Is there Baseball after Majors?
 

I was truly sad when I walked out of the Majors dugout for the last time.  It felt like baseball would never really be the same.  So it’s been terrific to see that our regional Junior, Senior and Big League programs are so strong.  The kids are staying in baseball, learning from great coaches and having a blast. 
 
Thanks largely to Mike Berry of TVA LL and Doug De Urioste of DLL, this new regional program has been a huge success.
 
When you graduate out of majors there are many options.  We hope you’ll consider staying with Osage, your friends and DLL by joining one of our programs.  One option is a terrific dad-coached team that has competed well.  We also expect to continue our association with ex Oakland Athletic Lance Blankenship as well.  The wins and losses haven’t always stacked up well against the long-established programs, but the value is tremendous and the kids are learning like never before.  Lance and his staff are very well liked by the vast majority of the players.  All programs are advanced baseball - with leading off, steals, pick-offs, etc.
 
So take a close look at Danville Little League and its associated leagues for a tremendous post-Majors experience!  
 
We hope you have enjoyed, and will continue to enjoy, your Danville Little League experience!
 
Bill Erickson
 

by posted 07/31/2010
 

Two time winners in their home park.....the District 11's headed by Manager Mark Dawson and coach Brent Bowman celebrate their second state win...an amazing feat!

    

by posted 07/31/2010
 

In front of the largest crowd ever to watch a Danville Little League game, our Danville 11's lost to Scotts Valley in a hard fought battle 9-6.  The good thing about being in the winners bracket is the Scotts Valley needs to beat Danville twice to take the crown.  That sets up a winner take all game for this morning at 11:00 am.  We need as many fans as we can get out there cheering our boys on at Osage 1.

As always if you can't you can't make  it to the game, you can either follow @DanvilleLL on Twitter for real time game updates or simply click here: http://twitter.com/danvillell

Hope to see you on the ballfield!
Trish

    

by posted 07/30/2010
 

Looking for something to do today? Our District 12's will be playing the Australian Kangaroos at 11am at Osage 1 ---this is their final game and should be a lot of fun...come on out!

And of course, tonight, our District 11's play for the Northern California Championship also at Osage 1 at 5:30pm. We hope you can come out to support this remarkable acheivement.

Hope to see you on the ballfield!
Trish

    

by posted 07/29/2010
 
The subject line speaks for itself.  From DLL President Bill Erickson last year before our 10's and 11's took the Northern California Championship: "If either of these two great teams win the Championship, this will be farther than any Danville team has gone in many years, in fact it is nearly unprecedented.  The Division Championship is the Northern California Championship, and is equivalent to a State Championship in every other state except one. This is as far as the 10s and 11s can go!"

Given our outcome last year it's with great pride that we share with you another remarkable confluence of events in 2010.  Last night, our 11 year old District team beat Scotts Valley 11-4 to set up a second shot at winning the championship again.  While last year was amazing, 2 things make this remarkable.  First, the shot at repeating a title for a tournament that starts with nearly 300 teams is awesome.  But second (and here's where you come in) the shot to win it on our home field at Osage 1 is something that we may never see in our baseball parenting career again.

The game is at 5:30 Friday.  It's at Osage 1...the snack shack will  be open of course and we want you to come out and support these boys and their remarkable achievement. If for some reason you can't make  it to the game on Friday, you can either follow @DanvilleLL on  
Twitter for real time game updates or simply click here: http://twitter.com/danvillell



    

by posted 07/26/2010
 

The District 11's continue their marathon run for the Divisional Title this Wednesday at 5:30pm at Osage Park. To be hosting the 10/11's Divisionals at Osage at the same time as we are making a run for the title is something we won't see any time soon so we hope you can all come out for an evening at the park....Wednesday 5:30pm at Osage 1. The snack shack will be open and it should be another fantastic night to watch some of the local boys as they continue on their hopeful journey to the championship.

Info on their last game: http://bit.ly/b5W0Wy



Can't make it to the game on Wednesday? Follow @DanvilleLL on Twitter for real time game updates or simply click here: http://twitter.com/danvillell

Also at Osage this week...the Brett Slinger Memorial Tournament. Tuesday and Wednesday night at Osage are the semi-finals and finals...come out and support this memorial tournament to one of our All-Star players.

We still need volunteers as announcers, set-up, break-down and in the snack shack so please email me if you can help!

Hope to see you out on the ballfield!
Trish

    

by posted 07/26/2010
 

Gold 13 Tryouts Update:

Congratulations to Alan Vernon for his selection to being the Jr Gold 80's manager. Alan brings tremendous knowledge and experience to the game and will be coordinating the pro coaching support for the players along with Danville Little League.


To answer the FAQ's:

Q: What age is Jr 80's Gold?
A:  This is League Age 13 for 2011. Any player who is/was league age 12 in the 2010 season will be league age 13 for this level.

Q: We are out of town, on vacation, moving into town, etc - Will there be another tryout?
A: Yes, this is a two phased approach - we are offering  players the opportunity to chose DLL and have fall ball clinics, games and coaching, however there will be additional tryouts in the traditional January timeframe for the formal spring/summer season.

Q: What about the regular 80's and 90's programs? Can my son play on those teams?
A: Absolutely, tryouts for the regular house teams will be held in the traditional January timeframe.



When:

Wednesday July 28th

2 sessions 5:00 PM  - 6:30 PM and 6:30 - 8:00 PM

Registration for session one: 4:30 -  4:50, warmups 4:50 - 5:00
Registration for session two: 6:00 -  6:20, warmups 6:20 - 6:30

Where:
Osage 3

Please indicate witch session you prefer to attend by email.   To maximize the evaluations we the sessions will be limited in size.

Coach Scot Niheu from Blankenship Bbaseball, will be present at both sessions.




Doug de Urioste
Dagaz Solutions, Inc.
753 Park Hill Road
Danville, CA 94526
925.820.1980 - (O)
925.989.1404 - (M)
925.886.4842 - (F)

www.dagazsolutions.com



    

by posted 07/21/2010
 
The Danville District 10-11 year olds play tonight for the Sectional Championship in Union City against the host city, Union City American of District 45. The Danville District 10-11 year olds have had success during the Sectional Tournament holding each of their opponents scoreless. Come out tonight to cheer on the boys during their run towards a another Sectional Championship!!

Tonight's game is at 5:30pm at: http://www.ucall.org/schedules/2010Sectionalbracket.pdf

Not able to make it out? Follow the game updates on http://twitter.com/danvillell

Go Danville!
Trish

    

by posted 07/19/2010
 

Danville Little League Juniors & Seniors Program
Junior 80's/90's/Gold Manager Application Deadline: July 23
Junior 80's Gold Tryouts: July 28th & 29th

Your DLL Board has been hard at work creating a new plan for player development at the next level – “Baseball Beyond 12”.  We have lined up training and development professionals to bring player skills to the next level.   In addition to the pro coaches, we want to invite parents to contact the Upper Division Director or League President by July 23rd if you are interested in coaching the GOLD 80’s next season. The GOLD team will be forming over the next several weeks!

The goals of the Danville Little League Junior, Gold, Senior and Big League Programs are (1) to create a highly competitive and developmental structure for players to continue to develop their skills; (2) to create a developmental environment where "late bloomers" still have an opportunity to play and develop their skills at an appropriate level and afford them an opportunity to be drafted to a higher skill level team; and (3) to provide mentoring support for parent coaches to become proficient at coaching at this level.

To support achieving these goals, we are excited to announce the season-long addition of professional trainers to support the Junior, Gold, Senior and Big League Programs.  While these professional trainers will focus primarily on the “Gold” program, they will also be available to all the Junior and Senior teams.  There will be several structured practices for all levels at the beginning of the season, with regular, follow on support for the remainder of the season.

 The Pro Training and Development Resources are:

Greg Arnold - Pitching
Blankenship Baseball - Lance Blankenship: Infield/Outfield
Antonio Vernon - Catching skills/Outfield (Catcher 4 years UCSB)

1)    Be a resource for the Managers and Coaches to “train the trainer” on game play/techniques and strategies for “real” baseball.
a.     Support practice plans and player skill re-enforcement.
2)    Develop pitchers –
a.     Holding runners
b.     Pick Off moves
c.     Different pitches and how/when to throw them
d.     Fundamental mechanics
3)    Develop Catchers
a.     Calling a game
b.     Mechanics for throwing runners out
c.     Field management
4)    Develop Hitters
a.     How to hit the pitches (Curves, Sliders, Changeups) they’ll see at this level and beyond
b.     How to anticipate the pitchers’ tendencies – (what pitch is coming next?)
c.     Big league hitting mechanics – all season.
d.     Base running – lead off, stealing, etc.
5)    Develop Big Diamond fielding skills – all positions.
 
For the 2011 Season, we plan to field teams at the following levels:

(Team formation will be dependent upon player registration and parent manager/coach volunteer support)

Junior 80s Gold. League Age 13: Players play interleague/district games (40+) (1 team, 11-13 players) Projected fees: $300 plus $750 if selected to the Gold 80’s team

Junior 80's League Age 13-14: 80 ft bases, players play interleague games (24+) (1 - 2 teams, 11 - 13 players) Projected fees: $300
Junior 90s Gold League Age 14: (some 13's with D57 permission).  Players play interleague/district games (45+) (1 team, 12-14 players) $300 plus $1500 if selected to the Gold 90’s Blankenship Baseball team.
Junior 90's.  League Age 13-14: 90 ft bases, players play interleague games (24+) (1-2 teams, 11-13 players). Projected fees: $300
Senior League Age 14-16: "Premier".   Play begins around the last weekend in March.

Season followed by regular seniors with High School players joining in the end of May. (1 team, 13 players) (Typical age group is 15-16) (split season, must sign up for both if intend to play both). Projected fees: $175

Senior League Age 14-16: Play begins in the end of May when the high school season is over.

1 team, 13 players) (Typical age group is 15-16) Projected fees: $175 (split season, must sign up for both if intend to play both) Projected fees: $150

Big League Age 15 – 18: "Premier". Play begins around the last weekend in March. Season followed by regular seniors with High School players joining in mid-May. (1 team, 13-16 players) (Typical age group is 17-18) Projected fees: $175

Big League Age 15 – 18: Play begins in the end of May when the high school season is over.

1-2 team (s), 13 - 16 players) (Typical age group is 15-16) (split season, must sign up for both if intend to play both) Projected fees: $150

Initial tryouts for the 2011 80’s GOLD program will be held July 28, and 29th,  2010 at Osage 3.  Go to www.DanvilleLittleLeague.net for updates and details.
If you have any questions about the program, feel free to email me at or call me at 925-989-1404.

Best regards,
Doug de Urioste
DLL Upper Divisions Director