Minors Stars Shine Bright
Ryan Tokar, Thurmont Little League
When we left off in last month’s edition of The Catoctin Banner, the Thurmont Little League (TLL) Minors All Stars were still fighting their way through the Emory Frye Tournament hosted by Brunswick Little League. After stringing together 3 straight victories, the team made it to the Championship game, where for the second year in a row, Thurmont Little League was victorious. They defeated South County in a come-from-behind 7-6 victory on a walk off RBI by Bryce Rickerd. Congratulations to all of the players and their coaches for making TLL proud.
It’s hard to believe it’s that time again, but TLL has just kicked off another fall season. This season saw 185 total registrations. The breakdown for this fall will be 4 t-ball, 5 Instructional (Coach Pitch), 4 Minors, 4 Majors, and 2 softball teams (Minors/Coach Pitch). It is wonderful to see more and more children from the surrounding community coming out to participate and learn the game of baseball. The more relaxed nature of the fall season is the perfect time for new players to get started or existing players to move up to a new level to improve their skills.
Along with a new season, came the election of a new Board of Directors for 2022-2023. TLL would like to welcome Ashley Balsley as the new Vice President of the Softball Division. Ashley spent the last year working as the softball Player Agent and was integral to the successful first year of the program. Other newly elected board members include Hillary Inocencio-Concessions Manager, Carrie Laird and Nicole Tyler-Player Agents, Alex Kline-Field Maintenance, Richard Balsley-Safety Officer, Ryan Tokar-Vice President Majors/Information Officer, Dana Duvall-Vice President Coach Pitch, Rachel Workman-Team Mom Coordinator, Kathy Rickerd-Secretary, and Jessica Kline-Member at Large.
As the new members settle into their roles, we cannot forget to thank our outgoing board members who made so many wonderful contributions to the league over the years. Brandon McQuay, served as a manager as well as Vice President of Majors for several years, he also frequently volunteered his time to umpire behind the plate. Jenn Cregger spent many years as player agent and also helped out with opening day and various other league activities. Jon Barton will be greatly missed as Concessions Manager; he was integral in bringing in favorites such as the Goldrush chicken sandwich and the new popcorn machine. Other outgoing members include Melissa Stidom who served as Vice President of TLL Softball during its inaugural campaign, Mike Smith-Vice President of Intermediate, who was critical in keeping that age level running, Gregg Warner-Player Development, who did an awesome job organizing crucial programs such as our evaluations and various camps for our players, and Kyra Fry-Secretary who always took detailed notes during the often lengthy board meetings. The league is grateful to each of you for your years of service.
TLL has plenty of other events and fun activities planned throughout the fall. Back by popular demand will be the second annual movie night. The date and film have yet to be decided but will be determined based on availability. Players, families, and the community are invited to pull up a chair on the outfield grass and grab a bag of popcorn for a fun evening the whole family will enjoy. And, due to the tremendous success of last year’s event, plans are in the making for another Trunk or Treat at the ball fields. We will again be looking for vendors and businesses who would like to set up. This was an extremely fun event, and the turnout was way more than we could’ve ever imagined. Hopefully, this year’s event will be even bigger and better! For more information, please follow the league on Facebook or visit www.thurmontlittleleague.com.
Minors All-Stars win the Emory Frye Tournament in Brunswick.
