{"id":14703,"date":"2016-07-13T16:48:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T20:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=14703"},"modified":"2016-07-20T10:22:01","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T14:22:01","slug":"all-stars-showcase-aurora-softball-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/all-stars-showcase-aurora-softball-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"All-Stars showcase Aurora softball talent"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jake Courtepatte<\/p>\n

The best of the best in Aurora softball squared off Saturday in the Aurora Men\u2019s Softball League\u2019s inaugural All-Star game at Lambert Willson Park.
\nThe league is comprised of two divisions, Masters for ages 35 and over, and Open, for ages 18 and over. Saturday\u2019s event was the first time the two divisions have ever faced off against each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we\u2019re trying to promote,\u201d said Reg Schade. \u201cOver the years, the divisions have polarized\u2026we want to bring the two divisions together to show that we\u2019re one big organization. We want everyone to get to know each other and have fun, because that\u2019s what we\u2019re all here for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of these guys have been in ball all their life, regardless of what level,\u201d said Glen Payne, vice president of the Master\u2019s division. \u201cSo it\u2019s tough when that time ends. We offer competitive ball, something to look forward to, and making an all-star roster is just something else to compete for.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a two-game, aggregate score competition, the Masters bested the Open division, earning bragging rights at the year-end banquet. The day also featured a home-run derby, and a food truck with funds going to Yellow Brick House: an organization in Aurora for abused women and children.
\nPhilanthropy is something near and dear to the members of the AMSL, who donate about 5% of annual revenue to local charities.<\/p>\n

The league is hoping to be able to donate even more by growing the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always looking to bring in new teams, new players,\u201d said Payne. \u201cWe\u2019re a very established league, but we still want to grow. We have eight teams in the Masters division, and ten in the Open, which is great but we want to continue to expand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schade said the league is looking to add two more teams to the Masters division next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re putting a call out to the community to get the Masters up to ten. Up until now, we\u2019ve always used word of mouth to find new players. This year we\u2019re going to be advertising.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to get the word out now that we have a good, quality league with great diamonds, good lighting, and excellent umpires,\u201d said Payne. \u201cIt\u2019s a well-run league.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the all-star festivities may have had talent leaning more towards one side of the spectrum, the regular season of the AMSL is welcoming of players of any skill level.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have players that played AAA ball, and players that played rec ball,\u201d said Payne. \u201cIt\u2019s all kinds. We create a competitive atmosphere using the players we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is have a destination for the kids going up from minor ball,\u201d said Reg Schade, president of AMSL. \u201cTo give them an opportunity to play into their fifties or sixties. We want guys in Aurora to know that there\u2019s always an opportunity to play ball.\u201d
\nYou can learn more about the organization at www.amsl.ca.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jake Courtepatte The best of the best in Aurora softball squared off Saturday in the Aurora Men\u2019s Softball League\u2019s inaugural All-Star game at Lambert Willson Park. The league is comprised of two divisions, Masters for ages 35 and over, and Open, for ages 18 and over. Saturday\u2019s event was the first time the two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/2016-07-14-09.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-3P9","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 00:44:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}