The Diamond Dust WWW.RIVIERALITTLELEAGUE.ORG SPRING BALL - MAY 19th, 2012 Riviera Little League Minors Play-Off Bracket Hooks Timber Rattlers Game #1 Hot Rods Game #5 Hot Rods River Bandits Game #10 (Winning Team in Red) Game #3 Muckdogs Storm Game #15 Game #4 Knights Game #2 Owlz Knights Game #11 Game #18 Chamionship Game Bulls Game #6 Threshers Bulls Loser Game #5 Game #9 Loser Game #11 Game #14 Loser Game #15 Game #17 Game #7 Loser Game #10 Game #16 Timber Rattlers Game #8 Loser Game #6 Game #12 Game #13 Loser Game #4
Pic s from Riviera
Majors Current Standings W L T GP PCT Last Weeks Box Scores Mets 9 6 1 16.594% VISITOR HOME Orioles 10 7 17.588% Mets 11 Orioles 9 Phillies 8 6 2 16.563% Red Sox 10 Reds 9 Cubs 8 8 1 17.500% Cubs 4 Phillies 9 Reds 7 10 17.412% Mets NR Phillies NR Red Sox 5 10 2 17.353% Home Run Leaders: Javin Fish (2), Jacob Nafke (2), Ryan Buelet (2), Adam Turner (1) Minors Final Season Standings W L T GP PCT Last Weeks Box Scores Hooks 12 3 15.800% VISITOR HOME Threshers 10 4 1 15.700% Hooks 1 Storm 9 Storm 9 4 2 15.667% Knights 12 Muckdogs 13 Bandits 8 6 1 15.567% Hot Rods 10 Owls 13 Muckdogs 6 7 2 15.467% Threshers 12 Rattlers 9 Owlz 7 8 15.467% Knights 6 8 1 15.433% Rattlers 6 9 15.400% Hot Rods 4 10 1 15.300% Bulls 2 11 2 15.200% Home Run Leaders: Austin Adams (2), Jaxon Fish (2), Ben Wheeler (1), Jason Davis (1)
Snack Shack Corner! Getting a little CHILLY in the stands? What couldn t be better than a Hot Chocolate and a Churro to warm you up. And, what ball player wouldn t love a cool Gatorade to quench their thirst after the big game. I ve come to the conclusion that the two most important things in life are good friends and a good bullpen. -Bob Lemon Don t forget RLL New Hot Items on the menu, chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks! I m getting hungry just thinking about it... Stump the Ump Learning the Rules of Little League Situation: A Manager asks his pitcher to Intentionally Walk a batter. He tells the umpire and says he doesn t have to pitch to the batter. The umpire agrees and no pitches are added to the pitchers pitch count. Is the umpire correct? (Answer on last page)
RLL Player Spotlight! T-Ball to Majors Through out the season we will be honoring players who have played at RLL from T-Ball to Majors with pictures and short interviews in the league s weekly Diamond Dust newsletter. Jacob Nafke What is you favorite memory at RLL? Answer: When I got my 1st Homerun this season on the Phillies. What do you like the most about RLL? Answer: What I like most about RLL is being able to play baseball with my friends. It s really FUN! Who was your favorite teammate during your time at RLL? Answer: Carson Lindsey when we were on the Minor Angels. Which was your favorite team that you played on at RLL? Answer: Minor Angels, Jerry Lomas was the Coach. Who is your favorite MLB team? Answer: The old Purple/Gold Arizona Diamondbacks Who is your favorite MLB player? Answer: Manny Ramirez Carson Lindsey What is you favorite memory at RLL? Answer: This season when I made the last out pitching against the Mets. What do you like the most about RLL? Answer: I like playing baseball with my friends! Everyone is really nice and the fields are great! Who was your favorite teammate during your time at RLL? Answer: Javin Fish when we were on the National Reds Which was your favorite team that you played on at RLL? Answer: This years Red Sox team. Who is your favorite MLB team? Answer: Los Angeles Angels Who is your favorite MLB player? Answer: Albert Pujols
It Ain t Over Till it s Over (Submitted by Craig Zimmerman) The National Division this season has undergone a major transition to a developmental yet competitive division. Using mostly minor division rules the division is designed to introduce players to competitive pitching, catching and base running. With stealing of bases, rotational requirements for all players to play infield and outfield, and umpires the division has really stepped up its quality of play. The past week saw the Diamondbacks engaged in two games that demonstrated the high quality of play. Saturday the A s and Dbacks squared off. Strong pitching by Maxx Thalmann and Elijah McGuire staked the Dbacks to a 5-2 lead entering the bottom of the final inning. The A s mounted a rally against the Dbacks closer and were able to push four runs across for a thrilling 6-5 win for the A s. Cooper Hannon, Cody Diekmann and Ben Alvarez led the hit parade to bring home the win for the A s and manager Brent Hannon. On Monday the Yankees and Dbacks found themselves in a real pitchers duel with Yankees starter Ryan Hanners, while Maxx Thalmann and Mason DeBrael led the way for the Dbacks trading zeros with the Yanks. The Yankees made some stellar defensive plays with Aidan Grimsley and Emerson Kim chipping in. With the Yanks up 3-2 heading into the bottom half of the last inning the Dbacks pieced together hits by Noah Cardenas, Mario Morales Safah and eventual game winner by Cole Zimmerman to cap off a 4-3 win for the Dbacks. With games like these becoming a common occurrence in the National Division it truly ain t over till it s over the wise Yogi Berra once said. Many thanks to the RLL board for undertaking these changes in the National Division and for all the dedicated managers and coaches in this division who have worked hard to balance teaching fundamentals and affording players the opportunity to learn pitching and catching under game conditions while striving to teach competitive baseball. The National Division changes will provide a improved flow of polished players to the minor division in years to come. A special shout out to our Division representative Jon Davis for overseeing the shift change in the National Division this season.
Baseball Maze Get to the RLL Fields Start Finish
TSUNAMI SUMMER BASEBALL CAMPS 2012 Hosted by Riviera Little league and tsunami baseball camp director: Gregg hokuf and Coaching Staff. DATES: Session #1 June 26 29 (Tuesday - Friday) Session #2 July 10 13 (Tuesday - Friday) Session #3 Aug. 13 16 (Monday - Thursday) AGES: 7-13 Years Old (13 yrs old Graduating from Major Division) TIMES: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. COST: $150 FOR FIRST CAMP AND FIRST CHILD $100 FOR EACH ADDITIONAL CAMP AND/OR ADDITIONAL CHILD SEND REGISTRATION to: rlltsunamibb@gmail.com (Attention to Gregg Hokuf) To download Flyer and Application go to: www.rivieralittleleague.org
Is April a Good Month for Home Runs? (Submitted by Bob Wheeler) On March 31 st, there were two home runs in the diamond dust. By May 12 th, there were another eleven. In Riviera Little League, the balls have been Spring ing off of the bats. Why? In high school, you will learn about a science called physics. Physics will help you understand how a ball travels. If the pitcher throws the same and if you hit the same, the ball will travel differently. Three things call forces act on the ball: gravity, friction, and wind. Gravity is what keeps you on the ground and pulls a ball back down to the ground. If there were no gravity, the ball would keep traveling upwards. Gravity is the same on earth. But if our planet was smaller, the ball would travel farther. The Wind pushes the ball. Since our wind comes from the ocean, especially for afternoon games, it pushes the ball as it travels towards the other ocean (Ocean Avenue, that is!) On the Minor field, that is left field. On the Major field, that is right field. Does the wind help left-handed or right-handed batters? You may not know it, but the everything is surrounded by tiny particles (air and dust). You may not see them but they exist. If they didn t, you wouldn t have anything to breathe. These little bits cause the ball to slow down because they hit the front of the ball as it moves. Next time it rains and you are in your car, look at your front windshield and your back windshield. In hot weather, the air is less dense. This means fewer of these little particles will hit the ball. In humid weather (wet air), there are fewer particles, but they are bigger. In cold weather, there are more of these particles. In which weather do you think the ball will travel farther?
Dear Riviera Little League Families, Each week RLL puts out The Diamond Dust. The Diamond Dust is available at the Snack Shack on Saturdays and for download on the RLL web site in full color. We re on the Web! Www.rivieralittleleague.org In order to produce the newsletter each week I need your help. I am looking for article and picture submissions. Without your help I can not produce The Diamond Dust. Special Thanks to Stacey Launius, Meg McCormick, Damien Delany, Gale Cardenas, Cole Zimmerman and Bob Wheeler for contributing pictures and articles to this weeks Diamond Dust! Please email me pictures of games your watching. It s a great way to get YOUR team into The Diamond Dust. Good articles include great games, team events and other RLL activities. Remember when writing articles to keep them in the spirit of Riviera Little League. Articles about games should be positive and include information about both teams. We may edit submissions for content and length or reject inappropriate articles. Please send your submissions, pictures, and suggestions. The deadline is each week on Thursday by noon to be included in that weeks Diamond Dust. Thanks for your time and help! Kirk Adams sixadams1@yahoo.com Stump the Ump (Answer) Situation: Wrong Rule 2.00 BASE ON BALLS A BASE ON BALLS is an award of first base granted to batter who, during their time at bat RECEIVE four pitches outside the strike zone. This rule was re-written to add the word RECEIVE when daily pitch count rules were put into place. The pitcher MUST throw the balls.