Saturday, July 28, 2012

MP 14's Car Wash Fundraiser on Sunday

Help send the Myers Park Trinity 14-year-old All Stars to the Southeast Regional Babe Ruth Tournament. The team is having a car wash fundraiser on Sunday, July 29th from 1pm-3pm at Randolph Park.

The boys will leave Charlotte on Wednesday for the tournament in Purcellville, VA. They will have a minimum four night stay. Proceeds from the car wash will help cover travel costs for players and coaches needing financial assistance.

You can help the team by having your car washed on Sunday or making a donation online. No amount is too small. Spread the word. Thank you for supporting MPTLL and the 14's.

Myers Park 14's Are Western NC State Champs

The Myers Park Trinity 14-year-old All Star team won the Western NC State Babe Ruth Championship in Matthews this week, sweeping two games in the finals in dominating fashion.  For the tournament, the team played seven games in four days, winning six, including the final five in a row. This is the first state championship for Myers Park Trinity in 60 years of baseball.

The title puts Myers Park into the Southeast Regional, August 2-5 at Fireman's Field in Loudoun County, Northern Virginia.   Myers Park’s first game will be Thursday, August 2nd at 11am against San Jose FL, a team out of the Jacksonville area.   MP fans can follow the team's progress on the MPTLL Twitter page.

The Southeast Regional will match up 12 teams from Alabama, the Bahamas, North Florida, South Florida, Georgia, Eastern North Carolina, Western North Carolina, South Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, Western Tennessee and Virginia. The winner will advance to the 14U Babe Ruth World Series in Murray, Utah in mid-August.

The 14's are managed by Mark Crowther. Coaches are Mark Mensheha, Craig Holder, Boyd Coggins, Bo Coggins, Mark Smith, Rick Hutchins and Trevor Beasley. Players are: Gardner Atkinson, Calvin Cara, Hayes Christenbury, Tom Hay Coggins, Parker Dennis, Michael Hawes, Sam Little, Matt Long, Antonio Misenhaimer, Joe McGoldrick, Kyle Pace, Henry Richards, Caston Rudisill, and J.J. Schacht.

The players will be holding a car wash fundraiser to help offset the cost of traveling and staying in VA.  Please support this group as they represent Myers Park Trinity next week.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Myers Park 11's Win District 3

The Myers Park 10-11-year-old all-star team captured the District 3 Championship on Thursday night with a 10-0, 4-inning victory over Weddington National on Wade Field at Myers Park.

The team blew through district play in four games, outscoring its opponents 51-2. The pitching staff allowed no earned runs and the defense was stellar all week. The championship game was highlighted by a 2-hit shutout thrown by Henry Merchant, an incredible 3rd-inning ending play from the hole by Patrick Alvarez and a double play by Khristian Ellington at 3rd base that set up the final strikeout.

When a team scores 51 runs in four games, obviously the bats are red hot, which was the case for Myers Park. The boys wasted no time, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the 1st inning of game 1 over TOC champ Weddington American. That game ended 10-0 on a game-winning sac fly by Pres Cavenaugh in the 4th that drove in Ben Heaton.

Game 2 was a 22-1, 4-inning affair over Dilworth that included 2 home runs by Raul Beltran, 4 doubles by Ellington and home runs by Alvarez and Hayden Malchesky. Alvarez hit another home run in Game 3's 9-1 win over Weddington National. He didn't stop in the championship game, hitting a home run and 2 doubles. Malchesky also homered again, and Merchant had 2 hits and the complete game victory.

This makes three banners by the Little League Class of 2013. The age group won TOC banners at ages 9 and 10, and they now have the District Tournament banner they wanted so badly. With those three banners, they are the most decorated class in Myers Park Trinity history.

Now they will attempt to go farther into the summer than previous MP teams. They head to the league's third official NC Little League State Tournament in the past five years, following the success of the 2008 10-year-olds and the same group that won the District in 2010 as 12's. No Myers Park team has gone beyond the state semifinals in recent memory, the 1987 All-Star team being the last.

The 11's will head to Morganton today for a 5:00 State Tournament matchup with District 5. The tournament will be played at Catawba Meadows Park, only an hour and a half drive from Charlotte. If you cannot make the trip to Morganton, head to the Myers Park Twitter page for live updates on all the action. I will be live tweeting from games as I have all summer.

The boys hope to make a good run at States. On Friday, they raised money for the trip by hosting a car wash at Randolph Park. They are also raising money for the league and their trip online. This team is playing to win and wants to make it an extended stay.

Friday, July 6, 2012

District 3 Tournaments Set To Begin

The official NC District 3 Little League Tournaments begin Saturday, July 7, with four Myers Park Trinity teams in action. This time it's double-elimination, win and advance.

The 12's won their Tournament of Champions (pictured) and will go to Weddington to try to extend their summer. They begin on Sunday, likely with a huge matchup against the team they beat in the TOC final, Weddington National.

Myers Park is hosting the 11-year-old District Tournament on Wade Field. Our 11's have a good team and will attempt to get by TOC champ Weddington American in their first game on Saturday. If you would like to volunteer to help with the scorebook, pitch count or public address during any games, let me or Greg Heaton know.

The 10's will head back to Dilworth for their tournament and the 9's will venture up to new District 3 member, Lake Norman LL. Here are all of the schedules:

12-year-old District 3 Tournament at Weddington
11-year-old District 3 Tournament at Myers Park
10-year-old District 3 Tournament at Dilworth
9-year-old District 3 Tournament at Lake Norman

Good luck to all the teams. As usual, updates will be posted on the MPTLL Twitter account during and after games, so check there often. You don't have to be a follower, but it helps.