A message from owner Clark Eckhoff
Published on September 6, 2013 under New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Valley Blue Sox News Release
It has been a busy summer of baseball, and now that it is over, the Holyoke Blue Sox would like to take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone who helped make this season so fantastic.
Our numerous sponsors have a huge hand in making baseball in Holyoke possible - sponsors like MoFroYo, Aztec Printing, the La Quinta Hotel, Teddy Bear Pools, the Loomis Communities, Health Trax, the Delaney House, Holyoke Medical Center, the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce, Magic Hands Therapeutic Massage, CHI Insurance, Baystate Medical, Gary Rome, Curry Honda Nissan, Mengel Dafonte Auto, Attain Therapy, Skip's Sheds, Valet Park of America, the Springfield Republican, Party Patrol, Mohawk Communications, and the Holyoke and Springfield Chambers of Commerce.
We saw visits by Batman, Superman, the Looney Tunes, Wally the Green Monster, and Screech from our friends at the Springfield Falcons. We played a Military All-Star Team, and won two home postseason games. We had lots of great giveaways, from hats to baseballs to mini bats to Big Red bobbleheads. We got to recognize great student-athletes from local high schools, and helped to raise money for the Rays of Hope as well as the American Cancer Society. We hosted a literacy night with the help of Holyoke Literacy Coordinator Andrew Melendez and Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, and Mayor Morse as well as Easthampton Mayor Michael Tautznik were regular attendees at our games.
Our staff deserves an enormous amount of credit for helping make the in-game experience possible. Our office manager Lauren DeLisi led a dedicated staff of interns who ran our top-notch concessions, merchandise, and ticket stands: Christopher Weyant, Reiko Akimoto, Nathan Tadeo, Landon York, Meghan Accorsi, Jacob Polin, Sarah Lenau, Shane Wilmoth, Alex Serrazina, Jordan Collins, Andrew Ellsworth, and Andrew LaValley all did an unbelievable job.
In our press box, Wesley LaValley worked with Adrian Meck to score the games, Ron Lindner made our video webcasts possible with the help of Patrick Ramsey, Michael Lord and Seth Dussault provided play-by-play and public address brilliance behind the microphones, and Seth also assisted media relations director Joshua Koch to keep our Facebook, Twitter, and website updated daily.
We cannot forget our fantastic young anthem singer, Brittany Bousquet, and her father Bill Bousquet, who provided audio equipment for us to use throughout the season.
Our coaches - Darryl Morhardt, Peter Fatse, and Jim Woods - put an incredible amount of time and effort into building the Blue Sox into a playoff team. We have been graced with three of the best in all of collegiate summer ball, are proud of all they helped the team accomplish, and cannot wait to see them take next season's team all the way to a championship.
A special thank you has to go to our host families. These wonderful people take our players into their homes and treat them like their own children, providing them with a place to stay for over two months while they played for the Blue Sox. They deserve enormous praise for their time and effort, and our players and staff are all grateful for their kindness and charity. Additionally, our host family coordinator, Jackie LeHoullier, helped to make their contributions possible.
Another group that worked behind the scenes were the members of the Holyoke Parks and Recreation Department. The weather this summer was unusually wet, but thanks to all of their dedication and effort, we always had a field that was not only playable, but in very good condition.
Finally, our biggest and most important thank you goes out to you, our fans. Everything we do is for you, the best fans in the NECBL. Our players and staff were excited to come to the park for every game and to put in the effort they did because they knew it would be appreciated and enjoyed by our tremendous supporters.
We look forward to seeing you next season, our seventh in Holyoke, and we hope that, just as we have, you keep your eye on the dream!
Sincerely,
Clark Eckhoff,
Blue Sox Team President and Owner
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from September 6, 2013
- A message from owner Clark Eckhoff - Valley Blue Sox
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
