Safe!
Youth baseball does not stop with the end of spring season in Pleasant Hill, Oregon. A number of the Babe Ruth – Cal Ripken players are playing in the Kidsports summer league and having a great time. In this photo is a game between Pleasant Hil Billies and Sheldon 1. A fun game with plenty of action and another win chalked up for the Billies.
Major Minor Team Tournament Winners
To borrow a line from Avis “we try harder.” We try harder led Pleasant Hill, Oregon Babe Ruth Baseball to many victories during the 2010 spring season.
June 13th the Pleasant Hill Major Minor team came in 2nd in the Willamette Valley Babe Ruth League Playoffs, Eugene Sheldon number 1 and Eugene Willamette number 3.
There is some stiff competition in Willamette Valley Babe Ruth. While the Pleasant Hill players were disappointed that they did not take first place they can be extremely proud of themselves as are their families and fans.
The Major Minor team may not have that big trophy in their showcase this year though they do have some wonderful memories to carry forward into next year’s 2011 season. The little community of Pleasant Hill and the surrounding areas that comprise our teams have some talented and dedicated players. The Willamette Valley Babe Ruth teams will once again be playing against teams that not only play harder but also play with strategy, the support of their family and fans and the attitude of winners.
Congratulations Pleasant Hill Major Minor on a fine season. In fact congratulations are in order for all Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken teams.
Have a terrific summer with your summer league teams, tournaments, camps or vacations. We look forward to seeing all of you Pleasant Hill, Oregon Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken players back in 2011.
Pleasant Hill 2nd in Willamette Tournament
June 4th – 6th was a hard won and rewarding weekend for Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth AAA Team Navy. On Friday night the team won in a playoff game against Springfield. Saturday morning Team Navy and Team Gold went head to head to determine which Pleasant Hill team would continue in the Willamette Valley Babe Ruth tournament. The victor was Team Navy.
Saturday was to be a long day for most of AAA Team Navy for 8 of the players along with players from AAA Gold and Pleasant Hill AA Babe Ruth teams had formed a team to play in the annual Willamette Tournament in Eugene, Oregon.
Immediately following the Navy – Gold game the team left for Eugene where upon arrival they played in two more back to back games.
On Saturday the team composed of Colton Baker, Dylan Miller, Tyler Cook, Kaleb Miller, Seth Hensley-Weinheimer, Tanner Maryanski, Preston Paparo, Torrey Gage Tomlinson, Brady Lane, and Braedon Putman took on and won against both Springfield and Cascade. Coaches for the games were Forest Tomlinson, Lee Baker and Kirk Miller.
On Sunday the team won against South Eugene and played Willamette to determine the tournament winner. While Willamette took first place and Pleasant Hill second, the parents and fans could not be prouder of Pleasant Hill. Pleasant Hill had pulled off 5 straight wins in 3 days. Tuesday evening June 8th a well prepared Team Navy will play their first game in the Willamette Valley Babe Ruth Playoffs and it is understood that their first challenge will be Willamette so this should be an exciting game. Congratulations on a Great Season Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth and Babe Ruth Cal Ripken.
Coaching Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth T-Ball
For many of us Pleasant Hill Cal Ripken – Babe Ruth and other youth league parents and grandparents T-ball has to be the most fun game to watch. Now don’t get me wrong the older kids are fun to watch too but where else but t-ball will you find a player getting excited when tagged out, throwing a ball at a player to put them out, dancing on first base, wanting to keep on running even after making it to home, or just rolling in the grass for the fun of rolling.
Oh sure I have enjoyed watching my grandsons baseball skill and knowledge increase during these past 6 years and yet when I look back on his T-ball days I have so many memories that still put a smile on this old face.
What we so often overlook when thinking about T-ball or older youth teams are the coaches. Dedicated coaches such as T-Ball Navy coach Jason Barber seen in the photograph above. These coaches put hours of time and countless patients into teaching baseball and team participation skills to our youth.
The next time you are at a baseball practice or game or at the super market and see one of our Babe Ruth or Cal Ripken coaches take a minute to say thank you. Just think of what baseball would be like if we did not have these dedicated coaches to teach our sons and daughters the game of baseball.
Terry Weinheimer, PHBR webmaser
Photo by Courtney Dills and Tara Kelly, PHBR T-Ball Navy team reporters.
Pleasant Hill T-Ball Shows Off For Mothers
Sunday May 16, 2010 was not just another Mothers Day for the Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth – Cal Ripken T-Ball Navy team. This was a day when these young baseball players had an opportunity to demonstrate their skills to their Mothers, Grandmothers, and other family members and friends. As I watched Pleasant Hill T-Ball players play Thurston T-Ball players in a fun and exciting game it brought back many wonderful memories of when my own grandson now a Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth AAA baseball player was hitting balls off the tee and running bases with glee.
Below is a wonderful Tee-Ball poem from Seniors-Site.com that I thought you might enjoy.
T-Ball is a fun type game.
It even has a funny name.
It’s played by pros, of little fame,
By little folks, who love the game.
They’re only five,
To seven years old.
They may seem awkward,
But very bold.
They aren’t afraid,
To catch a fly.
They try real hard,
As it flies by.
It just may take,
Three or four with grace.
To get the baseball,
And throw it anyplace.
And when they bat off—
Of the tee.
It’s the high point of,
The folks so wee.
There’s boys and girls,
All colors and sizes.
They don’t care,
So why should we.
They’re having fun,
With a glove, bat and ball.
That’s an American game,
It’s called T-Ball.
Pleasant Hill Rookie Minor and Willamette Having Fun
Winning in Cal Ripken Babe Ruth Baseball is great but not necessarily everything. Having fun and learning the game is a major part of Cal Ripken Babe Ruth competitive baseball. In this game the Pleasant Hill Rookie minors are having a great time as they become even better in their sport and prepare for the next game. As far as total points Willamette may have come out the winner but watch out Willamette Valley Babe Ruth Baseball for day by day the PHBR Rookie Minor team is getting better and better.
But Coach!
While the Pleasant Hill AAA Navy Babe Ruth Coach looks like he is chasing this player they are just in a hurry to get off the field or are they – Move it Boy!
Rookie Major Teammates
A couple of happy Pleasant Hill Rookie Major teammates at the Willamette Valley Babe Ruth Complex to watch their brothers who are on the AAA Navy team. Yes, Babe Ruth baseball is a family affair with many families having two or more of their children playing Babe Ruth baseball.
Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth Baseball a Success Story
Tucked away in the Willamette Valley of Lane County Oregon is the little community of Pleasant Hill, a community so small that there are no stop lights, movie theaters, skate parks or malls. If you make a stop at the Pleasant Hill High school or Pleasant Hill Elementary School on just about any evening or weekend you will find youngsters on the field or in the gym playing some type of sport such as baseball, softball, soccer or basketball. From Little League to Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken – baseball is among the favorite youth sports.
Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken Baseball is not composed of youngsters from a single community. Kids come here to play baseball from the surrounding and distant communities of Jasper, Lowell, Dexter, Drain, Creswell, Cottage Grove and Oakridge. When you add the populations of all of these little communities together we are but a fraction of the size of Springfield and Eugene and yet we are a true success story.
So what is it that makes Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken such a youth baseball success story? It certainly is not the state of art training facilities that you will often find in larger cities! It is not the ability to select players from a large pool of players! It is not the number of wins each season though our teams do well! So what is it? What makes Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken Baseball great is the players, families, coaches and other volunteers.
Not having the distraction of movie theaters, skate parks, public swimming pools, malls and the like, many of our children take up sports such as baseball, softball, basketball, football, soccer and wrestling. Many of the children of our communities want to go on to college so education plays a big part in the lives of our families, and yes sports is important to education for strong bodies support strong minds.
I would need to fill a book to tell you about the many great coaches and volunteers Pleasant Hill has. Still, a person that I would like all of you to know that works effortlessly to bring the Pleasant Hill success story together is a man by the name of Forest Tomlinson.
Forest is the president of Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth Baseball. As president he is not paid, in fact he often spends his own money to assist our teams. As president he is called on to make the hard decisions that others are unwilling to make. He puts in countless hours along with other volunteers building and maintaining our fields. He works closely with coaches, players and other volunteers and still makes time to coach a Babe Ruth team.
During any given year you will find Forest coaching or assisting with soccer, basketball, football and a championship chess team. How one man does so much and still makes time for his family, tutoring children in Spanish and music and playing the fiddle with the Coast Fork Ramblers I sometimes wonder?
Forest is not alone. Working hard beside him are so many other volunteers and parents that I will not mention their names for fear of leaving someone out. Together these many families, coaches and volunteers with the leadership of Forest make Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken Baseball a true SUCCESS STORY!
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PHBR Team & League Posts
- Pleasant Hill in JBO State Championship
- Creswell Takes 1st Place in Kidsports
- Pleasant Hill Winners in 14U at Bobby Doerr Classic
- Pleasant Hill AAA Gold Oakland Tournament Winners
- Pleasant Hill 10U Winners in Bobby Doerr Classic
- Pleasant Hill Plays in Bobby Doerr Classic
- Safe!
- Major Minor Team Tournament Winners
- Be mentally tough in sports and life with Ed Tseng
- Sport Mental – The Real Meaning
