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Slide Show of Smoltz-Grissom Wood Bat Tournament
Go to the website below and see a slide show of over 120 pictures from the Smoltz-Grissom Wood Bat Tournament Many Thanks go to Linday Pike for all these photos. Great Job!
http://www.slide.com/r/ZkfrvQr-5j8z--o_LEEuLB_WctIfwsM0?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url
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Go to the website below and see a slide show of over 120 pictures from the World Series Warm-up @ The Beach. Many thanks go to Linda Pike for all these fantastic photos. SUPER Job!
http://www.slide.com/r/aG_MKcRzyz82MCmEyk_7eV8Pu7kvonld?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original
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Slide show of Elite Travel Classic Photos
Go to the website below and see a slide show of over 120 pictures from the Elite Travel Classic(photos taken by Linda Pike). Also look in Photo Albums on THIS site for some of the photos.
http://www.slide.com/r/b9lRbrGX5D-glv1V1ysaBWCYfuE2RGmd?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url
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Slide Show of Barberitos Triple Play Classic
May 21, 2007 --
Go to the website below and see a slide show of over 120 pictures from the Barberitos Triple Play Classic (most photos taken by Linda Pike).
http://www.slide.com/r/PPlI6TpV3z-CtIHBucPlNkyUPsc9kV9X?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url
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Can You Control the Strike Zone?
http://www.nationalyouthbaseball.com/news/general/index.html?article_id=106
03/23/2007 8:50 PM -
There is probably no more significant factor in a young batter’s success than his or her ability to understand the strike zone. Swinging at bad pitches is a sure path to the bottom of the batting order, so let’s start by looking at what the strike zone is, at least according to the rules.
The strike zone is a three-dimensional space bounded on each vertical side by the edges of the plate (including the black trim) making it 17 inches wide, side-to-side. The top of the strike zone is the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants; and the bottom is a line through the hollow beneath the knee cap.
The strike zone is often illustrated as a two dimensional (see right) plane parallel to the front of the plate and perpendicular to the playing surface. If any part of a pitched ball intersects any portion of this plane, the ball is in the strike zone and should be ruled as a strike (unless hit). Technically, the strike zone has depth as well; the rules define a volume of 3-dimensional space – a right pentagonal prism (see image left). If any part of the ball intersects any part of this space, it is considered in the zone, and should be ruled a strike.
In reality, the strike zone can vary widely from one youth umpire to the next, so all you can do is teach good habits and hope your players can adjust.
Ted Williams, widely regarded as the best overall hitter of all time and the last man to hit .400 (actually .406 in 1941), defined the strike zone in his famous book with John Underwood, The Science of Hitting. One of the best teaching tools ever developed, Williams displayed the strike zone as a series of baseballs, seven wide by 11 high, and estimated what he would hit with the ball in each part of the strike zone. Needless to say, if some balls in the strike zone could only rarely be hit successfully (.230 for a low outside pitch), then consistently hitting a ball outside the strike zone is nearly impossible.
The key thought here is to learn to wait for a good pitch. You get three cuts at the ball and you will improve your hitting dramatically if you can stop chasing balls that simply can’t be turned into line drive base hits. Obviously, there is some variation in each batter and some hitters may prefer balls up and inside (that was Ted Williams’ favorite) or slightly outside, in addition to the fastballs right down the middle that we all want to see. Find your best part of the strike zone and discipline yourself to recognize and jump on those pitches you like and lay off anything else, even if it might be a strike. That holds true until you have two strikes – with two strikes you have to swing at anything close to the strike zone, you have to “go with the pitch”, and you have to try to put the ball in play.
Parents and Coaches – A Practice Tip: When you are working with your player on a batting tee, position the tee so that the player hits balls in all parts of the strike zone (at least each of the corners of the plate), so the batter can learn where the boundaries of the strike zone are. Work on teaching the player to drive the ball in the proper direction, for instance, a right-hander hitting outside pitches to the gap between 1st and 2nd, and to concentrate on hitting line drives off the sweet spot of the bat.
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Chain Celebrates 4th Place Finish at TCS GA State Championship!
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Slideshow of the TCS GA State Championship
Go to the website below and see a slide show of over 120 pictures from the Triple Crown Sports Georgia State Championship. Many thanks go to Linda Pike for all these tremendous photos. Great Job!
http://www.slide.com/r/_OOAFAUcuz9M1Lz54A_5YDUMRAXvxphl?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url
Slideshow of the TCS GA State Championship
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New York City Bans Metal Baseball Bats, Overriding Mayor's Veto
April 24, 2007 --
By Mason Levinson
April 23 (Bloomberg) -- New York City banned metal baseball bats in high school games when the City Council overrode Mayor Michael Bloomberg's veto.
The vote was 41-4, seven more than required for an override, City Council spokesman Stephen Hamill said in a telephone interview. The law takes effect Sept. 1.
Bloomberg vetoed the bill this month, saying he didn't know if metal bats are more or less dangerous than those made of wood, and that people who run youth leagues should decide what bats to use.
``The mayor made his position clear when he vetoed it,'' mayoral spokesman Stuart Loeser said in a telephone interview.
At least six towns in northern New Jersey have banned bats for some age groups, according to NorthJersey.com.
The City Council approved the bill March 14, 40-6 with two abstentions. Sponsors said hard-hit balls from aluminum bats posed too much of a hazard compared with wooden bats. Children, parents and coaches testified at hearings about serious injuries players have suffered from line drives hit with metal bats.
``This is not about whether baseball should be the crack of the bat or the ping of the bat,'' Lewis Fidler, a sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. ``It's about eliminating unnecessary risk from high school competition before one of our kids gets hurt or killed for no reason.''
The law allows only wood bats that have been approved by Major League Baseball for major- or minor-league play. It runs counter to the position of USA Baseball, an association of the largest U.S. amateur organizations, including Little League Baseball, Inc., American Legion Baseball, T-Ball USA and Babe Ruth Baseball.
A 2002 National Consumer Product Safety Commission study found that there is ``no evidence to suggest that aluminum bats pose any greater risk than wood bats,'' according to a position paper posted on the Little League Web site.
The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mason Levinson in New York at mlevinson@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: April 23, 2007 17:30 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aGIePfpCV710&refer=us#
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USA Baseball Youth Committee Statement on Non-Wood Bats
01/27/2007 3:51 PM -
USA Baseball, the National Governing Body (NGB) for the sport of baseball as designated by the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, recently held a meeting of its National Youth Membership, and on behalf of the following organizations (American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC) American Legion Baseball Dixie Baseball Little League Baseball, Inc. Babe Ruth Baseball PONY Baseball National Baseball Congress / Hap Dumont Baseball Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) United States Sports Specialties Association (USSSA) National Police Athletic League (PAL) T-Ball USA) has released the following statement:
PERCEPTION: Aluminum bats are more dangerous than wood bats. The National Consumer Product Safety Commission studied this issue and concluded in 2002 that there is no evidence to suggest that aluminum bats pose any greater risk than wood bats. Multiple amateur baseball governing bodies, including the NCAA, National High School Federation, Little League International, PONY, et al, all track safety statistics and have concluded that aluminum bats do not pose a safety risk.
PERCEPTION: The use of aluminum bats places children at an unacceptable risk of injury. A study from the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research shows that there have been only 15 catastrophic batted ball injuries to pitchers out of more than 9,500,000 high school and college participants since 1982. During the last five years a number of states, individual organizations, city councils, and others have proposed the banning of metal baseball bats on a number of different levels. These actions have typically been in reaction to a catastrophic injury as opposed to being based on creditable injury data or research. In May of 2002 the Consumer Product Safety Commission stated, “The Commission is not aware of any information that injuries produced by balls batted with non-wood bats are more severe than those involving wood bats”. This statement was true in 2002 and it is true in 2007.
The Medical/Safety Advisory Committee of USA Baseball was initiated due to the lack of injury data needed to make decisions affecting the safety of baseball participants. Prior to 2005 there has not been significant research comparing injuries to baseball pitchers from metal bats versus wood bats. In 2005 the USA Baseball Medical/Safety Committee initiated a three year research project comparing line drive baseball injuries to pitchers from metal bats and wood bats. Metal bat injury data were taken from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Injury Surveillance System and wood bat injury data collected from college summer leagues (NCAA recognized college summer league teams all use wood bats). After two years (2005 and 2006) of collecting batted ball injury data to the pitcher from 93 NCAA college baseball teams and 246 college summer league teams there have only been 17 injuries to NCAA college pitchers and 15 injuries to college summer league pitchers. Only 32 injuries after 331,821 balls were hit into play (Balls hit into play are calculated by taking the number of at bats and subtracting strike outs and bases on balls). The injuries in the summer leagues were more severe than the NCAA injuries. One-third of the summer league injuries involved the head and face as opposed to none in the NCAA. The third year of the study will be completed in 2007.
What this data does indicate is that injuries to the pitcher from batted balls are very rare and can happen while using metal or wood bats. There is no data to indicate that the few catastrophic injuries to baseball pitchers from metal bats would not have happened if the batter was using a wood bat. Before any sport makes rule changes, equipment changes, or other changes related to the safety of the participants, it is imperative that these changes are based on reliable injury data and not anecdotal information.
USA Baseball is the National Governing Body of amateur baseball in the and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The organization selects and trains the USA Baseball National Team, the USA Baseball Junior National Team (18-under), the USA Baseball Youth National Team (16-under), the USA Baseball 14-U National Team (14-under), and the USA Baseball Women’s National Team which participate in various international competitions each year. www.usabaseball.com
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2007 Elite Travel Classic TBS / TOC All Tournament Team
May 1, 2007 --
Elite Travel Classic TBS / TOC All Tournament Team
http://www.travelballselect.com/
Jared Walsh (OF/P) -East Cobb Astros - Hit .714 with one home run and two doubles for the tournament. Also did a great job pitching in two relief appearances. Was named the Astros MVP for the tournament.
Jack Berry (P)- East Cobb Astros - Pitched an incredible game vs. the Florida Elite. Allowed no runs against a team that scored a tournament high 48 runs. Florida Elite coach said it was one of the best games he’s seen Berry pitch.
David Sosebee (P)- East Cobb Astros - The Astros # 1 pitcher. Impressive performances against the Tarheels and S. Oakland A’s . Great control and location of his pitches during this tournament. In two games Sosebee allowed no earn runs.
Jacob Bruce (CF / P) - East Cobb Astros - Remember this name. This hard throwing lefty looks as good as any left handed pitcher we’ve seen in 2007. Big time performance against the Tarheels and one of the best hitters on this powerful Astros team.
Jessie Winker (CF) - Florida Elite - Not sure how many home runs this kid hit but every time we heard a cheer from the Elite fans, Winkler was rounding the bases. Hit game winner against the Storm to send the Elite to the Championship Game.
Alexis Rivera (LF) - Florida Elite - This kid is a stud. Big, strong and carries a big stick. A. Rivera pounded the ball all weekend and was one of the toughest hitters any team faced in this tournament. Hit a big time home run against the Alabama Storm that still hasn’t hit the ground.
Cody Sharp (RF / P) - Florida Elite - Cody Sharp stands out more than most players on the diamond. Not just because of his long hair but because of the way he plays the game. Sharp plays the game the way most kids his age doesn’t, full seed. This kid gives it all he has and then some and has the athletic ability and build to go along way in this game. We saw this kid pound the ball all weekend, plays a great right field and flies around the bases.
Tyler Odom - Alabama Storm - A walk off home run, a 1st inning 2 run home runs against the Elite, this kid pounded the ball all weekend. It was reported that Odom hit a total of 5 dingers during the tournament finished with a batting average of over .600
Sean Kennedy - Alabama Storm - The Storms # 1 go to guy. Kennedy did a fantastic job pitching 3 innings against the East Cobb Hurricanes and in the next game against the Florida Elite, Kennedy was almost un-hittable.
Hulmes (P)- Carolina Tarheels - One of the best pitchers we saw this past weekend. This kid has all the tools on the mound and before leaving the game in the 5th inning against the Astros, held a 2-1 lead.
Jeff Sneed (P)- East Cobb Hurricanes - Sneed pitched a master piece against the Alabama Storm. When Sneed left the mound after pitching 5 strong innings the Hurricanes held a 7-4 lead. Once Sneed was replaced, the Storm exploded for 6 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning.
Mason Felt (P) - Georgia Dodgers - Held the East Cobb Astros to 3 runs on 5 hit through 5 innings of work. Felt has one of the best change ups we saw this weekend and used his change up to perfection against the Astros. Felt has the genes to play this game along time, his dad played pro ball in his younger days.
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Triple Crown Sports, GA State Championships, 4th Place
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Barberitos Triple Play Classic Champs!
May 20, 2007 --
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Chain 13U Major: 2007 13U Fletcher World Series Champions!
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