Merillon News
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Articles:
Merillon Patriots win Artie Hunt Memorial Tournament
Merillon Opening Day Parade 2008
Coaches Achievement Award Winners 2007
Instructional Division Opening Day
Merillon Patriots win Artie Hunt Memorial Tournament
By: Jim Cioffi
August 6, 2008 - Merillon Patriots (6) Vs. Massapequa Coast (3)
The 10/11 year old Merillon Patriots won the prestigious Artie Hunt Memorial Tournament. This tournament attracts some of the areas top baseball talent. Continuing the mantra from last year the boys knew a total team effort was needed to win this tournament. As manager George Theodorpoulos states consistently to the boys we come as 15, we win as 15.
The Patriots won their bracket by posting wins against Garden City South and Floral Park before beating a tough Bethpage team in the semi-finals. That set up the Championship bout against a very, very tough team: District 31 Champions Massapequa Coast. After Merillon took a 2 run lead in the bottom of the 1st inning Massapequa answered the challenge with 2 runs in the top of the second. Although Massapequa Coast did not score again until the final inning they threatened every inning showing why they were District Champions. Nevertheless, our boys hammered away scoring 2 runs in both the 3rd and 5th innings. John Young pitched 5 gutsy innings earning tournament MVP honors and Mitch Cohen effectively closed the door in the final inning. Interesting plays were turned in by catcher Evan Clark who recorded Massapequa’s final out of the 4th inning by running down and tagging out a runner at third trying to ‘steal’ a run and by Matt Theodorpoulos and Brandon Martinez who handled tough shots hit to second base when Massapequa was threatening.
Congratulations to the Merillon 15: Jonathan Cioffi, Evan Clark, Mitch Cohen, Ross Crames, Frank DiSanto, Kyle Facibene, Brandon Martinez, Jessie Martinez, Tyler Ng, Joseph Pagan, Vinny Patrey, Liam Slattery, Gavin Schwartz, Matt Theodorpoulos, and John Young.
2008 Artie Hunt Memorial Tournament – Floral Park
Merillon Patriots 10/11 year old
Merillon Opening Day Parade 2008
By: Michael Luchino
Merillon Athletic Association held its 55th Annual Opening Day parade this past Saturday, April 26th, kicking off our 57th year of community service. All of Merillon's Divisions were on hand to march in the parade. The New Hyde Park Memorial High School Marching Band (led by Nick Tarantola) set the beat as the players, coaches, parents and families marched from Manor Oaks Elementary School to Merillon Park. Spectators lined the sidewalks for a glimpse of these future Major League Baseball stars along the parade route. Upon arriving at Merillon Park League Chairman Tony Camilleri started the proceedings followed by a rousing performance of our National Anthem by the New Hyde Park Memorial High School Marching Band. Everyone was then treated to NHP Memorial High School Twirlers (led by Ms. Michelle Kenahan) and the Romanettes (led by Ms. Alison Finkelstein). There were plenty of dignitaries on hand, State Senator, Craig Johnson, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, Receiver of Taxes Rocco Iannar, Town Clerk Leslie Gross, and Colette Coyne. I was proud and happy to present the Coaches Achievement Awards to the following coaches for 2007; Instructional Division - Doug Maddenberg; Girls Softball Division - Pat Rossello; Challengers Division - Rich Nichols; Boys Lower Farms Division - Chris Vlantis; Boys Upper Farms Division - Bill Donovan; Boys Minors Division - George Theodoropoulos; Boys Majors Division - Joe Renta; Boys Seniors Division - George Dittmeier. I then had the honor and prviledge to introduce the 2007 Volunteer of the Year Award to our very own Warren Lowey, who after a brief introduction was called to the stand along with his wife Noreen and family. (See article below). Tony Camilleri then introduced the winner of the 2007 Merillon Coach of the Year Award to Lori Carrick. (see article below) This was followed by a very special presentation introducing to the crowd both of Merillon's District 28 Championship teams from 2007, along with their coaching staffs, pictured below. Finishing off the festivities were hot dogs and sodas to all of the Merillon Players and siblings. What a great day!
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Merillon Coach of the Year 2007
The 2006 Joe Roy Coach of the Year Award is presented to Lori Carrick.
She began her Merillon career
in 1994, when she was asked by Jim Lawler to assist him with his girl’s senior
softball team. After taking off a couple of years to raise a family, she
returned in 1998 to coach her son Drew in the Instructional Division. A process
she will repeat two more times with her other two sons Tyler and Christian.
In 2001, she was elected to the Board of Directors as Secretary, a
position she has held to the present. As Secretary she is responsible for all
league records and correspondence. Her duties also include taking minutes at
all Board Meetings, ensuring league mail outs are done on time and assisting
other Board members with administrative matters as they arise. She also checks
the league telephone answering machine and routes messages to board members for
action. In addition to her Secretary duties, she is also the Division Director
for the Boys Minors Division and coordinates drafts and schedules for that
division.
Noteworthy achievements:
2005 Coach HBQVB Championship team
2006 Coach on the District #28 Championship 9 & 10 year old team
2006 Coach on the 1st place team in the Williston Park Tournament
2007 Coach on the District #28 Championship 11 year old team
Lori is an outstanding person, one truly deserving of this award.
Besides coaching children in our league to become better ballplayers, she is
involved in other community areas including school activities, not to mention
she is a wife and mother of three boys and works part time. I would say that
Lori has a full plate, yet she never complains and has always volunteered for
special events such as tryouts, clinics etc. On behalf of the league I would
like to personally thank Lori for giving so much of her time to the league and
the community. We want to congratulate her husband Jim, and her sons Drew,
Tyler and Christian. It gives us great pleasure to present you, Lori, with the
2007 Coach of the Year Award.
The 2007 Volunteer of the Year Award is
presented to Warren Lowey. This award is presented to the person which best
exemplifies the ideals and principles of Merillon Athletic Association, a person
of impeccable character and who is willing to give up much of his time to help
his community, Mr. Lowey is just that person.
Warren has been a member of the Board since 1999 when he was elected as
a Member at Large, since then he has held several board positions including
President for three years, Secretary for two years and is currently the league's
Treasurer.
In addition to serving in these positions Warren has also taken on
special projects, one of which was the Chairing of a committee that completely
revised the Merillon Constitution and By-Laws which had not been done in 15
years. These changes were necessary because of the dramatic growth of the
league in the past several years and set us on firm footing for many years to
come. Keep in mind that Warren has not had a child playing in the league for
many years.
In his current position as Treasurer he Chairs our Finance committee
which meets regularly and presents reports to the Board so that we can continue
to be on sound financial footing. He has also brought modern technology to our
bookkeeping system to simplify the job of the Treasurer.
In closing, I can only say the Merillon Athletic Association and our
community is lucky to have such a person, we thank you Warren Lowey.
Congratulations to his wife Noreen and his children Brandon, Brianna, Austin and
Colin.
Merillon Athletic Associations Coaches Achievement Award Winners 2007
Merillon Athletic Association is proud to announce the "Coaches Achievement Award" winners for 2007. This award will be presented annually to a manager or coach who best represents his or her division in sportsmanship, the ability to improve the performance of a team or individual and demonstrates respect for officials, opponents and parents, and espousing a philosophy of fair play. This award is voted on by fellow managers, coaches and league officials. Our Coach of the Year Award will be selected amongst the winners of this award. There will be eight annual winners from each of the following divisions or leagues listed below. We are proud to recognize the following winners for the 2007 season.
Instructional Division - Doug Madenberg
Boys Lower Farms Division - Chris Vlantis
Boys Upper Farms Division - Bill Donovan
Boys Minors Division - George Theodoropoulos
Boys Majors Division - Joe Renta
Boys Seniors Division - George Dittmeier
Girls Softball Division - Pat Rossello
Challengers Division - Rich Nichols
Instructional Division Opening Day
By: Mike Luchino
Merillon Athletic Association opened its 57th season on Saturday March 29th.
On a cold and blustery morning not even the weather could cool down this group of Instructional Division Boys and Girls from playing baseball. With over 200 people in attendance Merillon kicked off it's Instructional Division program led by our League Chairman Tony Camilleri who got things off with a rousing speech followed by the playing of our national anthem. This is some kind of group of enthusiastic players and parents and hopefully some future stars of our League. Special thanks go to Lou Messina who is the Instructional Vice President and to all volunteers who helped make this happen. Keep up the great work Merillon!!
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Chairman Tony Camilleri
As Tony says a few words, Andrew Seger and Colin Lowey present the nations colors.
By: Mike Luchino, February 8, 2008
You might think that during the long winter months that things are all quite at Merillon Athletic Association, well you would be mistaken! Every winter from the end of our Fall Season straight through to the beginning of our Spring Season we are all hard at work. Countless man hours are put in by our volunteers on getting registrations together, preparing the drafts, setting up equipment and uniforms, answering emails and making numerous phone calls. In general putting everything together so that come April our children will once again have the finest Little League experience we can give them. This year was no exception and things are shaping up for yet another banner year at Merillon. Many thanks to all of our volunteers who have helped out at our pre-draft meetings, Winter Clinic 2007, New Player Evaluations and various other functions these past months. Merillon has become a great place for children to play softball and baseball and we have become a well known and respected organization. This is all due to our many volunteers who manage, coach or just come down to work on the fields. We are looking forward to a fantastic 2008 season!
Below are just a few of our volunteers who show up on any given Saturday morning all winter long to keep Merillon in top shape.
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New League President Jim Richards (left) and Safety Director Tom O'Donnell.
Copyright © 2008 Merillon
Athletic Association. All rights reserved.
Revised: 09/27/08.
