2009 Spring Season: Important Dates!

Let's get ready for spring softball?

2009 Player registration forms went out in the mail this week to all of our returning players. Downloadable Registration forms are also available by clicking on the link on the right hand side of the page (--->>).

And, we'll be registering players in person at the Arcata Community Center on Saturday, February 21st and Saturday, February 28th between 9:00 and 2:00 (during Arcata youth basketball games). Register early...and invite your friends to join in the fun!

Here are some important dates to keep in mind:

Monday, February 16th: College of the Redwoods Softball Clinic, 9am-1pm at the CR Field House

Saturday, March 14th: Player Assessments at the HSU Field House: use your child's age as of 12/31/2008 to determine your child's assessment time:

7 & 8 year olds: 12:00 - 1:00

9 & 10 year olds: 1:00 - 2:00

11 & 12 year olds: 2:00 - 3:00

13 to 16 year olds: 3:00 - 4:00

Monday, March 16th: Team practices begin.

Saturday, April 4th: Opening Day Jamboree and team pictures.

Monday, April 6th: Let the games begin. (No games are scheduled during Spring Break, 4/13-17)

June 1-5: End of season tournament week.

Saturday, June 13th: All-Star games (tentative)

If you have any questions, check this site regularly. And, don't hesitate to contact us via email at madrivergirlssoftball@gmail.com

College of the Redwoods Softball Clinic, Monday, February 16th, 9am to 1pm

The College of the Redwoods is hosting a softball clinic on Monday, February 16th at the CR Field House. That's President's Day folks, so our players and at least a few of us parents and coaches have the day off to participate in this great clinic. The clinic is open to all players from grades 3 to 12.

$30 if you register by February 12th; $40 to register at the door. Doors open at 8:30 for early registration.

Check out the CR Softball website for more information. We'd love to see a great turn-out of Mad River players at the clinic.

It's 2009! Spring Softball is just around the corner!

Has it really been this long?

By mid-June last summer, our seasoned players had drifted off to summer camps and family vacations. The Mad River 12 & Under travel team played on a while longer, competing in tournaments across northern California in July.

By August our softball players had become soccer players. Older coaches took their kids to college while our older players headed off to high school. October slid into November which eased into December. Soccer goalies became basketball point guards.

And now, finally, it's a new year. Mad River Girls Fastpitch Softball Association's spring season is barely a month away. We're pulling our gloves out of the closets or breaking in the new ones we got for Christmas. When the sun shines (which it's doing quite frequently these days), you'll even hear the sharp pop of ball on leather. Muddy cleats, still stinky from last season, begin to scratch the edges of the community center grass.

Spring Softball. You can feel it. It's almost here.

Your Mad River Girls Fastpitch Softball coaches and board members are already hard at work getting ready for the coming season. Registrations for returning players are stamped and on their way to your mailbox.

Stay tuned to these pages in the coming days for important dates, updates, registration forms, schedules, and all the info you'll need for the coming season.

Let's play some softball!

2008 All Star Extravaganza!! Saturday, June 14th at the Arcata Sports Complex

On Saturday, June 14th we mark the end of our 2008 Spring Softball Season with an All-Star Extavaganza at the Arcata Sports Complex.

First pitches will be thrown at 10:00 am.

On the North Field, you’ll find the 16 & Under Tournament Championship game featuring our most experienced Mad River players and some of the finest pitching, hitting, and fielding this side of the Pecos.

On the South Field, the 10 & Under All Stars challenge themselves to an intraleague game highlighting some our league's best young talent.

At noon, the 12 & Under Division treats their 2008 All Stars to a host of fun activities and softball challenges.

We finish the day at 2 pm with Mad River's 16 & Under All Stars taking on the All Stars from our partners and rivals in the Cutten-Ridgewood softball program.

And, the Snack Shack is open all day!

Following the final out of the final game, coaches and families are invited to stick around for a quick coaches meeting and equipment/uniform return and a thank you BBQ.

Congratulations to our 2008 Mad River Girls Fastpitch Softball ALL STARS!

10 & Under Division

Krista Sholz

Taj Peterson

Danielle Debeni

Samantha Lake

Brenna Killoran

Karissa Bradley

Emily Denny

Dakota Carlson

Hannah Pomerantz

Kate Harvey

Olivia Hoffman

Adrianna Tatom

Mercedes Butterworth

Morgan Mahan

Tenayah French

Angel Goodman

Delaney Rice

Cait Parker

Madeline Nutter

Haley Hogan

12 & Under Division
Kayla Reed
Makayla Orlandi
Rachael Miller
Bella Ibarra
Lacey Anderson
Alix Flint
Chloe Lang
Marissa Bianca
Brittany Ward
Nina Farias
Caitlin Nieri
Analora Barsuglia

16 & Under Division
Hannah Denny
Frankie Christen
Erica Biggs
Maggie Martinez
Jenni Phillips
Stephanie Hurt
Dana Morris-Punch
Liberty Ingraham-Gonzales
Petey Levesque
Cavanaugh Carter
Amanda Kunst
Tara Harpe-Whetstone

Congratulations to our 2008 League & Tournament champions!!

We have had a wonderful (and rain-free for a change!) spring softball season here in northern Humboldt County. All of our teams, regardless of their final records, have played like champions, learned a tremendous amount about the game and about teamwork, and hopefully made some great friends along the way.

We'd like to take just a moment and congratulate our 2008 Mad River Girls Fastpitch Softball Association's Season and Tournament Champions.

In the 10 and Under Division, our season champions (best record at the end of the season) are the Fog, coached by Mike Rice and sponsored by Hank's Coffeehouse.

The 10 & Under Tournament winners this season are the Swinging Monkeys, coached by Rob Flint and sponsored by Alves, Inc.

In the 12 & Under Division, the Black Widows, sponsored by Soroptimist International, and coached by Melissa and Willie Ward, captured both the the regular season championship and the tournament championship!

The 16 & Under Division's regular season was won by Evergreen Pulp's Donkers, coached by Jeff Denny. The Donkers also won the tournament championship game for the 16 & Under division capping a 14-0 season.

Congratulations to all our outstanding softball players and teams on a successful and wildly fun 2008 softball season!

It's Tournament Time!

It seems like our season began just a few days ago, yet it's now time for our annual end of the season tournament. Our final regular season games are played this weekend, and the double-elimination tourney to crown division champions starts on Monday.

Due to a variety of scheduling issues, this year's tournament is a Mad River only affair. Schedules for the 10 & Under, 12 & Under, and 16 & Under divisions are available at the click of these buttons:

10 & Under Tournament
12 & Under Tournament
16 & Under Tournament

Tournament results updated, Thursday 6/11/08!

And stay tuned here to follow the progress of your favorite team through the tourney.

All-Star games between the Mad River and Cutten-Ridgewood leagues will be played on Saturday, June 14th at the Arcata Sports Complex. Stay tuned here for a complete list of our 2008 All-Stars and a schedule of the games.

(A coaches' appreciation BBQ and equipment/uniform return time will follow the All-Star Games. More details soon.)

Good luck to all our teams and softball players in this years tournament!

...And the weather holds on for a great opening week of softball!

The north coast's weather teased us a bit both on opening day and the middle of this week, but the skies stayed mostly dry for us. Despite the wet threats and a few showers, the Mad River Girls Fastpitch Softball Association's 2008 spring season kicked off this week. Even a brief hailstorm on Tuesday night couldn't drive our teams off the fields!

16 games have already been played in this young season, in three towns, on five fields, and among 21 teams. And there's plenty more to come.

Check out the photos from last Saturday's games between our own Mad River 10 & Under teams. Our youngest pitchers are already looking like seasoned pros out there.

We'd love to share your photos or hear your softball stories on this website. Coaches, parents, kids, grandparents...please email us your photos, classic moments, or play-by-play game commentary, and we'll do our darnedest to get them up for all to see. It'll be great to share the fun we're having playin' softball in Humboldt County.

And if you want to catch some really great softball, the HSU softball team begins their hunt for the CCAA championship tournament this week, and HSU and the city of Arcata host the NCAA Division II Western Regional Tournament May 7-11 at HSU. Check out the papers or the HSU softball website for updates.