PONY WORLD SERIES TROPHY TRAVELS WILL BE DOCUMENTED HERE FOR YOU TO FOLLOW
The 2008 Pony World Series Championship team trophy that our boys worked so long and hard to capture, will go on a little road trip as each member of the team will spend some quality time with the trophy, making sure to snap some exciting photos along the way.

Just like hockey's Stanley Cup, this award will be shared by everyone. We will be looking to see who takes the prestigious award to the most interesting places. (Coach Rick Romo has set the bar pretty high, judging by the photos to the right)

Check back again for the next Trophy Photo's of the week!

FALL BALL SET TO BEGIN ON SUNDAY
The 2008 Fall Ball Season is underway. Rosters have been formed, the schedule has been completed, and games will begin on Sunday, September 21st.

Click on the link below to view the Fall Ball Rosters and Game Schedule

FALL BALL DETAIL INFO

Rosters are full at this time, but if you want to be put on a waiting list, please send an email to webmaster@longbeachpony.org.

LONG BEACH PONY PLAYER FACING TOUGH BATTLE NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT
One of our very own needs your thoughts and prayers. Former Long Beach Pony All-star Austen Mayer was recently diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, and is facing a tough battle against this disease. He was admitted to Miller's Children's Hospital in Long Beach on 6/23, and has been receiving chemotherapy treatements since the diagnosis. He has been progressing well enough to be released back to his home on 7/10 for the remainder of his treatments.

You may remember Austen as the crafty lefthanded Red Sox pitcher, or the lightning fast baserunner and outfielder, or for many other positive reasons. His father Dave, was the president at Long Beach Pony for several years before stepping down this season. There are many ways that we as a baseball community can help out. First, there is a communication website www.austenmayer.com where you can send messages to Austen and read about his latest progress. Also, a fund has been established to help with the expenses and needs during this time, and donations can be sent to: AUSTEN MAYER, PO Box 7611, Long Beach, CA 90807-7611.

All of our thoughts and prayers go out to Austen, Dave, KJ, and Drew. Get well soon!

The local PONY baseball world descended upon Whaley Park on July 12th, as Long Beach Pony hosted the opening day of the PONY Sectional tournament. 10 teams are competing for the honor of advancing to the Super-Regional tournament in Whittier, starting on July 22. The top two teams from our event will advance.

The field was in great shape, the PONY banners were proudly on display, and our new scoreboard was up and shining for all to see. But the real beauty of the day was the great support and help we got from so many Whaley parents, players, and alumni.

Special thanks go out to Karen and Darin Reinhardt from East Long Beach Pony, for their tremendous support, insight, and cooperation in helping us get this event up to speed.

This event would not be possible if not for the key Long Beach Pony tournament committee members: Mike Sieckert, Ken Jakemer, Michelle Boy, Nikki Phlek, Sarah Williams, Rob Miladinovich, Lance Harper, Pat May, John Merola, Pat Merola, Paul Flores, Jim Hardy, Niles Bunnag, Mike Rondilla, the members of the 13 and 14 LB all-star teams, and all of the volunteers who have signed up to work during the event. Your efforts have already made a huge impact on this event, Long Beach Pony, and the city of Long Beach! Congratulations!

The excitement continues with 4 more games on Sunday, 2 games each weeknight on Mon-Tue-Wed, and the final games will be played on Saturday, July 19th.

Plan to spend some time this week out at Whaley Park, watching some of the best youth baseball played anywhere.

RED SOX ARE THE 2008 CHAMPIONS AFTER 8-4 WIN OVER DODGERS
The Red Sox took the early lead with 2 runs in the 1st, extended it a bit in the 3rd with 2 more runs, and got great pitching from starter Ty Provencher (4 innings, 2 runs) and closer Daniel DeWolf (3 innings, 2 runs) to keep the Dodgers from cashing in on several scoring opportunities.

Manager Mark Ziegenhagen, and his coaching staff of Steve Heavin, Dean Holmes, and Ross Stillwagon, led the Red Sox to a final overall record of 18-13, the second half title, and the league championship.

The big Red Sox hits of the game came from Victor Martinez (2 RBI double in the first) and Provencher (2-out, 2 RBI double).

On the other side of the field, the Dodgers came out with a heavily 13 year old line-up led by starting pitcher Bryan Tejada, and kept the game close through 5 innings, with the score 4-2 in favor of the Red Sox. The Dodgers out hit the Sox in this game by a count of 9-7, and were led by Scott Carey's strong 4 for 4 performance at the plate, but the Red Sox pitchers and their stingy defense would not allow a Dodger rally to get started.

The Sox broke the game open in the 6th, when they scored 4 unearned runs on 5 Dodger errors. As DeWolf struck out the last Dodger hitter, the Sox stormed the field in celebration of the very well deserved 2008 Whaley Championship!

Congratulations to both teams for a wonderful and exciting Championship series.

RED SOX EVEN SERIES AT 1 GAME APIECE WITH AN 8-6 COMEBACK WIN
The Dodgers and Red Sox battled again on Friday, with the Dodgers holding the early 4-2 lead after 4 innings, but the Sox would not go quietly.

With one out and the bases loaded in the 5th, Jake Hardy crushed a bases clearing triple to break the game open, as the Red Sox scored 5 times in the inning.

Daniel DeWolf came in for relief of wining pitcher Victor Martinez, while Brett Harper suffered only his second loss of the year after replacing Cody Elder with 2 out in the 4th.

The league championship comes down to one game on Sunday at 2:00 PM for all the marbles. We encourage you all to join us at our regular season finale.

DODGERS WIN PLAYOFF OPENER 4-2
The Red Sox bats were hot as they out hit the Dodgers 11-5, but the Dodgers made some timely defensive plays to stay close until the 6th inning when Ryan Napolillo's 2-out, 2-RBI double gave the Dodgers a 4-2 lead. Brett Harper made the lead stand up in the 7th, to seal the victory.

Eight different Red Sox players had hits during the game, with Daniel DeWolf and Victor Martinez at 2 each. Pitcher Ty Provencher went the distance for the Red Sox and pitched a solid game striking out 6 batters in 6 innings of work.

The Dodgers sent Cody Elder out to the mound to start the game and he responded with 4 solid innings, allowing 1 earned run before giving way to Harper in the 5th.

These two teams face off once again on Friday at 7:00 PM. Come on out and support your favorite players and teams!

2009 SPRING SEASON REGISTRATION INFO
The 2009 Long Beach PONY Spring season will get underway in February, and will run through June. Spring Season Registration forms will be available online, and at the snack bar. This is your chance to be a member of the most successful Pony program in the world over the past 2 seasons. Our league is known for it's high level of competition, and warm and friendly atmosphere. We have excellent coaches, and a World Class all-star program.

Registration sessions will he held at our Fall Ball games in November, and then in early January. Check back for more info, and a link to the registration form soon.

MIKE GUERERO NAMED 2008 PRIVETTE AWARD WINNER
A long running tradition of recognizing the most inspirational player in the league continued this year as Long Beach Pony awarded the PRIVETTE Award to the Dodger's Michael Guerero. We all congratulate Mike on this award, and his outstanding approach to the game of baseball.

LONG BEACH PONY 2008 INFORMATION
The 2008 season is well underway, and you may have noticed a few changes from the past few years. Most notably is the reduction of teams from 6 to 5. This change was necessary due to several combining factors including the implementation of the new birth date change for PONY baseball in 2007, and the impact of travel ball programs on our incoming class of players. As a result we have an imbalance of games, and each team will now have a bye week during each half. This does allow those teams to have some scheduled field time for practice during the season.

One change this year is the addition of 4 extra 13-year old games at the end of the first half. These additional games maintain the ratio of 13 year old games we had in the past, and are the key to our leagues continued success. In the 13 year old games, all of the 13 year old players play a full game, bat at the top of the order, and play all of the infield positions including pitcher and catcher. The remaining spots on the field and in the 9 man batting order are filled by the remaining 14 year olds at the coaches discretion. This works out great when each team has the same amount of 13 year olds in the line-up, but it becomes unbalanced when one team has a few more 13's than their opponent, and have to face many more 14's than the other team.

This year, we have an imbalance of 13 year olds on each team ranging from 5 to 8 on a team. To address this, the board has re-instituted a 13 year old rule that had been in place for many years. The basics of the rule are, each team must bat the same number of 13's in the order (based on the team with the most in attendance). The remaining spots in the batting line-up are filled by 14 year olds, and every 14 year old must bat once before a 14 year old can have a second at bat. For example, If Team A has 5-13's, and Team B has 7-13's, Team A will have to bat 7-13 year olds before they have 2 14's bat. The first time through the order they will bat 13's - 1,2,3,4,5,1,2; and then 14's - 1,2. The next time through they will bat 13's - 3,4,5,1,2,3,4; and then 14's - 3,4; and so on. Team B bats their regular 7-13's, and then the first two 14's. The next time through, they bat their 13's, and then the next two 14's.

We have made an additional change to benefit the 14 year olds returning from High School participation. The second half will begin on Saturday, May 10, which will allow all players to be back for all games in the second half. This will ensure fair competition throughout the second half, and gets the returners 12 full games of participation. Things will really heat up as we near the end of the second half as the playoff picture comes into focus.

Playoffs between the first and second half winners will be held the week of June 16, and All-star selection and tournament play will follow immediately afterward. There will not be a post-season league tournament this year, as we have pushed the 2nd half up against all-stars.

We hope this additional information helps with your understanding and enjoyment of Long Beach Pony baseball. See you back out at the fields.

THANK YOU TEAM SPONSORS!
Please click on SPONSORS at the left side of our homepage and find our generous team sponsors for 2007!! A huge thank you to all!

LONG BEACH POLICE ISSUE PARK SAFETY ADVISORY

	Over the past couple of month's , there has been a string of smash and grab car burglaries at many of our local youth baseball leagues.
Here is an advisory put out by the Long Beach Police Department with important information for you to always keep in mind. Park Safety Advisory

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