Congratulations to the following people who help our kids smile:
 

Volunteer of the Year Award – Dave Iezzi
As many of you know Dave Iezzi since he’s been a part of our league for over 13 years serving in many capacities in baseball and softball. When someone needs an answer they go to Dave Iezzi. Since starting the first WSLL team in 2001, Dave has grown the program to include girls from all over West Chester and surrounding areas, totaling over 120. Since Dave’s children are growing older, he has focused his time on helping the District and our softball initiatives for all of Chester County. Dave is known from Oxford, to Exton, Avon Grove to East Side, everyone knows Dave. There are a lot of children that Dave has touched over the many years here at West Side, and this award is well deserving to a person who gives so much to the kids. Thanks Dave for all of your years of support!
 

Mom of the Year Award – Meg Caufield
Meg has been involved with the league since her oldest Eddie 13, Thomas, 10, and Casey, 8 started playing tee ball. With her husband coaching you can imagine a typical Saturday running from field to field like many of the mom’s in our league! With a three kid schedule…Meg still finds the time to go above and beyond to help all WSLL kids out. She was responsible for the snack bar this year at Waltz Field. For those who haven’t experience the atmosphere at Waltz yet, it’s a real treat for the kids between the ages of 10-12. Meg found the time to open the snack bar, stock it, close it, and make the experience better for all of us. Many mom’s help out but we could always use some more help there for sure. Somehow, Meg would find out we needed pretzels and she’d come rolling in with a bag to sell to the kids. There’s nothing like a hot dog and those awesome French fries on a nice day while playing baseball. Thanks Meg for your help this year!
 

Umpire of the Year – Phil Makowski
Phil has also been a long time volunteer here at WSLL including his current role as Treasurer. With his older kids growing out of the program over the next couple of years, we are lucky to have Phil for a few more years with his youngest in the machine pitch level! Phil loves to umpire…and the best part he does it for free. Opening Day rolls around every year and we can count on Phil to be there in full gear as we hear his words in April…”Play BALL!” Phil always gives back to the kids…and was rewarded this year with this award as well as his Temple Owls headed to their first bowl game in a long time. Congrats to you Phil and go Temple!
 

Volunteer of the Year Award – Dave Mikelson
Dave M. is the man. Pretty simple, as Dave helps everyone out here in the league from being the field manager at Waltz, to coaching baseball and softball for his son and daughter. Dave is very handy, and when it comes to maintaining a softball or baseball field there’s not much better than Dave M. He is always at field day, spring or fall lending his time and support. He shows up at 6:00 am to drag a field before many of us even rise for the day. I am sure Dave would give some of his field maintenance credit to Chris Sweeney who has taught a lot of us over the years. Now, Dave enjoys showing many of us how to get rid of a puddle properly on the field, or filling in a hole on the pitcher’s mound after every game his son or daughter pitches. West Side is well respected across the district because of you Dave. Thank you!

Sportsmanship of the Year Award – Eddie Caufield
This is one of the awards that keeps makes me smile and why I am a part of this great organization. Eddie Caufield has a love for baseball we all like to be a part of. He started playing tee ball over 8 years ago. Do this day, Eddie has NOT MISSED one spring, fall, or winter ball session here at West Side. At the age of 13, Eddie has experienced the highs and lows of winning and losing like most of us have. This past year he really rode that roller coaster, starting off the year 0-8, Eddie and his team rolled off a winning streak that rocketed them into the Championship game, and Eddie scoring the winning run for his team. Eddie brings out the sportsmanship in all the kids here at WSLL without the help from the coaches or parents. There are many stories where players such as Nigel Satenstein, and Ryan Angle slowing down the game on their own, just to let Eddie try and get a hit or wait patiently at 3rd base so that Eddie could slide in safely. His smile is contagious and his heart beats with every experience he has on the diamond. Congrats to you Eddie, you are a blessing to all of us as we all enjoy your smile and will all help you with your challenges of Asperger’s Autism.

Thanks, Dave
David Harvey
WSLL, President