Practices

Below is a PDF of the New Trier Feeder Baseball practice schedule through June 26, 2020.  As you will see, each team has two practices next week, and then five in each week through June 26, 2020.  We will eventually migrate all of this into each individual team's calendar, but given the date, we are posting it in this way to get it into your hands as fast as we can.   This presumes, of course, that Illinois does in fact get to Phase III on Friday, May 29, 2020.  If Illinois stays in Phase III beyond June 26, 2020, we will likely extend the same practice schedule.

To meet the Illinois Phase III guidelines, each team will be split in half, with the practice being led by the coaches of that team.  The team “split” practices would take place at the same field, with two groups on the field but in separate areas (e.g.  1/2 of the team uses the infield for the entire practice, the other uses the outfield or batting cages for the entire practice, each group has one dugout/set of stands for its gear, and the groups do not mix).  All social distancing guidelines and state and park district rules must be followed.  The vast majority of these will take place at Northfield, although we might have to a few to a different field based on availability—final details are being firmed up.

All players must be dropped off at the Northfield circle, and there will be ABSOLUTELY NO SPECTATORS ALLOWED.  There will also be no carpooling allowed.  We urge our parents to comply with these restrictions--there are for the benefit and safety of the NTF community.

14U/13U Games

We are cleaning up the team calendars as the season starts to take a bit of shape, and the game schedules are still in many cases historical.  For now, please know that absolutely no games will be played in the state of Illinois on or before June 26, 2020.  The leagues are talking about starting league play shortly thereafter, and running the season through late July or early August.  But it's a long time until June 26, 2020, and things remain fluid.  Tournaments, whether in Illinois or out-of-state, are currently all over the place--some are holding their dates, some are cancelling and not rescheduling, and some are moving to July/August.  Just as soon as we have a clearer picture in that regard, we will communicate it.

A separate email has been sent to all 15U players regarding their tournament schedule.

Waiver

Unfortunately, we have had to take the unusual step of requiring every player have a parent or guardian prior to participation in any NTF event.  It is below and can be printed.  It is nothing fancy, just the model form of COVID-19 waiver that the USSSA has created, but it is, we are told, absolutely necessary under the circumstances.  These are difficult and unusual times, and we cannot make any exceptions to this—no one will be permitted on the field until he or she has delivered it.  To keep things simple, please have your player bring it with him or her on the first day of practice.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to email us at info@newtrierfeederbaseball.org.

As previously announced, we are making the following changes to the 2020 travel program:

1.  We are moving the Offseason Training sessions that were at The Dome in 2018 and 2019 to IBJI on Route 41 in Highland Park.  We are also adding a strength and speed training component to our Offseason Training.  Each of the 8 IBJI sessions will run 90 minutes, with 45 minutes devoted to working with IBJI trainers on strength and speed, and 45 minutes working with NTF instructors on baseball skills.  Each of our teams will be grouped and assigned a specific session, which will in all cases be on either Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday night (from 8:00 P.M. - 9:30 P.M. each night)—the complete schedule, from January to March, will be posted on the web site in the next day or two.  The sessions at The Yard remain unchanged.  We are doing this not simply to make life easier (although that is certainly one of the reasons)—rather, we think strength/speed is something that needs more focus, and we also hope that by moving the sessions closer to home and scheduling them a bit later in the evening, it will allow our multi-sport athletes to participate in more sessions and be ready for the earlier season start.

2.  Our travel season will now commence on April 6, 2020.  Instead of having two practices per week in April and early May, we will now have three practices per week through May 17, 2020—one for each team on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Teams will be permitted to begin league play as early as April 15, 2020.  In addition, each team will play in an extra tournament in the spring.  Overall, then, teams will be playing roughly 8 games more than anticipated, and practicing at least 8 more times than anticipated.

Spring House League generally cost $400 or more in prior years—all of which was paid to your local community organizations, not to NTF (we got none of that money).  Obviously, our costs are increasing with the extra games and practices, but we have worked fiercely to keep those costs down, and our supplemental cost will only be $150 per player, which you can pay by check at the first Offseason Training session in January (no need to do anything now).  You will no longer be obligated to pay anything to your local community organization for house league.

To recap, big picture—we are moving Offseason Training closer to home and expanding it, we are replacing house league with 8 more games and 8 more practices, and we are still charging less than half of what you would have been paying your local community organizations with house league.  We hope you will understand and think that great for the kids and a really good deal, but if you’d like to discuss further please feel free to reach out to us anytime.

Drew Cardonick, President
New Trier Feeder Baseball

Jack Zibell and Ryan King each knocked in 3 runs and Coach Tyler Kopp's 13B squad scored 7 runs in the 3rd and 10 runs in the 4th to cap a thrilling end of season run with an LSFBL Championship, 19-2 over Skokie.  Declan Spinner threw four strong innings for 13B to get the victory.  Once again, Coach Kopp's squad overcame a difficult road to the title, beating the #1, #3, and #4 seeds on its way to a 2nd title in 3 years.

Shortly thereafter, Coach Trey Frahler's 14A1 capped an outstanding season with an MSBL Championship in only its 2nd year in the league, beating the Glenview Blaze 5-4 in extra innings in a tense, thrilling game.  Jake Fiegen pitched 5 strong innings, leaving with a 3-0 lead.   The Blaze tied it up at 3-3 in the 6th, and the game went to extras.  C.J. Feldman and Austin Brown had run scoring hits in the top of the 8th, and 14A1 took a 5-3 lead.  The Blaze cut it to 5-4 in the bottom of the 8th, but Luke Richker, with the bases loaded, 2 outs, and a 3-2 count (and after a blown call on a pickoff play immediately before the pitch), got the Blaze to fly out to Christopher Tarzon in RF, setting off a raucous celebration for NTF's second championship of the day.

Finally, Mundelein scored 4 runs in the 6th inning to break open a 3-3 game and defeat Coach Matt Lafontaine's 13A1 squad, 7-3.  While not the end they hoped for, Lafo's team grew and developed so much this year, and losing one game at the end does not negate that, and all of the players on that team have bright futures at 14U.

While we celebrate our champions today, to us success is about more than wins and losses, and so we would be remiss at not pointing out the successes of our other teams.  In addition to 13A1's second place finish, 13A2 and 14A2 battled hard all season against the top A teams of other organizations,  in some cases against tremendous adversity, and we are proud of the players' continuing efforts all season long.  Finally, while 14B unexpectedly lost in the first round of the playoffs, everyone on that team worked hard and developed considerably  in Coach Pokrovac's first season in the program, and we look forward to watching those players progress as they move on to high school/15U baseball next season.

As is always the case, the most indelible memories of the week for those of us that run the program, however, are off the field. The sheer number of kids who turned up for their friends' games was astonishing to us. In particular, the number of 13U kids that showed up to root for each other yesterday (13B and 13A1 played on the same field) was amazing.  When we said at the start of the year that this was a community, one in which all 100 of our players was equally important to us, we meant it--and all of us who run this program are so happy to see the kids, over and over again, support each other, both on and off the field.  To us, that's what community baseball is all about.

Once again, thanks for the honor of entrusting the development of your kids to us this season. We hope you are as proud of them as we are.

Drew Cardonick, President
New Trier Feeder Baseball