April 1, 2008

ELANCO League Meeting

• League Membership

  • The league officially has twelve (12) paid teams to start the season.

  • The Pirates will decide if they are joining the league by April 3rd.

• Season Start Date

  • The league will begin play on Monday, April 28th if there are thirteen (13) teams. Otherwise games will begin Tuesday, April 29th at 7:00 PM.

• Brick Donation

  • The Glen-Gery Brick company has donated enough clay bricks to revamp the pitcher and batter areas on each field.

  • The ELANCO league will be putting together a package to show our appreciation for their generosity.

• Field Work

  • Field work is scheduled to be done Thursday, April 10th starting at 6:00 PM.

  • Each team is responsible for providing one person to help.

  • Jobs to be done: Re-grade field, fill holes, construct clay batter and pitcher areas, and other general maintenance.

  • The league is still trying to find a ladder tall enough to reach the light boxes. We will need a 50' ladder to install new bulbs.

• Practice Schedules

  • Practice times were assigned to each team that was present at the meeting.

  • The Ground Zero schedule can be found on the our softball home page at the Practice Schedule link.

• Playoff Structure

  • The top eight teams (based on record) will be admitted to the playoffs.

  • Rounds 1 & 2 will be a best of three series.

  • The championship round will be a best of five.

  • Games will be played Monday through Thursday.

• Odds & Ends

  • There will be a snack wagon present at all league games to sell food and drinks.

  • New members of the ELANCO board were nominated and elected.

  • A tournament committee was nominated and elected.

March 4, 2008

ELANCO League Meeting

• LANCO Umpire Presentation

  • Bats with an audible rattle will not be permitted.

  • Banned bats will be checked prior to the start of each game.

  • Rosters & Handbooks were provided to each league manager.

• Field Maintenance

  • Glen-Gery Brick Company is considering donating clay bricks to the park so that we can update and improve the fields.

  • The league has purchased new bulbs for the fields. Installation is pending due to obtaining a ladder tall enough to reach each outlet.

  • Snack Bar operation is pending the Sewer Authority running lines into the kitchen and bathroom areas.

  • After toilets have been installed in the pavilion, the league will continue to rent a portable toilet for the upper field to discourage using the natural surroundings as a toilet.

• League Configuration

  • The league currently has deposits from twelve teams with two more pending.

  • League managers voted to have two divisions comprised of like teams to maintain a competitive balance.

  • As of March 4th:

    • Division One: Ground Zero, Indians, Marlins, Strasburg, Young Ones, Wild Cats

    • Division Two: Fishers, JBS, Joel Painters, Lititz Phillies, Metzlers, Regulators

February 5, 2008

ELANCO League Meeting

• Umpire Fees - The LANCO Umpire fees will remain at the same rates as 2007.

  • Two umpires per game: $30.

  • One umpire per game: $45.

  • Fee for umpire reporting to field and no game due to weather and/or field conditions: $20.

  • Fee for umpire reporting to field and game cancelled due to forfeit or cancellation: $30 for two umpires, $45 for one umpire.

  • Reschedule fee (an inconvenience fee for day of game call): $20.

  • The extra innings fee of $1 per inning has been removed.

• League Outlook

  • 10 team representatives attended the meeting.

  • The league is optimistic about having 12 teams for the 2008 season.

• League Memorial Day Tournament

  • The league would like to fill the tournament with at least ten 9-man teams and ten 10-man teams.

  • If enough teams participate from each pitching group (9-man and 10-man) the league will organize the tournament into brackets allowing each bracket to produce a winner.

• League By-Laws

  • The league has changed By-Law 3 to read that a team may start a game with eight (8) players. The team starting with eight players must produce a lineup with nine (9) batting positions, thus making the ninth spot an automatic out.

  • No game may start with less than eight players.

  • The ninth and tenth player may be added at any time.

• ASA Advanced Play Rule Changes

  • The ASA has introduced an amendment to the Mercy Rule in advanced play. The following criteria will apply:

    • Any team leading after the conclusion of 3 innings with a lead of 15 runs or more will be declared the winner. If the Home team is ahead the game will be concluded after the Away team bats in the third inning.

    • Any team leading after the conclusion of 4 innings with a lead of 12 runs or more will be declared the winner. If the Home team is ahead the game will be concluded after the Away team bats in the third inning.

    • Any team leading after the conclusion of 5 innings with a lead of 8 runs or more will be declared the winner. If the Home team is ahead the game will be concluded after the Away team bats in the third inning.

• League Field Maintenance

  • Upon league vote, it has been decided to address the field lighting first. New bulbs and a lift rental will be required to change the current bulbs and reposition the fixtures.

  • The league is also looking into installing clay pitcher and batters boxes on each field. This expense will come secondary to the lights.

  • The league will also be re-grading the field. A new drag and dragging method has been suggested by the Diamond-Tex reseller. Once this is done it will be imperative that teams fill infield divots after each game.

• Concession Stand

  • Upon Sewer Authority approval, the league will look to have an outside person(s) operate and maintain the concession stand during league play and tournaments hosted by the park.

January 26, 2008

Ground Zero Team Meeting

• Sponsors

  • AVAR - A returning sponsor.

  • Trio's Bar & Grill - New Sponsor

• Nationals

  • We all agreed that going to the ASA 10-Man Nationals in Georgia is our primary objective.

  • We would also like to compete in the Drifton 9-Man Nationals.

• Uniform Changes

  • It has been agreed that the uniform will change this year. A black, white, and silver color scheme was agreed upon.

• Fund Raising

  • Multiple fund raising ideas have been discussed. Individual players are working on different plans.

• Roster Size

  • We have increased our roster to 24 players. All have made verbal commitments.

  • The purpose for the large roster is to allow the team to pursue as many tournament opportunities as possible.

  • The core of the team will compete in league play on a regular basis. This players consist of about 14 players.

January 8, 2008

ELANCO League Meeting

• League Composition - The following list defines the status of returning teams and new teams for the 2008 season.

  • Marlins

  • Lititz Phillies

  • Strasburg

  • Wildcats

  • Fishers

    • requested double headers

  • Ground Zero

    • requested no double headers

  • Metzler's

  • Heat

  • Regulators

  • Pirates - return status is not certain

  • Wall to Wall - return status is not certain

  • Woodsmen (aka - CV) - will not return

  • Indians

    • NEW team voted in by the league

    • previously a member of the Gap league

    • requested double headers

  • JBS Hauling

    • NEW team voted in by the league

    • previously a member of a church league

  • Rob Wilson

    • NEW team voted in by the league

    • previously a fast-pitch team

  • Young Ones

    • NEW team voted in by the league

    • previously played in the Sunday league

    • managed by Larry Torres

• The league is anticipating that twelve of the sixteen team listed above will actually participate in the 2008 season.

  • To accommodate the increase in teams, the league will explore the costs of using an additional field for league play. The field that is the most attractive is the Willow Street fields.

• Playoffs - were also discussed at this meeting. The last two years have run later than anticipated, with last season going two weeks after teams returned from Nationals. Two solutions were discussed to help resolve this problem:

  • Start the season a week (maybe two) earlier. This would set the league schedule in motion before the Oxford tournament. Previously the league started sometime during the first week of May, after the Oxford Early Bird tournament.

  • When teams reach the Championship series, the games must be played as scheduled regardless of roster situations. The only way the Championship series can be rescheduled is with the agreement of both teams and the league.

• Field Renovations:

  • New lights to be installed. Each light is approximately $200 and is not currently factored into the 2008 budget.

  • Revamping the batters boxes and pitching rubbers. The batters box and area in front of the pitching rubber are getting progressively worse. It has been suggested that either some sort of matting or clay be used in those areas to resolve the problem.

  • Mix the infield dirt. Each field will be tilled to blend the Diamond-Tex (clay, topsoil, loam, and sand). This will help remove the "dustiness" of the field.

• League Fundraisers:

  • Memorial Day Tournament - the league is looking for some new ideas to attract teams to the tournament.

    • Some of the problems cited are:

      • The disparity between the 'Open' teams and the 'B/C' teams.

      • Other out-of-state tournaments being run that same weekend.

    • Suggested resolutions

      • Offer a 'Open' Bracket and a 'B/C' bracket with more money being awarded to the bracket winners than the overall winner.

      • Move the tournament to a different weekend.

      • Do not allow 'Open' teams only 'B/C' teams.

      • Offer a larger purse to attract teams from the other tournaments.

  • League Raffle - the league will be offering each team an opportunity to participate in the raffle. Each raffle ticket will cost $20 with $10 going to the league to pay the prize winners and $10 going to the team selling the ticket. There is no minimum or maximum to be sold.

• ASA Officials - are scheduled to attend the next meeting. Although they will not conduct their associations meeting until March, they will hope to be able to give us some insight to rule changes and new policies for the 2008 season.

• League Fee's - are due to be paid in full by April 1st. Prior to that date the league is requiring each team to have at least $200 by February 5th and an additional $200 by March 4th.