Dear HYAL Member,
Play Ball!!! That all too familiar sound kicking off the Baseball & Softball Seasons. As the weather gets
warmer and visions of summer roll around here is the latest updates for your reading pleasure!!!!
Football & Cheer
We have held two in person Football & Cheer registrations to date. Our numbers so far are encouraging
but we would like more children to be playing and cheering. If you need to still register please contact
hyalayfayc@gmail.com immediately. We are also pleased to announce that Toni Tomasiello has been
appointed Cheer Commissioner and Barbara Guida as Co-Cheer Commissioner. These roles were
reversed in 2010. We have come to expect great accomplishments from our cheer squads and only see
the traditions continuing with Toni at the helm. On the cheer front today, May 1 st, our Jr. Pee Wee Cheer
squad competed at the Keyport AYC Cheer Competition. Our young ladies performed and dazzled the
crowd. During the day we had two of our cheerleaders recognized for their talents: Ariel Broderick was
the winner in the Cheer Jump Off and Brooke Rongo was the winner in the Cheer Tumble Off. I also
want to congratulate our coaches on the ladies performances. It is truly a testament to their hard work
and dedication that drives our program forward. I’m sure I am forgetting a few but they are Coach Servi,
Coach Erin, Coach Diane, Coach Denise, Coach Christie, Coach Melissa, Coach Ashley, Coach Corrine,
Coach Jasmin and Coach Kayla. For those I left off I apologize. If you have any questions regarding
football or cheer you may email Toni or Paul at hyalayfayc@gmail.com.
Wrestling
Our Wrestling program continues to grow and excel at all levels. The wrestling program is between
seasons currently. If you’re interested in the Wrestling program please reach out to Jim Erven at
hyalwrestling@verizon.net.
Basketball
We held free basketball clinics on April 30th & May 1st open to all age groups. The clinic was given by a
college coach with the intent on being able to show drills to help each child be able to practice and
improve before next season. Even though the clinics were not as well attended as we had hoped those
that participated found the time extremely informative and helpful. We are already starting to work on the
budgets for next season and will be passing along registration dates in the next newsletter. If you have
any questions regarding basketball please contact Jim Ryan (jr1hoops@aol.com ) for rec basketball or
Tommy O’Connell (chuby3zx7@aol.com) for travel basketball.
Baseball/Softball
I have left the Baseball/Softball update for last since that is the current sport that is in season and the one
where we had the most hiccups along the way. Let me begin by explaining why registration was moved
to November last year instead of the normal January/February as in years past. Baseball/Softball needs
several months of coordination in order to do scheduling, order equipment, work with outside
organizations in affiliations, order uniforms, etc. Unfortunately we had a very high amount of late
registrations that caused extensive delays in getting the season started. Even though all late registrations
paid a higher fee than those that registered in November it was not enough to help alleviate the problem.
We will continue to do registrations this year in November and if members comply it will afford us the
proper amount of time to handle all of the coordination properly. What we have come to realize though is
that the late fees are not high enough to get 100% compliance with the earlier registration dates. With
that said for the 2012 season late registrants will pay a significant late fee and will be expected to do
additional work duty slots. I know these measures are harsh but those that do comply should not be
penalized for those that don’t. Before the season is over will we notify all current players’ families with the
registration dates for November as well as have it posted on our website and create updates on the
Facebook page. As far as the current season is concerned things are moving along nicely. We are
currently working on the playoff schedules for the competitive divisions and will have that posted shortly.
We are looking to end the season around Father’s Day Weekend. We are also looking to have All-Star
games that weekend as well. On another note we have been notified by our current Rec
Baseball/Softball Commissioner, Tom Peterman that he is resigning for personal reasons. It was with
reluctance that I have accepted his resignation. If you are interested in being our Rec Baseball/Softball
Commissioner please send me an email at sburtone@gmail.com. Any other questions for
Baseball/Softball you can email hyalrec@gmail.com. For Snack Bar related questions you can email
hyalsnackbar@gmail.com or Field Maintenance at hyalfield@gmail.com. If you have not received raffles
or chocolate or signed up for work duty yet (Online Registrations) please email hyalrec@gmail.com to
arrange to do so immediately. On a high note on May 1st we hosted a MLB sanctioned Pitch, Hit & Run
local event. The winners of this event move on to the sectionals and have the opportunity to move on
from there ultimately to the MLB All-Star game to compete.
The winners of this event who will advance to the Sectionals are:
GIRLS 7/8:
All-around champ - Taylor Calicari 223 pts
Pitch champ - Shelby LaMatinna 75 pts
Hit champ - Taylor Calicari 110 pts
Run champ - Maria Taddeo 92 pts
GIRLS 9/10:
All-around - Gabrielle Zwedinger 410 pts
Pitch - Gabrielle Zwedinger 150 pts
Hit - Kylie Quinn 202 pts
Run - Kylie Quinn 156 pts
GIRLS 11/12:
All-around - Meghan Cordoza 407 pts
Hit - Annalesa DiLaurenzio 186 pts
Run - Meghan Cordoza 157 pts
GIRLS 13/14:
Kayla Cordoza swept the event
All-around 588 pts, Pitch 75 pts, Hit 244 pts, Run 269 pts
BOYS 7/8:
all-around champ - Robert Scarola 504 pts
pitch champ - Robert Scarola 225 pts
hit champ - Matthew DiLaurenzio 216 pts
run champ - Robert Scarola 169 pts
BOYS 9/10:
all-around - Jerry Callahan 550 pts
pitch - we had an 11 way tie with 150 pts. At this level, they all advance:
Jerry Callahan, Ryan Kasmer, Hunter Neville, Jonathan Carton, Jacob Spirko, Jason Lind,
Matthew Spirko, Liam Callahan, Evan Smith (Holmdel), Michael Iulo (Holmdel), Christopher
Carton
hit - Hunter Neville 286 pts
run - Liam Callahan 228 pts
BOYS 11/12:
all-around - Matt Birdsall 773 pts
pitch - tied with 450 pts - Matt Birdsall and Robert Taddeo
hit - Billy Hutchins 286 pts
run - Nick Borow 353 pts
BOYS 13/14:
all-around - Tyler Birch 1107 pts
pitch - Tyler Birch 375 pts
hit - Resul Abas 476 pts
run - Tyler Birch 382 pts
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank all those volunteers who helped make this an exciting day for
all the competitors: Craig & Debbie Spirko, Dawn & John Carton, Tony Taddeo, Dan Calicari, Joe
Szutyanyi, Toni Leonard, Lou DiLaurenzio, Anthony Ciani, Victor Gonzalez, Bob Snyder, Kurt
Friend, Liam Powers, Dan Costanzo,Al Perno, Steve Demino. If I left anyone off I apologize for
that. I also want to thank Craig & Debbie for taking on the role of leading this event and having
it run like a well-oiled machine. To all our volunteers you embody why we all spend countless
hours doing what we do…..making the experience for the children the best we can.
Fundraising
As many of you who have been up to the complex you are starting to see signs placed on the
field and buildings. We are looking for local business owners to help this fundraising effort.
Also we are working on our 2nd Annual HYAL Golf Outing to be held on Saturday, June 11th.
Please come out and support the HYAL. If you have any fundraising questions or are interested
in volunteering please email our fundraising coordinator Steve Dimino at
stevendimino@gmail.com.
In closing I want to impress on every member that the Hazlet Youth Athletic League was
created for the children of Hazlet in 1957. This organization has a long tradition of striving to
help the children of our community learn the sports we offer but more importantly stress
education, teamwork, dedication and a sense of community. Recently we have had a large
amount of equipment leave our complex and not be returned. This equipment is costly and
affects all that we do including registration fees. Please understand that we are a self funding
organization and receive no support from the township or Recreation departments. This is our
league for our children. Let do our best to preserve it for future generations of Hazlet children
and protect what we have. I ask all of our members to help keep an eye out for our complex
and if you see anything happening out of the ordinary please alert us.
As always please contact me at sburtone@gmail.com with any questions, concerns or
suggestions.
Thanks
Seb Burtone
HYAL President