Thank you to all of the players, evaluators, and volunteers for making the 2021 9U Travel Lite evaluations a success.  All of the players worked hard, had a great attitude, and supported and encouraged one another. 

Congratulations to the following players who made the 9U TL Team:

Nixon Albers

Landry Boeker

Jayden Davis

Zeelan Dick

Miles Greene

Ruxin Higgs

Nolan Hinz

Carter Knapp

Abraham Mischley

Benton Reeb

Abraham Tongate

Bryant White

For those who didn’t make the team, I hope you continue to play baseball and try out again next fall. 

I’m looking forward to a fun season!

Coach White

Thank you to all of the players who tried out for the 2021 10U Travel Lite Team.  

Congratulations to the following players who made the 10U TL Team:

Mason Armstrong
Henry Austin
Ryker Boss
Tripp Davis
Toby Fitzgerald
Schroeder Getz
Jaret Jones
Blake McMillan
Andy Ripka
Brooks Springer
Brody Stallings
Owen Taylor

For those who didn’t make the team, I hope you continue to play baseball and try out again next fall.

Coach Boss

I’m excited to announce and congratulate the 2021 Morton Potters 8U Red team:

Jackson Boeker

Beckett Cantu

Luke Gronewold

Ace Monfre

Jax O’Brian

Briggs Overcash

Levi Parnham

Trevor Ricci

Fletcher Spangler

Beau Springer

Mason Stephens

Luke Whitaker

We had a HUGE turnout with 40 kids showing up to tryouts this week. Given the numbers and talent, we will leverage tryout results from this week to create a Morton 8U Gray team. We need a coach to finalize the Gray team roster so please reach out to Brayton Boss (MYBA Travel Director) if interested in coaching this team:  . Please submit your name by 5pm on Monday, 9/28.  Once a coach is in place we will make a formal roster announcement.

Thanks to all players that came to tryouts this week. Such a fun group of boys and a lot of talent across 1^st and 2^nd grade. No matter the outcome, keep the boys playing baseball. There’s plenty of time to learn and grow. 

Feel free to reach out with any questions. Have a great day!

Coach Parnham

14U Travel Heavy Tryouts (currently in 8th grade) are scheduled as follows:

 

- Thursday, October 1 from 5:00 - 6:30

- Saturday, October 3 from 12:00 - 1:30

 

*Must participate in at least one of the two dates, encouraged to be at both is schedule permits

 

*NO previous Morton travel hats or shirts allowed, please

 

*MUST bring your own equipment

 

We look forward to seeing everyone!

13U Travel Heavy Tryouts (7^th grade) will be Sept. 29-30 at 5:15-7:15PM on Field 5

*Must participate in at least ONE of the two dates, encouraged to be at both if possible.

* NO previous Morton travel hats or shirts allowed, please.

* MUST bring your own equipment

We look forward to seeing you all out there next week,

Coach Crawford

Thank you to every player that tried out for the 11U Travel Lite team. All of the boys worked extremely hard at the tryouts and had tremendous attitudes and effort.  If your son did not make the team, I want to highly encourage them to keep playing baseball and to please come try out again next year.  Registration for next season's Bronco League will open up in January, and I hope to see everyone who tried out on that registration!

This was a very difficult decision, as all of the boys showed up well this year. Congratulations to those that made the team!  We are very excited to begin working with you all as a team for next season!

The 2021 11U Lite roster is:

Grayson Bryant

Ryan Clauson

Finn Hart

Jace Houghton

Jack Hoyland

Anders Hurst

Bennett Kohler

Tanner Naas

Charlie Patton

Ben Roth

Nolan Smith

Dominic Vallar

Thank you again,

Coach Vallar

8U - 11U Travel Lite Tryout date/times have been set.

Hello everyone, tonight at our monthly MYBA Board meeting, we will be electing the 2021 Travel Lite coaches.  Once elected, these coaches will be working to get their tryout dates set.  Announcements on these dates will be coming starting tomorrow.  As usual, each team will have 2 tryout dates, those trying out will only be required to attend 1 of the 2 dates, but attending both is encouraged.  

To help with the tryout process, we have created a sign-up sheet on Google Forms, the link is below.  If your child is interersted in trying out, please take a minute to sign up to let us know who will be trying out so the coaches can plan accordingly.  This will also make the sign-in process easier and faster at tryouts.  We appreciate your help.  As always please feel free to reach out with any questions.

https://forms.gle/syofmeiiFAbjCkPF6

A Quick Clarification:

8U – 2^nd & 1^st Grade

9U – 3^rd Grade

10U – 4^th Grade

11U – 5^th Grade

12U – 6^th Grade

Thank you, 

MYBA Board of Directors

Thank you to each player and family for trying out for the 9U Travel Heavy team. All of the kids came with a good attitude and showed fantastic effort! If your player did not make the team, I highly encourage all to try out for the 9U travel lite team next month. More to come on that. This was a very difficult decision and lots of close calls. To those that made the team - Congratulations! I am very excited to work with all of you on your game and coming together as a team!  The 2021 9U heavy roster is below.

Nicholas Combs
Hudson Hendrick
Ryan Hoffman
Drew Kominkiewicz
Landyn Ludolph
Peyt Malson
Cruz Mueller
Caleb Ohnesorge
Gavin Sharp
Jude Springer
Ben Volpert
Hudson Zeller

Thank you all again,

Coach Hoffman

Hello Parents, with our older kid leagues winding down, I wanted to provide an update on our Pinto (tee-ball) and Maverick (coach-pitch leagues).  

Registration will remain open until Aug. 18.

The Pinto and Maverick Leagues will each begin on Tuesday, Aug. 18.  League games will occur on Tues & Thursday evenings, as well as a handful of Saturday morning games as well. 

- Pinto will be playing on Field 7, the tee-ball field. 

- Maverick American League (incoming 2nd graders, and incoming 1st graders with at least 1 year of MYBA tee-ball) will play on field 3.

- Maverick National League (incoming 3rd graders) will play on field 2.

Next week, we will be notifying coaches of their rosters, which are currently in the process of being put together.  We are still in need of coaches are all 3 levels, so please register using the registration link on the front right of our webpage.   You can also reach out to Dave Hoffman for Maverick, or Heather Walters for Pinto.   

Coaches will reach out to their respective rosters to relay practice and game schedules.  

Please refer to our Phase 4 Guidelines with respect to MYBA's current social distancing policies.  You will be required to bring a fold up chair for your child to sit in during the game, as we are only allowed 4 players in the dugout at one time.  We are also asking parents and spectators to sit no closer than 6 feet from player areas. 

Feel free to reach out to Jason Vallar or Josh Tarter as well for any questions or concerns.  

We are looking forward to another fun season of baseball for the Pinto and Maverick leagues!

The MYBA Monthly Board Meeting will be next Monday, July 20 at 6:00PM.    We will hold this meeting at the indoor hitting facility, if you are attending, please bring a folding chair.  

We hope this message finds everyone healthy, safe and ready to play baseball games in Morton again.  Once again, for those within our MYBA family that are working in healthcare, we extend a very heartfelt thank you for all that you are doing to battle the current COVID-19 pandemic.

We first want to thank everyone who has put in all of the hours to get our fields and facilty ready for our 2020 season.  A lot of hard work has gone into making this season a reality, and it would not have been possible with out all of our board members, field maintenance staff and volunteer coaches.   With the state finally moving into phase 4, MYBA will officially be able to host baseball games beginning June 26.  

After reviewing the state's Phase 4 Youth Sports Guidelines, our executive board has revised the current Phase 3 MYBA guidelines which will allow our youth to play baseball games.  Below there is a link to our guidelines for baseball activities in phase 4, as well as the state's phase 4 youth sports guidelines.  

MYBA Guidelines for Baseball Activities in IL Phase 4

IL Phase 4 Youth Sports Guidelines

Due to the social distancing requirement, our Tee-Ball (Pinto) and Maverick (Coach Pitch) seasons will begin the week of August 17.  Teams will be selected and announced the last week of July, and practices can begin the week of August 3.  This will allow more time for anyone interested to register.  Registration will remain open until games begin.  The season will conclude at the end of September, providing a full season to all participants. 

Moving forward, our dugouts will open during Phase 4 per Park District Guidelines., with limited capacity.   Practices and games will be done in accordance with the Youth Sports Guideines around social distancing.  

Spectators fall under the normal state phase 4 guidelines around social gatherings of 50 or less.  We ask that everyone responsibly follow those guideslines.  We also ask that there be not fans sitting up close to the dugouts, the state's youth sports guidelines dictate that spectators must follow distancing from players during phase 4.

Our indoor hitting facility will remain closed for now as we figure out a way to safely allow it's usage.  The outdoor cages have been set back up and are ready for use, please use those for any batting practice needs when fields are not available.

Our concession stand will open up this Friday.  There will be one window for orders, and one for pickup.  We ask that everyone please follow distancing while waiting in line.  Treat tickets this year will be done on a delivery system to avoid huge crowds after games, more details will be provided to coaches soon.  We ask that fans not congregate in the common area in between Fields 1 & 6 in front of the indoor hitting facility.  when watching games so that we can provide adequate room for concessions lines due to the distancing requirements.  Also, the park district is not permitted to turn on any water fountains at this time due to state mandates.

Thank you again for your patience, grace and support while we have been working to bring youth baseball back to Morton.  We are very excited for our season to kick off, and we look forward to seeing everyone out at Westwood Park in the coming days.

Best Regards,

MYBA Board of Directors

I hope this message finds everyone healthy and safe at home.  For those within our MYBA family that are working in healthcare, we extend a very heartfelt thank you for all that you are doing to battle the current COVID-19 pandemic.

We understand that right now baseball is not a top priority for any of us, but felt that as our weather improves (minus the snow about to hit us the next couple days) it might be a welcome message to get an update on when our kids can head out to play baseball together again.  The MYBA Executive Board has developed a contingency plan that we hope still allows all of our kids the opportunity to play baseball this summer.  Just a reminder that this is a tentative plan based on what the Governor decides to do with the current shelter in place order.

If Shelter in place is phased out during May, MYBA is hoping to start our 2020 season for both our travel program and in-house by the week of June 1, extending through the entire month of July.  Tentatively practices would be scheduled before and during the season.  Registration will remain open, and fees will not be due until a firm start date is scheduled.  We are looking forward to seeing you all out at Westwood Park this summer. 

MYBA and the Morton Park District are in constant communication, as we continue to monitor the public health situation, we will make adjustments to this plan, and keep all of you informed and up to date.

Until then, please send us any at home baseball pictures to our Facebook page, and we look forward to hopefully seeing you all at Westwood Park this summer.

Best Regards,

Jason Vallar

MYBA President