League News & Updates
6/22/10 - All Stars Tournaments Begin
On Thursday June 17th, the CLL Coach Pitch All-Stars took to the field at the Summerville Little League Complex on Boundary St & Gahagan in S'ville for the Lower SC State Tournament. This was somewhat of a change from previous years where the tournament was contested solely within the district. This year's format featured teams from Irmo, Darlington, Kingstree, Myrtle Beach and Columbia.
After a tough loss in the opener, the Cobras fought back and won 2 games out of the next 3 including an exciting win against arch-rival Summerville as part of a long doubleheader on Saturday. We'd like to congratulate the Coach Pitch All Stars for a wonderful showing in the tournament and thank everyone for coming out in support!
On Tuesday June 22nd, the CLL Minors All Stars took on Summerville's American League squad to open the District Two Tournament. Although keeping it to a 1-0 game through the 3rd, the Cobras defense began to weaken against Summerville's bats and they eventually lost 11-1 in 6 innings.
On Wednesday 6/23, Summerville American faces Summervile National at 6:30pm at CLL.
6/22/10 - Red Majors are 2010 CLL Champs
Behind strong hitting and lightning fast base running, the Red Majors came back from what looked to be a 3rd place finish in the division to taking home the championship! After being edged out of the first game by the Blue Majors, Red came back strong and and eliminated the division leading Maroon Cobras behind a Grand Slam HR in the 4th by Devin Dingle. It was then onto rematch against Blue for the championship and with a 2-run HR by Adam Sheinkin, Red emerged victorious!
Congratulations to the Red Majors for a sensational tournament series!
6/11/10 - CLL Spring Season Winding Down
As we near the end of the 2010 season, we'd like to thank all the players, parents, volunteers, sponsors, friends and family members that made this season one of our best yet!
Our Angel & Tee Ballers had a fantastic season and although there were a some scheduling conflicts, they perservered in fine CLL fashion! We commend them and their parents for their patience and hard work and congratulate them on a wonderful season!
The Coach Pitch division crowned their 2010 champs - the Blue Cobras, but not without exciting competition form first the Red Cobras and then in the final game, the Maroon Cobras! The coaches and players submitted their voted for this year's All Star team and practices have already begun! We look forward to the CP All Stars bringing home the banner this year!
The Minors division also crowned its champs for 2010 - the Blue Cobras - after an exciting tournament featuring both the Green and Red Cobras! They too have selected their All Stars and practices will begin soon. Good Luck CLL Minors!
There is still another week left in the Majors and Juniors divisions and the competition is heating up. The Red Majors are on a 2 game winning streak after defeating Maroon and Blue going into the start of this year's season-ending tournament and the Juniors have only lost one game all season! We look forward to an exciting finish from both of these divisions!
5/24/10 - 1st Annual Benefit Bike Run a Success!
Everyone had a great time at our 1st Annual CLL Benefit Motorcycle Run sponsored by Velocity Powersports! We had a modest turnout of approximately 75 bikes (including many CLL members!) and made over $1300! Many of the bikers left asking if we were doing it again in October...?
Huge thanks go out to Sam Santmeyer and her Mom, Diane Baez and Rachael Stevens for all the hard work they put into making the run a success! Thank you to our event sponsors, Velocity Powersports, and a special thanks to Scott Adams and Liquid Box for the commemorative shirts!
5/20/10 - Mid-Season Report
The Cobras are having one of the best seasons in recent memory! With many new players in all age groups as well as younger players moving up this season, the parity between teams, the level of competition, sportsmanship and camaraderie just keeps getting better!
We've had several of our Majors already "go yard" this year - Matt Hutson, Joe Glauser, Devin Dingle and TJ Youngblood - with many others getting really close! Our Minors & Coach Pitch teams have been very strong and our youngest divisions, Angel Ball & Tee-Ball, leave no doubt that they are the future of CLL! We've been extremely competitive in our games versus Summerville LL winning more than half of our games so far.
This coming Sunday, May 23rd will be one of our biggest and most exciting fundraisers ever - the 1st Annual CLL Benefit Motorcycle Run sponsored by Velocity Powersports! Along with a 95 mile motorcycle ride beginning at Velocity Powersports, passing through St. George & Holly Hill and ending at CLL, there will be a multi-age scrimmage game to entertain our biker-benefactors. There will also be a pitching challenge where the bikers can try to pitch faster than our Majors as well as 50/50, raffles and door prizes!
Although we had a rough start, things have been looking up for the Cobras thanks to everyone from our players to our volunteers to all of our new sponsors coming on board. With everyone's help, the second half of this season can be even better!
4/9/10 - CLL Junior featured in Goose Creek Gazette for Cane Bay HS!
Current Crowfield Little League Junior (13-14 yr old division), Austin Timm, makes the writeup in the Goose Creek Gazette for Cane Bay HS. Cane Bay Black placed 3rd in the tournament with a 3-1 record! Congratulations to you and your team Austin!
http://www.ourgazette.com/sports/Cobras-double-up-on-opening-day-of-Classic
4/4/10 - CLL Concession Stand Vandalized
What would normally be a joyous off-day for the players and volunteers of CLL to spend with their families, Easter Sunday brought the disappointing news that the concession stand had been broken into and vandalized resulting in roughly $1500 worth of damage and loss due to theft. See the report below filed by ABC News 4.
http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0410/72
2374.html
3/27/10 - CLL Opening Day a HUGE Success!!
Although a little on the chilly side, Saturday the 27th turned out to be a beautiful day for CLL's Opening Day ceremonies. All of the players looked great in their new uniforms and plenty of family and friends were on hand to make the day special! In addition to the usual parade of teams, jump castles and raffles, there were a couple of new games added to the day's events.
The first featured the "First Annual Coaches Challenge" where the Manager or Asst. Coach of each team competed not only for bragging rights, but to win every player on their team $10 credit in the concession stand! This year's event was a hula-hoop contest won by Jeremy Gibson, coach of the Green T-Ball Cobras!
The next event was a "Catcher's Gear Race" where players from every team across all age groups were broken off into two teams competing for Free Ice Cream Goodness! Each player had to dress up in catcher's gear (it ultimately ended up just being the mask and chest protector!) run to a base and back, then exchange their gear with the next runner. It was such a fun and exciting race that all the players were declared winners!
Once the games were over, we had the opportunity to introduce several special guests that were on hand for the festivities.
First, Steve Vaughn, the benefactor for whom the sports complex is named, was on hand to receive a plaque of appreciation for 13 years of support from the league presented by our president, Jim Emig. Although Mr. Vaughn was caught somewhat off-guard by the recognition, he took it in stride as he threw out our first pitch and spent time meeting and greeting many of the CLL family.
After the presentation to Mr. Vaughn, CLL dedicated Field 2 as David Tyler Memorial Field in recognition of the years of selfless service and support of longtime CLL member, David Tyler, who tragically passed away last year. On hand to receive the dedication plaque on his behalf was his lovely wife, Lorraine who expressed her appreciation for the continues love and support their family has received from the CLL family.
Last, we were honored to have US Congressman Henry Brown of SC's 1st District on hand. Rep Brown spoke to the crowd of his admiration of CLL's efforts despite the recent difficulties the league has faced. He pledged his support for our "grass roots efforts to nurture the wonderful children of this community" and was noticably impressed by all we have accomplished given the circumstances. We look forward to having Rep. Brown back again to see our progress.
Overall it was a fantastic day for the kids and a great one for CLL! Now it's time for baseball!
3/3/10 - Live 5 News (WCSC Charleston, SC) airs coverage of the CLL tax story
Click on the link below to read the transcript of the report aired on Channel 5. (Unfortunately, it looks like they removed the video. If anyone has, or can find a copy, please let us know so we can post it here. Thanks!)
http://www.live5news.com/Global/story.asp?S=12096039
3/3/10 - Charleston Post & Courier covers the CLL tax dilemma
Click on the link below to read the Post & Courier's coverage of our fight with Berkeley County for tax relief.
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/mar/03/a-very-foul-ball/
3/1/10 - Crowfield Little League joins FaceBook!
Who needs Farmville, Mafia Wars and all that other stuff when you have the Crowfield Cobras Fan Page on FaceBook? Hopefully this page will give league members opportunities to communicate with each other without having to add everyone to their personal friends list. Check it out at www.crowfieldcobras.org/facebook and let us know what you think!
2/11/10 - CLL tax dilemma airs on ABC News 4 (WCIV Charleston, SC)
As the population (and popularity) of the Crowfield section of Berkeley County began to grow, Crowfield Little League was soon looking for a new home to accomodate its increasing numbers of players. The league's 5 years of sustained growth and dedication to the community caught the attention of businessman and developer Steve Vaughn. With little more than a handshake, Mr. Vaughn agreed to allow the league to operate on 14 undeveloped acres of land off of College Park Road zoned as agricultural land. The only request he had was that the league paid for the annual property taxes, which from 1994 - 2002 was approximately $350 per year.
That all changed when Berkeley County reassessed the land. Upon finding the non-profit league playing baseball on the property unofficially dubbed the "Steve Vaughn Sports Complex," Berkeley County felt it was now operating as a commercial entity. As such, the property was zoned as a commercial development which then increased the annual tax burden to $5,761 per year - more than 1/2 of the league's total operating costs! In an effort to seek relief from what is viewed as a gross misunderstanding, league officials petitioned the Berkeley County Council but was denied. It was at this point that the fight began.
Click the following link to read the transcript of the story and watch the report as it aired on News 4.
http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0210/705396.html
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