TIGER BASEBALL NEWS - FEBRUARY 2006
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 6
TIGER BASEBALL NEWS
Updates On Building A Strong Competitive Baseball Program For Tigard
LET’S PLAY BALL: The sun has been out occasionally and bats have been cracking. Tigard High School baseball tryouts began Monday, Feb. 20. Tigard Junior Baseball tryouts are Sunday, February 26. All the boys are eager to get on the diamond. Let’s hope the weather cooperates and warms up.
TIGARD BASEBALL BOOSTERS: You are all Tigard Baseball Boosters – supporting and promoting competitive baseball in Tigard for boys in grades 7 through 12. Through your volunteer hours and leadership, we raised over $50,000 in 2005 to help meet needed expenses for turf field payments, field & facility improvements, equipment and supplies. All funds raised go to help high school teams (three spring, two summer) and four Junior Baseball teams. Goals, budget and activities are developed by the Tigard Baseball Steering Committee which meets the second Thursday of each month at the high school. Committee members include: Senior Class: Dave & Sally Brallier; Junior Class: KC Wiser, Lou Kreisberg; Sophomore Class: Dan & Margaret Burd, Steve Clark; Freshman Class: Mark Herndon, Mike Tiedemann; Junior Baseball: Mike Wantland, Andy Hansen; Committee Chair, Randy Clark; Treasurer, Cindy Anderson.
NEW BATTING CAGES: Although plans have been brewing, engineering completed and resources gathered for the new covered batting cages, the school district has just approved the upgrade in January and Tigard Baseball has just reached a point that we have enough budget surplus to begin the job. Steve Clark, Mike Tiedemann and Mark Herndon have been spearheading the last effort to build covered, enclosed batting cages at our high school baseball complex. A contractor to oversee the project has been procured, and it looks like we will break ground on March 4. The contractor and crew will be doing a lot of the heavy technical labor like setting posts and rafters, but much of the work will need to be done by volunteers at work parties over the following four or five Saturdays. KC Wiser will be calling baseball families to sign you up for a Saturday shift. We hope to have the cages completed during spring break, with roof, sides, doors, two new nets and lighting. Many individuals and businesses have donated time and materials to complete this project. We will be announcing and thanking them all at our Season Opener dinner March 21.
TIGARD BASEBALL WEBSITE: It’s official! High school baseball has climbed on board with Tigard Junior Baseball on our official website at www.tigardbaseball.org. Pages are in development, but over the next six months, almost all communications for players and parents will be posted on this website. Our newsletter will be distributed on this site, as well as information about clinics, tournaments, rainouts, volunteer assignments and workdays. Please go to the site immediately and SUBSCRIBE with the email addresses at which you would like to receive messages about Tigard Baseball and your player’s program. This might include home, work, and player’s email address. Any time there is an important message to reach families, it will be put on the website and automatically emailed to the relevant families.
BASEBALL WORKDAY: Families and players are asked to help with the annual Spring Cleanup on Saturday, March 11. Numerous projects are being planned on all fields and the grounds, including major reconditioning of the varsity field cutouts (new dirt, powerwashing dirt out of turf, installation of new tarps), concession cleanup and season prep, gravel between lower fields, repair backstops on lower fields, installation of the Papen Memorial (flag pole, bench and plantings), sod, barkdust and plantings in the Varsity Gardens, tree pruning and planting, paint touch-up. KC Wiser will be calling families to schedule work crews on the various projects going on that day. It will also be a chance to observe and help on The Tiger Cage, the new batting cage facility which will be in its second weekend of construction.
SEASON OPENER SCHEDULED: The second annual high school Season Opener will be held Tuesday, March 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Tigard Covenent Church. This is the official kickoff and celebration for the high school baseball season. Players and families are invited to share a meal, introduction of coaches and teams, some inspiration and entertainment. This year, the Senior Class is taking responsibility for the kick off to their final high school season. Cindy Cederberg is chairing the event. And, word has it that the senior players are planning some video entertainment for the evening. Official invitations will be sent as we get closer to the event.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL SCHEDULES: Go to http://ths.ttsd.k12.or.us/bulletins/ and click on Athletic Calendars. This will give you the most up-to-date rainout or schedule information for the day, and you can scroll down to the bottom to request a full schedule for varsity, JV or frosh.
COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS: We still have some openings in our volunteer leadership needs for the 2006 baseball year. If you are able to fill an important need, please contact your class rep or Randy Clark as soon as possible, 503.590.4110. Thank you to all who generously volunteer their time and leadership. These people work for a living, but still find the time to help our baseball kids.
Batting Cages: Steve Clark
Mike Tiedemann
Mark Herndon
Banner Sales Soph Class: Dan Burd, chair
Frosh Class: _______________
Junior Class: _______________
Senior Class: Dave Brallier
JBO: ____________________
Equipment & Coaching Jason Stanley
JV & Frosh Fields Mark Herndon
Grounds & Cleanup Day KC Wiser
March 11
Papen Memorial – Opening Day Dave Brallier
Season Opener: March 21 Cindy Cederberg
Concessions Freshman Class: Sacha Etzel
Soph Class: Janie Woolfe, chair Junior Class: _______________
JBO: _____________________
Web Site Mark Herndon
Spring Diamond Classic Jason Stanley
Little League Opening Day Mike & Susan Tiedemann
Little League Clinics Jason Stanley
Cindy Anderson
Anderson Memorial Scholarship Sally Brallier
Cindy Anderson
Varsity Dinners Laura Jones
Senior Celebration Junior Class: _____________
JBO Tournaments Mark Herndon
Mike Wantland
Andy Hansen
Balloon Fest Tournament (Twins) Jason Stanley
Lobos Tournament KC Wiser
Summer & Fall Fruit Sale Randy Clark
BASEBALL LEADERSHIP REPS APPOINTED: THS Athletic Director Kevin Bryant has established the Tigard Student Athlete Advisory Committee composed of athlete and coaching representatives. The purpose of the Committee is “to increase recognition of sports in the student body, administration, alumni and community, foster unity among all student athletes and address the overall wants and needs of all student athletes.” The group has met twice and is discussing leadership and sportsmanship issues at length. Jeff Jones and Conor Clark are representing baseball.
BANNER SALES BLITZ BEGINS: Dan Burd is once again taking the point on banner sales for the outfield and infield fences this year, with hopes of building sales up to higher levels over the next two years. This is a very important source of funding for Tigard Baseball and all the projects and commitments that are ongoing. Dan is looking for a rep from the Frosh, Junior and Senior Classes to assist him on this committee. It’s a short sales blitz – the month of March – and then you’re done.
We have adjusted banner sizes and prices this year to make purchase more attractive:
3’ x 5’ infield fence banner $275 two colors
4’ x 8’ outfield fence banner $375 two colors
All banners will be placed beginning April 1 and remain on the fences through Aug. 1. This season has games being played almost every day and tournaments being played on the weekends on a world-class turf baseball field. It’s a great promotion. If you own a business or work for a business that could benefit from this exposure or should be supporting Tigard kids and Tigard baseball, please purchase a banner as an outward visible sign of your support. If you know of a business or family member or neighbor or acquaintance who would benefit, please pass these contacts on to Dan Burd.
All banner purchases can be made through Dan. He can be reached, preferably at work, at 503.675.5744 or dburd@textronfinancial.com. Secondarily, contact Dan at home at 503.244.1724 or email at mdjjburd@msn.com. “Leave a message and I will always get back to folks.”
In the past, every baseball family has been asked to be responsible for two baseball banners. Dan is willing to make the sale. Please pass your contacts to him as soon as possible. We hope to have our banner sales blitz wrapped up by early April.
SPRING BREAK TOURNAMENT SET: The Tigard Spring Diamond Classic will take place Saturday, March 25, through Wednesday, March 29 on the THS varsity field. This is a varsity tournament with some great teams scheduled for play. Besides Tigard, varsity teams from West Albany, Central Catholic, Barlow, Newberg, Benson, Hudson’s Bay (Vancouver), Aloha, South Medford and Westview will be participating. Baseball players will be asked to help with scoring and field prep. Parents will be asked to help with concessions. This is a strong fundraiser for our programs.
PLAYING AT THE NEXT LEVEL: News from the college ranks: Pat Jones THS ’02 is in his senior year at University of Redlands in southern California. Jordon Rasmussen ’02, Dave Bachofner, ’04, and Kevin Mills, ’04, are on the travel team for Linfield College. Chris Derthick, ’03 is in his second year as a pitcher for Clackamas Community College and has received a look from NAIA Concordia College for next year. Colin Clark, ’05, is on the travel team for Willamette University. And Spencer Kreisberg ’05 is pitching in his first season at Los Medanos Junior College in northern California. Good luck to all in their spring seasons!
ANDERSON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP: Last May, we lost John Anderson -- a strong advocate for youth sports in the Tigard community and Tigard baseball, in particular. John’s wife Cindy is the treasurer of Tigard Baseball Boosters; son Robert is a sophomore at THS playing baseball, and Richard, THS ’03, went on to play baseball in the California junior college system. The Anderson family established a scholarship fund in John’s name, and friends and family provided the outpouring of contributions that originally funded it.
The Anderson Memorial Fund will be administered by Tigard Baseball Boosters and will distribute proceeds annually to deserving THS baseball graduates who are going on to play baseball at the college level. In January, the Tigard Baseball Steering Committee gave an additional $1,000 to the scholarship fund from 2005 fundraising revenues bringing the principal to over $5,000. It is our hope to continue to add to the fund each year through contributions and perhaps, a particular tournament proceeds, to build the principal and allow the interest to make a significant impact on one or two players’ college expenses. Initial scholarship criteria have been established. Applications will be developed and distributed by coaching staff on April 3 this year. Scholarship deadline is May 3, and the recipient of the first $500 Anderson Memorial Baseball Scholarship will be announced at THS Senior Awards Night. Naturally, we are always eager to accept contributions to the principal of the fund. Please contact Randy Clark if you’d like to add to the Anderson Memorial Scholarship Fund.
CALENDAR OF IMPORTANT EVENTS:
Feb. 26 JBO Tryouts
March 4 Breaking Ground on The Tiger Cage
New training facility for Tigard Baseball players
March 9 Tigard Baseball Steering Committee Meeting
7 p.m. @ THS
March 11 Tigard Baseball Workday
March 13 Varsity Jamboree
March 21 THS Season Opener: Dinner & Celebration
6:30 p.m. – Tigard Covenant Church
March 25-29 Tigard Spring Diamond Classic
April 5 Papen Memorial Dedication
First Home League game
GET INVOLVED: Your help and support are needed to help strengthen the Tigard baseball programs -- for the kids who dream of play in high school, for the players who want to learn and grow throughout their four years at Tigard High, for the players who want to play baseball in college, or simply for those who have a deep love of the game. We need EVERY participating family to give what they can of their time and contacts. Please do all you can do.
Let’s play ball!
|
