MPTLL Alumnus Is a Carolina Panther

Congratulations to Myers Park Trinity alumnus, Brenton Bersin, who has agreed to sign with the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted rookie free agent. Bersin was a wide receiver at Charlotte Latin School and Wofford College, the alma mater of Panthers owner Jerry Richardson. Wofford is also the team's training camp home.

Bersin played his Little League ball for Zan Copeland's Trinity team in 2001 and 2002. He is one of four former players from the 2001 MPTLL major league draft to have played college football, the others being Tate Bloomer (W&L), Davis Austin (Cornell) and Cody Keith (East Carolina). Best of luck to Bersin as he begins his pro career.

MPTLL Alumni Notes

Check out today's South Charlotte News in the Observer for an article on the pitching of Charlotte Country Day senior Lee Harrison (left) and his teammate, William Frazier. Lee played for the Regions Bank team at MPTLL and will attend Cushing Academy in Massachusetts next year in preparation for playing either baseball or football in college.

There is an article in the Matthews-Mint Hill Weekly about the second-year Queens Grant High School baseball team, which is led in batting by former Al Browne player David McGoldrick.

And you can check out the latest Charlotte Observer high school baseball statistics to see Harrison, McGoldrick and Colin Walls (AB) leading the area in several categories.

Friday Night Lights

There's a handful of high school baseball games under the lights tonight. I know most of us will be home watching the Spiders, but if you want to catch a game on the big field tonight, here are a few to mention. All games are at 7:00:

Country Day is hosting Cary Academy tonight at Ed Walton Field. CD has just returned from a successful spring break trip to Florida and this is their first home game of the season. The Bucs feature five former MPTLL stars: Webb Anderson (CP), Lee Harrison (RB), Keisuke Ishikawa, Sam Poole (AB) and Colin Walls (AB).

It's Military Night at Myers Park High School's Jack Sink Field, as the Mustangs host South Meck. There will be a color guard presentation, rock climbing wall for the kids and military vehicles on display. The team will wear special camouflage jerseys to honor the men and women of our armed forces. One of this blog's two (that's 2) followers pitches for Myers Park. It's not Rex, so it must be MPTLL alum Bo Coggins (HB).

And one of the best high school teams in the nation, Ardrey Kell, ranked #18 in the country by Baseball America, plays at East Meck tonight at 7:00.

That's just a sample of the high school games on tap. There are schedules for these and other teams here.

Pair of MPTLL Alumni Heading to Division I Football

Morgan Roberts

Two former Myers Park Trinity LL baseball players have signed on to play quarterback at NCAA Division 1 football programs. Morgan Roberts, who played for Bryant Electric Supply in our Major League, and later starred on the Country Day gridiron, has signed with Clemson.

Cody Keith, who played for Park Meridian (now Regions Bank), has gone from Cheshire Academy in Connecticut to East Carolina University, where he is currently enrolled for the spring 2011 semester.

Both were standout Little Leaguers, and have now taken a big step in fulfilling their football dreams. Best of luck to Morgan and Cody.

MPTLL History Project

The history of Myers Park Trinity is a large part of what we are today. As the oldest existing Little League organization in Charlotte, we have a tradition and a respect for our history like none other.

But much of that history has been passed down by word of mouth and is at the risk of being lost or accidentally rewritten. So I have set out to document our history using pictures, first hand accounts, draft records, scorebooks and newspaper clippings. Much of the work was done by a few of us prior to the league's 50th anniversary in 2002. But many holes remained and inaccurate legends persisted.

The MPTLL History Project will attempt to document as many facts as possible that make up our real history. The main part of this endeavor is to track the history of our oldest and most prominent division of play - the Major League division. It all began is 1951 with Harry & Bryant, and we became a chartered league - the Myers Park Civitan League - in 1952 with HB, Al Browne's Service, Farmers Dairy and Blythe Motors. But what happened the next year?

MPTLL Alum Signs With Maryland

Congratulations to former Al Browne player, Carter Bumgardner, on signing to play baseball at the University of Maryland. Carter was one of my first players and he played his high school ball at Country Day. You can visit his UMD Baseball profile here.