Manager Notes - April 2, 2026

1. Hot Stove Scheduling Meeting on April 11th (8U Long, 8U Acklin, 13U Apostos)

    * Please complete your scheduling ASAP after this meeting as dates are a hot commodity for a lot of different organizations in the city so let's be fair to all those organizations as well. 

     * 8U Managers - Get vocal during the meeting about your field availability (Only Saturdays in May/June/July and Fridays in June).   There will be no options for other fields so you will need to make those schedules work. 

 

2. Goldwood fields

    * Available for 8U on Saturdays (minus June 6) in May/June/July

    * No concession stand this year

 

3. Bohlken fields

     * Used for 14U Stadler (please confirm the dates that do not have teams listed on the calendar are still needed.  If not, please delete so we do not get charged for those). 

     * Used for 13/14U Apostos (split the season with Elmwood & Bohlken).  Please update both ASAP after the Hot Stove meeting

 

4. Elmwood fields

     * Assume those are completed now (if not, please do so as any fields that are held by a team and not used, the Bucs will NOT cover and the team itself will be responsible for those costs). 

     * Any team on Field 1 will be responsible for concessions & scoreboards (tap your team rep for this).   Recommend to have 2 families per shift which will roughly give every family a shift there for the entirety of the season. 

      * Apotsos/Hihn, your April 17 out of conference game/scrimmage is now moved to field 2 so no worries that day on concession duties. 

 

5. Makeup games

     * Open dates are fair game on the calendars but email this thread anytime a date is taken so there are no double bookings.   Re: Bohlken rainouts for 14U, best practice would be to use HS fields for makeup games in June.   

     * Practices move to JV fields for Sundays starting in June.  Sundays will likely be a popular destination for makeup games starting in June so Elmwood fields will be free for that (outside of 10-1pm on Field 1).   Please be cognizant there are no field crews on Sundays so teams will be responsible for field maintenance and base/mound adjustments on those days (liner will be left in the snack shack area as well for our use). 

 

Questions outside of scheduling

 

1. Umpires

    * Coach Harper will be sending a check prior to the season allocated based on age group.  There were different costs based on each age group (8/9 vs. 10-12 vs 13 & up) and part of that cost structure was the difference in ump fees so that allocated amount will be sent to each manager soon.   Home teams are responsible for paying umps and they are to be paid in cash prior to first pitch. 

    * Todd Miller will be given access to the shared calendars as well (which is even more the reason to make sure they are updated) but another recommendation would be to send him your individual schedules as well.  

    * Managers will be responsible for communicating with Todd Miller on rainouts and reschedules as well.   Any rainout dates that umpires show, the team will be responsible for costs as well. 

 

2. Uniforms

    * TBD

 

3. Baseballs

    *CVBA and OPL balls will be available for pick up from Coach Harper after spring break. An email will be sent when they are ready

    *Hotstove balls will distributed by Dave Acklin

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Manager Meeting

Meeting notes from manager meeting held on Thursday, February 19th.

League Registration

                  -OPL - Bob Spies will register and pay fee for all OPL team. If you are playing in OPL, make sure Bob is aware

                 -CVBA - Your team should already be registered. If not, please register your team ASAP. Reach out to George Hihn if you have questions

                 -Hotstove - Dave Acklin will register and pay for all Hotstove teams. If you are playing in Hotstove, make sure Dave is aware. 
Final Roster submission​

                 -Submit you final roster to rrbucsbaseball@gmail.com ASAP

                 -When submitting roster, indicate who are your Jersey sponsors (please collect a black and white vector/eps file or high res jpeg with the sponsor logos, these are needed to print on the sleeve of the jersey)

Required Tournaments and options

                 - 2 tournaments are required for each team...

                 -2026 Strongsville/Cleveland (Airport) Memorial Day Weekend Tournament - May 23-25, your team should already be registered for this.

                   -2026 Bay Village Independence Day Classic - July 2-5, the Bucs program will register all Bucs team for this tournament

                  -Bucs will cover a third tournament for each team. Managers are responsible for register and paying (will be reimbursed) the this tournament. 8U-12U will get roughly $500, 13U-14U will get roughly $750 for the third tournament. 

Winter Workouts/Sunday Sessions

                 - Each team has a time slot for Minor League Training Center pre-season workouts

                 - High School Sunday Session will tentatively be held on March 1, 8th, 15th, 22nd

                                         -7U/8U/9U - noon - 1PM

                                         -10U/11U - 1PM - 2PM

                                         -12U/13U - 2PM - 3PM

                                         -14U - 4PM - 5PM

                                         -All dates and times tentative, once final Bucs will communicate

                                         -Bucs players do not need to register for this, it is included in Bucs Fees. If a player on your team did register through HomeTown, please let Coach Harper know so we can reimburse them

                                         -Managers are welcome to attend - use as a learning/coaches clinic

Finances

                 - Each team will soon get their budget, including money from the Snap fundraiser

Field Scheduling

                 - All teams playing on Elmwood have been assigned 12 home game dates

                 - 8U and 9U team will play at Goldwood Fields. They will have access anytime after 2PM on Saturdays

                 - 14U will not have access to the JV field until June 1, if they want home games prior, managers will need to look into fields at Bohlken and Maplewood Fields.

                 - PRACTICES - Bucs will build out a schedule for each team to have designated time to practice during the season on Sunday's at Elmwood and the JV field

Umpires

                 - We will use Todd Miller (440-371-4222) at Lake Erie Umpire Association to secure umpires. Once you know your schedule, email Coach Harper and he will send all Bucs schedules to Todd. Bucs will provide each manager a check for the entire season for umpires. Managers will use this money to pay umpires (in cash) prior to games.

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League Registration

There are three league options to select from within the Bucs program; Lorain County Hotstove, Cuyahoga Valley Baseball Association (CVBA) and Ohio Prospects League (OPL). As a manager, you will determine what league and division within the league makes sense based on level of play.  In general, Hotstove is great for our entry level teams (7U/8U) as they offer Coach Pitch at this age.  CVBA is great for mid to high level caliber teams. OPL is reserved for the highest level of competition. If you have any questions on what league makes sense, please reach out to our email or anyone on the board. 

 

As a coach it is your responsibility to register your team with your selected league. Registration usually opens in December and runs through February. Most leagues have an incentive to register in December, please register as early as you can. When registering you will make the payment for the league fee and will be reimbursed later from the Bucs. ​​

(our future goal is for the Bucs program to register and pay for all teams with league selected)

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CVBA:

Register HERE. It only takes a few minutes to register. The registration fee is $300 if paid by 12/31 and $350 after. New teams to CVBA will also have to pay $150 for a forfeit/non completion fee. For reimbursement from the Bucs, fill out an expense request form and send to rrbucsbaseball@gmail.com.

 

After you register, you will need to submit your team's roster to CVBARoster@gmail.com. Include team name and age in subject line.

 

OPL/Puritas League:

Any teams playing in OPL this season, should notify Bob Spies and he will get all Bucs teams registered and paid.

 

HOTSTOVE:

Each year a community rep will be identified and represent the Bucs program. The community rep will attend monthly Hotstove meetings and report back needed information to the Bucs and managers. They will also collect team information and register all Bucs teams playing Hotstove. Dave Acklin will be our 2026 Hotstove Community rep. Once Hotstove provides details for the 2026 season, Dave will communicate to managers appropriately. As a manager if you have selected Hotstove as your 2026 league, please send an email to Dave and the Bucs program. For more information on Hotstove, visit HERE.
 

 

Tournament Registration

As part of your Bucs fees, we will cover the cost of 3 tournaments (up to $2,250 total - includes umpires). We would like all Bucs teams to register for the following two tournaments... if these two tournaments do not work for your team, please email the Bucs.
 

2026 Strongsville/Cleveland (Airport) Memorial Day Weekend Tournament - May 23-25

$395 (includes balls, does not include umpires, total with ump ~$650... $70 a game for umpires)

Registration information HERE. 
(note, the Bucs may have registered your team already. If you were already registered, you would have gotten an email, you can also check teams that were registered on the TEAMS section of the registration page)

2026 Bay Village Independence Day Classic - July 1-5

$400 (includes balls, does not include umpires, total with ump ~$650)

Tournament Information HERE. Registration information HERE.

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Additional Tournament Options...

May 15-17 - Wayne Lindeman Tournament (Brunswick) -

$500 (includes umpires and balls) 

Registration information HERE.​

June 13-15 - Streetsboro Community Classic (Streetsboro) -

$495 (includes umpires and balls)

Registration information HERE.

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2026 Classic Tournaments, information HERE.

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For reimbursement, fill out an expense request form and send to rrbucsbaseball@gmail.com.

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Off-Season Training

As part of your Bucs fees, you will get indoor practice time at the Minor League Training Center in Rocky River. These training slots will run from Monday February 23, 2026 through Saturday April 4, 2026 for a total of six weeks. Each team will get 1-hour per week with four cages. Communication will be sent to managers to select a day and time for your team to practice. Each team now has selected their time slot!

 

The Rocky River High School Baseball program will also host indoor practices starting in March. These usually take place on Sundays, each age/team will have a designated hour time slot. Details will be communicated once solidified.  Your players DO NOT NEED TO REGISTER FOR THIS, THESE WORKOUTS ARE A PART OF BUCS FEES.

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Team Insurance

Bucs have registered each team for insurance through Five Tool LLC. As the head coach, you should have received an email from Five Tool Youth with your order number, receipt and download of prrof of insurance. You'll use this email and account to make an edits. If you are a new manager, you will need to create an account through Five Tool to view.