The LAST BLOG Post

Info on here is more often than not also posted on the leagues Facebook Page.

Henceforth from May 2nd, 2014, this BLOG is suspended until further notice.  Rainout info and other info normally posted here AND on the league Facebook page will now be viewable exclusively on that site.

To get to the league Facebook page, click on our Facebook icon at the bottom of www.churchsoftball.org

Thanks

Doug P.

April 28th games cancelled

Tonights opener is cancelled.  All fields trashed by the heavy rains.

We will try again May 5th, Lord Willin'!

Season 36 planning well underway.

Looks like opening night will be April 21 or 28!

Gold Championship Tonight!

Semi-finals at 6:30, a break for some Platinum action and then the Gold Championship at 8:30.

Should be a fun night!

Week Two Tournament Action Starts Tonight!

South Conference Inaugural Championship Night is Tonight at Cary Lions Park.
Up North, a big night of elimination games as week 2 for the Platinum Division gets underway and week 1 of the single elim Gold gets underway as well!

Who will have a great night?  Stay tuned! May the best team win!

Aug. 12 Weather Update

A brief shower just cleared the area and sun is out. Rain was not hard and not long.

We are looking good to "Play Ball".

Tournament Umpires Assignments and Consequences for Missed Assignments.

In previous discussion about tournament play, it was very strongly voiced that all teams wanted impartial umpires for tournament play.

We will again be assigning umpiring duty to head coaches for the 2013 tournament.  Head coaches may keep this assignment personally, or delegate it to their assistant or a knowledgeable player on their team.

Coaches not electing to have their teams in the tournament will NOT be scheduled umpiring duties.

By signing up for the tournament and knowing the tournament starts the first Monday in August, you have non-verbally stated you are available EVERY Monday in August for ANY time slot until Championship night.

As the pool of eliminated teams increases, that means we will assign coaches from teams eliminated to umpire tournament games.

In spite of a fine system instituted last year, there were still several games with missed umpiring assignments. In order to eliminate that this year, the following consequences are in play for a missed assignment.

Any missed assignment will mean;

A $20 fine.

Regular Season Wrap Up Tonight

Our regular season wraps up this evening with all games from June 24 rainout being made up this evening.
We did have twilight games on that, but with an 8:15pm sunset, there may be challenges.

Coaches have been advised on this.

The standings will be locked on Wed, tournament seeded on Thursday and the charts published by Friday.

We have all teams in the South in their separate Tournament.

Up in the North, we have 11 teams in the Platinum Double Elim and 8 teams in the Gold Single Elim.

Should be fun!

Good Guys Report

In spite of the weather, a nice crowd was on-hand for Good Guys V.

We raised over $3400 for FISH which will enable them to buy $34,000 worth of food for hurting families in the community.

Unfortunately the league took a pounding from the police/fire team and Alliance Bible Asst. Coach suffered a severe hamstring injury on a sprint to 1st base.

Final score 36-24.

We raffled off $4700 worth of raffle prizes.  Thanks all who came to support this great cause.

Lord Willin' next year, we will change the format and be cherry picking 1 all-star from each church (not each team) to comprise the Good Guys squad to represent the league.  There seemed to be a general apathy on the part of the coaches in regards to participation in the game.  We did have 17 on the squad, but only 11 of them (out of 64 total in the league).

It's Picnic, All-Star Game and HR Derby Tonight!

Tonight the league takes it's annual pause to celebrate!!!

For some, grillin' & chillin', for some, their very first ever all-star game, for one, the thrill of winning a Home Run Derby!

All of this happens this evening, Lord Willin'.

I will open the gate at 5 for early birds to come down and bring their grills and stuff.  Once you drop them off, YOU MUST bring your vehicle back to the parking lot.

Picnics for your team will start when your team is ready.  All-star game should begin around 7-7:30.  HR Derby will be conducted at the end of the All-Star game.

Come on out and take in this great evening of fun and fellowship and support your all-stars.

Good Guys V Incentive

Good Guys Award

The Good Guys Award Incentive will be awarded to 1 team in each division that has the most rostered players attend the Good Guys event and sign the award signup sheet at Good Guys V Saturday July 27th.

2 Guaranteed Prizes!
1.     You get to hand pick time place and venue for ALL 6 home games of your team in 2013.
2.     Home field advantage for your first tournament game.

2 Prizes dependant on your advancement in tournament.
1.     If your team makes it to Championship night, you get to pick the start time of the Championship game anywhere within a 6:30 to 7:30 window.
2.     If your team wins the Championship, all players will receive a championship medallion in addition to the team trophy (paid for courtesy of league Prez. Doug Peterson).

Signup for rostered players attending the event will begin sometime after the first inning.  This is your opportunity to rally your team towards a great cause and maybe get a great prize for supporting the Good Guys effort.

We hope to see MANY more players come support the coaches playing in the event and by extension, helping the food pantry.

July 8th Games Status

All fields playable.  Play Ball!  Have Fun!

Updated MCFSL Schedule

• The question of extending the season has passed 15-2
• The question of leaving the option open of a Sunday night tournament round failed 4-8
• South Conference rainout of 6-24 will be made up on Monday night July 15th.
• League picnic and All-star game remains Monday July 22nd.
• 5th Annual Good Guys vs Good Guys remains Saturday July 27th 4pm.
• North Conference rainout of 6-24 will be made up on Monday night July 29th.
• All times and field assignments for 6-24 rainouts to be observed on your makeup date.
• First tournament night will now be Monday evening August 5th.

We obviously have no control over the weather, so in spite of a strong majority vote to extend the season, we could come to Monday July 15th and/or the 29th and have rain.  It is what it is and IF that happens, we'll take a step back and figure out what to do.  Lord Willin', it will not be an issue and we'll have good weather and field conditions on both those days.

Thanks and have a great night playing tonight.  Weather looks like it will be perfect!

June 24 games.

All games off. Go Hawks.

June 24TH GAMES STATUS

Shamrock playable. Hiller PLAYABLE. Township one and two playable. Township 3&4 closed, play in grass. Cary Lions Park open.

Tonight's games status?

Stay tuned. More info will be posted later this afternoon.

Prayer Request for Serious Injury

Monday June 10th, Holy Apostles player Jordan Kuchenmeister received a serious injury when a bad hop at shortstop popped him at the bridge of the nose.  The impact fractured his skull.  Jordan is ok and was in fact coaching first base last night but will be out the rest of the season.  The Dr's are recommending a plate be surgically implanted as the area affected is the sinus cavity and is mostly cartiledge.

I am asking for you to pray that God would intervene miraculously so that Jordan does NOT need to have a plate put in.

Compounding all this, recall this is the same Kuchenmeister family that lost their son Jeremy to a cancer battle earlier this Spring.  Jeremy also played on the Holy Apostles team.

League Picnic, All-star Game and Home Run Derby Update

League Picnic, All-Star Game and Home Run Derby Update.

Lord Willin', Monday evening July 22nd, the league will culminate the regular season to celebrate with our annual picnic, all-star game and home run derby.

Highlites for this years celebration of Season 35 include;

* Picnic.  All teams responsible for organizing EVERYTHING they need to have their own teams picnic.

* 2nd Season seeding chart reveal. (Tournament).

* All-Star game starting at around 7:30ish.  North Conference all-stars (both divisions) vs the new South Conference all-stars from Cary.

* Home Run Derby after the all-star game.

Home Run Derby signup begins this coming Monday July 24th.  Signup sheet will be at Field 1 at Township on bulletin board and at Lions Park at Cary.

This year's HR Derby will again feature the following;

* Trophy.
* Tickets to a ball game.
* You may use ANY bat of any manufacture and makeup.
* You may use ANOTHER persons bat.
* Special ULTRA-HARD Home Run Derby softballs.
* TIGHTER Advancement rule.  You will get 4 contacts with the ball.  Fair or Foul, at least ONE must be out of the park to advance to the next level.  There is a max of 4 sets of 4 contacts with the ball.  Previously the rule was 5 'fair 'ball' hits and 1 had to be out of the park to advance.

Under the new rules, you could hit a maximum of 16 homeruns, 4x4=16.

Prayer Request and Update

Prayer Request:  Rookie Asst. Coach Audrey Acosta of Mt. Hope received a deep gash on her left eyebrow from a practice pop up last Monday.  A lot of blood and a few stitches later.

Next Monday starts Twilight games in the North Conference.  Y'all know what that means.  For 7:30 coaches on unlit fields, it would be worth it for you to arrive for the 6:30 games and insure they are starting on time and moving along.

My observation is that many 6:30 games are NOT starting on time.  We need to really pick that pace up so the 7:30 gamers have a fair shake at getting 7 innings in.

I remind all that 7:30 games called on a count of darkness are NOT over.  They are suspended unless the losing team concedes.  Otherwise, pick the game up at a time and place TBD between each coach.  One thing twilighters could consider at the Township, would be to hang out until after the 8:30 games are over and then finish your final inning or 2.  Just a thought, not a request or mandate.

Have a great Fathers's Day weekend!

In Christ.

Doug

June 10th games are on!

Play Ball!

June 10th Games Status and lost and found

So fat so good, in spite of a little rain during the overnight hours and into the morning.  We'll keep you posted.

Currently in lost and found is;

1. Blue hoodie with "Woodstock Public Works" on the front.
2. Blackhawks hat with the word "Hawks" in very large embroidery.
3. 1 black Easton ball glove.
4. 1 tan Mizuno ball glove.
5. 1 black hat with "Thunder Struck" on the front. Flyrfd.com on the side and "Rockford Airfest 2010" on the back.
6. 4 umpires brushes.
7. 1 Under Armour water bottle.

May 20th Games Status

As of right now, the weather looks favorable to play this evening, but that could change dramatically as we get closer to game time.

The weather reports are filled with gloom and doom for this evening.  We will have to wait to see what the Good Lord reveals, since He is in charge, and not the weather man.

If there is a weather stop for tonight's games, based on what I see on radar now, (not much), the weather stop would not be issued until the 4:30 - 5:00 p.m. time frame.

Stay tuned!

...and then there were two...

At week 3, there are two teams left that have yet to play a game, Harvest Bible Chapel and St. Peters Catholic of Spring Grove.

I imagine they are looking forward to coming on out to the fields this evening.  Welcome back!

Shed Closing Schedule

8:30 game coaches at Township games, here is the closing schedule for whom is responsible for closing up the shed at night.  You should  not leave the fields if you do not see the assigned person there.  Call them if needed.

May 13  Dave Miller

May 20 Mike Orlando

June 3 Mike Orlando

June 10 Mike Orlando

June 17 John Amandes

June 24 Mike Orlando

July 1 Dave Miller

July 8 Doug Peterson

July 15 John Amandes

Services for fallen player Jeremy Kuchenmeister

Jeremy's wake is Friday May 10th at Colonial from 4 to 8 and the funeral is Saturday at 10:30 at Holy apostles.

Lost a good young man.

Regrettably the league lost a player on last Friday to a cancer battle.

Jeremy Kuchenmeister, 26, played on Holy Apostles with his brother.

Our condolences to his family.

South Conference Opens up for first time ever.

Our new South Conference at Lions Park in Cary had their first ever Opening Night last night and all 9 teams in the conference got into the fun and played last night.

Weather was perfect!

So our season is now fully underway with 32 teams, 2 conferences and approximately 500 players and coaches.

Praise the Good Lord.

Opening Night North Conference gets a Weather Miracle from the Lord

Huh?  It's true.  While watching radar all day yesterday, a large angry looking red and purple cell began approaching from the west and making a beeline straight for you know where.  There is no doubt in my mind that had it hit, it would have cancelled all games as the torrential rains it contained would have done their deed.

What happened next, I will unashamedly state was nothing less than the Good Lord showing his favor towards us.  A picture says a thousand words.  So, see the two screen shots below.  One with the big red blob and the other after it miraculously dissolved and flew right over our heads.

In the first screen shot, it is out over by Harvard. In the second, note the word Johnsburg just to the lower left of what remained of the storm shown in yellow.

Opening Night Season 35 Status

We are closely monitoring the weather.  Echos's show rain over our heads here in McHenry but most of it is not reaching the ground.  There is a stronger cell west of Rockford that appears to be weakening as it heads east.

We'll keep you posted!

In the meantime we moving ahead and trusting the Good Lord for the outcome.

The great dry out begins! Well, almost.

With radar showing the precip starting to move out of the area, the forecast from now through next Monday is looking very - very good, with sunshine everyday.  Lord willin', this forecast holds up.  Early forecast for Monday is temps in the 70's.

The girls softball league starts this Saturday at the Township and I ran into one of their officials yesterday.  They've been given permission from the Townsip to begin dragging all 4 fields starting on Thursday, with the goal of speeding up the drying process.  Point being that we will be direct beneficiaries of a lot of work on the fields that should pave the way for opening night this coming Monday.

As we all know, Shamrock and Hiller dry faster and should be no issue come Monday.

So just how busy is www.churchsoftball.org ???? Take a look!!!

The stats speak for themselves.  Our site is rockin'!

2013 Schedule is here. Final copy of 2013 rules uploaded!

The schedule has just been uploaded this evening!

With two conferences, four venues, two divisions in the north and 32 teams, it is obviously the largest and most complex schedule we have ever put together. Total number of teams in the league this year is 32 teams from 25 area chuches.

A special shout out to League Treasurer Tiffany Umbarger who has also become our unofficial 'schedule queen'.

North starts next Monday April 29th.

South starts the following Monday (May 6th). 

Lord Willin'!

Total games scheduled is 384.

South Conference last scheduled games is July 8th, North, July 15th.  

All-star Game Monday July 22nd.

Tentative tournament start date; July 29th

Good Guys V, Saturday Aug. 3rd.

The rules are final and reflect the final votes on the issue of walking a male batter to get to a female as well as the infield fly.  Bottom line is that our 2013 rules are basically identical to the 2012 rules.  

I will however, point out some key differences in content;

1. New Index for quicker location of pertinent sections.

2. Non-essential verbiage removed without losing key meaning and definition of the rule. (The rules are shorter.)

3. New revised ASA wording on the infield fly.

4. New line item protocol added under Injury protocol.  (More below)

Note that by 'gentlemen's agreement', all four outfielders may not enroach on the infield dirt and should be stationed at least 12 feet from the infield dirt.

I want to add a few comments on the 'lively' discussion we've had over the last two weeks on the voting matters, but first the votes.  The first wording of the walk rule was defeated 11-7.  The vote to reconsider using ASA wording for the infield fly rule passed 16-6. The second wording of the walk the male batter rule was also defeated 9-6 with 2 abstensions

First, votes cast.  Yes, simple addition shows that not all 32 coaches voted.  The implications are obvious. We can't make coaches vote, but when they opt out of doing so, you never know what could or could not happen on issues that come up for a vote. As a rule, I do not vote unless there is a tie.

Both the two major issues voted on generated lively discussion at the Spring meeting as well as in private emails to me.  

The infield fly rule has been a part of baseball since 1895.  It has been a part of this league since my entrance into it in 1993.  While sometimes ignored or improperly used, I obviously support keeping it and here's why.  We remain a church league with the full gamut of individuals, saved and not, highly competitive to just here for the fun.  The chaos of not having this rule would far outweigh the nuisance of trying to apply the rule correctly.  I believe the ASA wording as well as the simple 3-2-1-0 helper aid can helps us all to properly apply the rule when it comes into play.  Thankfully, that is not often.  In all the games I was in last year, it may have only come up twice.

For the other issue of intentionally walking a male batter to get to a female, I received several strongly worded rebukes against this strategy being used in a church league.  The sentiment, which I share, is that this fly's in the face of the Christian Fellowship and Brotherhood we generally excel at year in and year out.  So while the rule did not pass, my prayer is that coaches would take a step back and under 'gentlemen's agreement', agree to not allow their pitchers to overtly or covertly walk a male batter to get to a female batter. That said, it remains technically legal to do so.

An important line item has been added to the Injury Protocol.  I saw another news story a few weeks back that led to this decision.  A man was hit by a line drive in the chest in a softball game and died a few hours later after refusing to allow a 911 call at the fields. 

Therfor, I have added this line item to the injury protocol (Section 14), which is MANDATORY to follow anytime there is an injury; MANDATORY 911 call for any instance of a players head or torso being hit by a batted or thrown ball or bat.

Have a great Opening Night and I hope to see many of you at the ceremony as we kick-off season 35!

In Christ,

Doug Peterson

Oh, could it be!?!?!?!?!?

Rounding the stretch to the STARTING line.

With the Spring meeting behind us, game balls distributed and plans firming up, can opening night be to far away?  Actually, no!  It is scheduled for Monday evening April 29th.

Season 35 is shaping up to be one of the best ever.  We have a new South Conference (9 teams) that will play all their games at Cary Lions Park, which is on Silver Lake Rd. in Cary.

Meanwhile the North Conference will see a slightly smaller number of teams since 3 voluntarily went to the South but Maranatha reformed and we welcome a new team Zion Lutheran.

Schedule is being worked on and should be ready within a week or so.

21 Dozen Game Balls Ordered

Ah yes, I know when I order the seasons supply of Decker game balls that Spring is nigh upon us.

This year, we switch back to the .44Cor 400 Compression.  This is the NSA version of mid-compression 12" softball.  Black Stitch.

The place we order our game balls every year was out of stock on the ASA .44 375 Compression.  Red Stitch.

These will be at my door in time for the April 8th meeting a week from Monday at First UMC.

In like a Lion, out like a Lamb!?

The early forecast for Easter Sunday/Resurrection Sunday is for sunshine and 53 degree temps.  Will sure feel nice if it holds true.

The long range forecast into the end of April when our Season 35 is scheduled to start on Monday April 29th, looks promising, albeit without challenges from now until the middle of April according the the weather prognosticators. 

I'd ask the ground hog, but grilled him for dinner last week after he clearly blew his 'early spring' prediction. (Just kidding!)

On a serious note, this week is Holy Week, the agony of Friday turns into the Joy of Easter as we pause to celebrate our Risen Lord Jesus Christ!

Have a great and blessed week!

March 19th, 2012 BLOG Post

Ha, on March 19th, 2012 I posted we had just had 6 days in a row of 80 degree temps!  Only in Northern Illinois can the weather be so unpredictable.

As I write, I am getting over a bout of the flu (2nd time this winter) and a light dusting of snow happened over night.  The Township reports the fields are not even close to being ready for practice, much less games.  Still early though and plenty of time for the fields to thaw and dry out.

As of right now, were are probably looking at starting the North Conference season the last Monday in April.  The new South Conference in Cary Lions Park, first Monday in May.

Stay tuned.

Season 35 planning underway!

Wow!  We had a great winter meeting and all of our respective coaches are now making plans for Season 35!

You can read all about it in the winter newsletter that is now posted here on the league website.

The big announcement was the start of our new South Conference to be based at Lions Park in Cary.  Checkout the winter newsletter for details. We also covered the AED law that the Township was set to enforce but is now on the verge of rescinding.  More on that once the final word is in hand.

The 2012 archives page is up with lots of multi-media!  Check it out, including the cool 'trailer' I made via iMovie.  What a cool app from Apple!

Thanks a ton to league photographer Katie Santner who took some great shots last season.  We look forward to seeing her this year!

On a personal note, I am headed to see a thoracic surgeon on March 6th at Loyola to go over test results of my heart.  I have an aortic aneurisym that is being closely monitored.  I am expecting him to recommend surgery.  No small task, and recovery would take me past Opening Night, but I sure hope to be there!

In the meantime, sluggards beware, get off the couch and get movin'!  Time to get in shape!

League Winter Meeting

We will conduct our now annual Winter Meeting this coming Monday Feb. 11th at 7 p.m. at The Orchard Church in McHenry. 768 Ridgeview Drive McHenry, IL 60050

Those players wishing to tag along with their manager are advised to contact them and come along.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all the Coaches, Players and Fans!!!
We look forward to Season 35!!!
Stay tuned and look for a Winter Meeting Announcement in Feb.

2012 Archive Page Coming Soon!