LUNCH/OPENING CEREMONIES AND SKILLS COMPETITION
Tournament activities will begin on Friday July 16th. The schedule for Friday will be:
12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. Opening luncheon at Bertucci’s Brick Oven Pizza and Pasta located at 54 Post Road, Darien, CT 06820. The restaurant is located less than one mile from the Doubletree Hotel where the room block is set up. New Canaan Baseball will cover the cost of all players and coaches for lunch. Parents of players are invited to eat at a cost of $20.00 per person.
1:00 p.m. Coaches meeting with tournament director and head of umpiring at Bertucci’s.
3:00 p.m. Parade of Teams and Opening Ceremonies at Mellick Field.
4:00 p.m. Skills Competition at Mellick Field.
SKILLS COMPETITION
a. HOME RUN DERBY: Each team selects 3 players to participate. There are two rounds in the competition. Each participant gets 7 SWINGS from a coach of his choosing from his team. You can get points in three ways:
1. Fly ball that reaches the outfield on a fly 1 point.
2. Balls that hit warning track or fence on zero or one bounces 3 points.
3. Home runs over the fence 5 points.
At the end of round 1, the top 3 finishers (including ties so can be more than 3 kids in finals) gets 5 SWINGS each. The cumulative high score wins. Top 3 scorers get trophies. New Canaan will provide practice balls and an L-Screen for the pitcher for the event. Player must use an approved Cal Ripken Bat.
b. BASE RUNNING RELAY: Pretty self explanatory. You pick four players from the team. Players start in left handed batters box. First runner starts and circles the bases. When he crosses home plate, the next person goes. The lowest team total wins. The four winners will receive a medal. The time will be done by a stop watch or iPhone stop watch.
c. TURN TWO CHALLENGE: Four players, one at 3rd, short, 2nd and 1st. A coach of that team starting at home plate hits a ground ball to 3rd, who throws it to the 2nd baseman covering. The 2nd baseman then throws to 1st. Once the ball is caught by the 1st baseman, the coach hits the ball to shortstop who throws it to 2nd baseman covering bag. The second basemen then throws the 1st. When the 1st baseman catches the ball, the coach hits it to the 2nd baseman, who then throws the shortstop covering the bag. Shortstop then throws to 1st. The coach then hits to the 1st baseman who throws the shortstop then back to 1st base. There will be two rounds. The time is stopped after each round. If there is an error by the fielder the coach can decide to either hit another one or the player making the error can chase after the ball.
COACHES: THERE ARE 11 SLOTS FOR THESE COMPETITIONS. IF YOUR TEAM HAS MORE THAN 11 PLAYERS, YOU CAN SLOT PERSON 12, 13, 14, 15 WHOMEVER INTO THE 2ND ROUND OF THE TURN TWO CHALLENGE.
The order for the competitions will be determined ahead of time. No team will be forced to go first or get to go last in more than one competition.
The order of the contests will be:
1. 1ST ROUND OF HOME RUN DERBY
2. AROUND THE BASES RELAY RACE
3. TURN TWO CHALLENGE.
4. FINAL ROUND OF HOME RUN DERBY
AFTER HOME RUN DERBY IS COMPLETED, OPENING DAY IS OVER AND TEAMS WILL DISPERSE.
