Douglas County Timbers U12 Baseball Team Gives Kids More Opportunities To Play
Douglas County Timbers is a U12 baseball team that gives kids an opportunity to play almost year-round in a variety of planned tournaments in 2021 from March to September. The team was created last year by Mitchell Black because the Cal Ripken league did not play due to restrictions. The Timbers have a visit and tournament planned in Cooperstown, New York where the Baseball Hall of Fame is located in 2021. The Timbers have 55 scheduled games already for 2021 and are looking for players interested in playing in highly competitive tournaments. Currently, baseball is permitted by state guidance as an outdoor activity. “We practice at Gaddis Park. I have a batting cage at my house so we practice there but field work is at Gaddis Park,” Black said. “Three years ago, we got this team together with Cal Ripken and there were limited opportunities to play games. Last year we created an 11u team with about 70 games.” The Timbers have 55 games planned but that can go up to 70 or more games, with tournaments in Salem, Portland and other parts of the region. The Cooperstown tournament will include instruction from MLB players. “We want kids to learn the game, develop the character and help them succeed in life. If baseball can help them get through high school and college, than that’d be great,” Black said. “We had a very successful tournament here in Roseburg, with 11 teams last summer. There is not a lot of baseball opportunities for kids before they get into legion baseball.” “We had 109 practices last summer, for 2-3 hours practicing baseball. The kids were awesome,” Black said. “Kids were interested in playing more. In Cal Ripken there are about 16 games and there are kids out there who want to play more baseball than that and that’s where it started from.” “Everyone followed the guidelines, we were able to play, our last tournament was in November down in Medford,” Black said. “So the kids and their families have been great with all the health and distancing guidelines.” For those interested in a tryout, you can contact douglascountytimbers@gmail.com with your information.