kress