Greater Charlotte Hot Stove League Award Winners

The Award Winners from Last Nights Greater Charlottte hot Stove League Awards Dinner.




Youth Softball Player of the Year: Elena Covert, Youth Baseball Player of the Year: Nick Salisbury, York County Baseball Player of the Year: Seth Neely, Grand Slam Award: Charlotte Megastars 13U Team,

Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Steven Hummell, Team of the Year: Ardrey Kell High School Baseball, High School Softball Player of the Year: Kalie Lang,

Kelly Athletic High School Baseball Player of the Year: Tyler Tewell


All the finalist are winners in my book so congratulations to all. There were some neat announcements made and I hope everyone had a great time. This is a labor of love and I am sad that it will be another year until we can meet again.

I will post much more later, but I wanted to say Thanks to the Sold Out crowd we had last night.

 

Congratulations

Congratulations to all the winners. What a tremendous honor.......

 

Congratulations to all the finalists. We had a great time seeing old friends and talking baseball. Thank you Tripp Roakes for organizing a wonderful event which supports The Miracle League and for all you do for youth sports in our area.

 

Truly an outstanding event for softball and baseball in the Charlotte metro area. Over 300 folks attended and I'm sure there will be even more next year. Congratulations to all the nominees and especially to Tyler Tewell and Elena Covert who we've watched grow up before our eyes. Thanks Tripp and Jeff for putting this together.

 

What a wonderful event this was and to have it at CBC made it more fitting. I can’t think of a better place to have a Hot Stove dinner than at a baseball facility---it was perfect!

As some of you know, I was involved in a car accident, so I had to hitch hike to the event. But lo and behold, the first car that came by was the Woodards; Clayton, Susan and Robert and they happened to be going to the event (it was my lucky day.)

We arrived early, so we had plenty of time to peruse the silent auction…and just like the kid in the movie, The Christmas Story, there lay the present of all time on the table. It appeared to have its own shining light to illuminate my favorite gift. I quickly stood in front of it and used my elbows to ward off any prospective bidders. It was a helmet autographed by………..Joe Namath. Now you must understand that I don’t collect autographs, per se. I have a few that I treasure, but those are from the young players that I have a relationship with. But a Joe Namath autograph helmet? Wow…Namath is my only sports hero!

What made the event so special for me were seeing all my old friends and making new one’s in a relaxed festival environment. Tripp Roakes, the host of the event, was excellent in keeping everything flowing and on time without the feeling of being rushed. He did an excellent job. I am no longer surprised by anything that Jeff Schaefer does. His total commitment to helping the players in the Charlotte and vicinity area is unquestioned. But it is his commitment to do everything first class is what separates him from most. If it’s not going to be the best, he doesn’t want to be a part of it. Of all the things that Jeff does well, this is what I found to be the most impressive. Regardless of how busy he is, he always takes a moment of his time to greet everybody---even if it’s just a sincere “hello, thanks for coming”. There is absolutely no arrogance in his demeanor, other than insisting on the best. For those that have not met Jeff Schaefer, Jake Robbins and the rest of the CBC staff, you are in for a treat when you do.

Another special treat for me was seeing awards presented to the youth teams. I watched one young man stand, beaming with pride, as his team was being acknowledged for an award. He could not stop smiling the rest of the night. It was fun to be at the table with the Woodards and to watch those same youth players come over nervously asking for Robert’s autograph; knowing it was just yesterday that Robert was playing youth baseball.

I was excited to see the nominees of the softball players I have read so much about on TBR. Congratulations to all of them! I would like to congratulate all of the talented baseball players that were nominated, too. They are outstanding. However, there is one that I do want to mention. Each year there seems like one player that grabs my attention. It’s not just because of their talent, but their makeup. This player is super competitive. He wants to beat you in anything. It doesn’t matter if it’s bingo, baseball or a HR Derby---he wants to win!!!! And will compete his butt off to do so. This young man happens to be one of the most respectful, as well. If you want to have a successful blueprint in how to raise a young man, ask the parents of Tyler Tewell. They have it! Congratulations to Tyler for receiving the Player of the Year.

There were so many outstanding moments during the event that I can’t list them in one post. There were two important announcements that I will let Tripp and Jeff mention, but suffice to say---I can’t wait until next year.

 

Tripp,

Congrats on another first class event.....I hate I missed it. I have talked to several people that attended and everyone has said they had a great time. I hope to make it next year.

 

Congats to all the winners and finalist...

I have had the pleasure of knowing Steven Hummell and he truly does epitomize what a student/athlete is all about. That's one young man that has had his eye on both prizes - academics and baseball (in that order). He's really going to make an impact at Davidson. Way to go Steven.

By the way...What were those 2 big announcements they kept talking about? I heard something about some new CBC ball fields, but that was about it.

 

From a very reliable source, I was informed that the total number of people that attended the event this year was 140 more than last year! WOW!!!
What an event, congrats to all that made this happen! Looking forward to next year!

MR. TYLER TEWELL !!!!

What can you say about this guy that hasn't already been said. I have been one of fortunate ones that has had the pleasure of coaching a much younger Tyler when he was a 12 year old at MARA! Even at the young age of 12, you knew that this kid was a special breed! Not only is Tyler a special athletic on the field, he is a special young man off the field!
Congrats Tyler for a well deserved award!!!

Good job Nick! Does this mean that I have to buy Tyler another Subway Sandwich??????????????????

 

2 Big Announcements were...

1) CBC Showcase Park
2) High School and Middle School and Softball All Star Showcase games
"Battle of the Border" York County vs. Mecklenburg County

 

Battle of the Border All Star Showcase Announcement

Here is one of the big announcements made at the 2nd Annual Greater Charlotte Hot Stove League Dinner. We have set our sights high and have laid a ton of groundwork to make this event one of the best around. It's something I believe very much in and I hope the baseball community will enjoy.

The event is two fold in nature as you will see from the website. Its both a baseball and softball showcase for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 classes and an all star game for High School Baseball and Softball and rising ninth graders.

Lots more to come, but this is the start of the website, Nominations for the All-Star game and registration for the Showcases will begin February 1st.


For full details, here is the website:

http://www.battleofthebordershowcase.com/