St. Louis Park Baseball

2019 Derrick Keller Memorial Slugfest

Dates:  We will host the following tournaments this upcoming season:

• May 17-19, 2019: 13A and 14/15A.
• June 7-9, 2019:  13AAA, 14AAA, 15AAA.

Cost:  The entry fee for each participating team is $395.  

State Tournament Bids:  At this point, we have received bids for MBT State Tournament bids for all the above tournaments.  We have applied for Gopher State Tournament bids which will be announced in january 2019.

Location:  St. Louis Park is centrally located in the Twin Cities, we have great fields, a great city, and a great group of volunteers. 

Bat Standards:  Please note that St Louis Park Traveling Baseball and MBL/MBT adhere to the following bat standards: 

• All bats used in the Slugfest tournament must comply with the rules below and have the new USA stamp or -3 BBCOR / Wood Bat stamp.
•  9-13U: Bats must be 2 1/4" with unlimited weight differential or bats 2 5/8" and have a -11 differential or less (i.e. 31” – 20.0 oz.)
• 14-U and 14/15A: Bats must be 2 5/8" with a -5 or less differential or a -3 BBCOR bat.
• 15-U: Bats must be 2 5/8” with a -3 or less differential and must be a BBCOR or wood bat. 

You can find the approved bat list from USA Baseball at https://usabat.com

Registration is now open for the 2019 Derrick Keller Memorial Slugfest tournament.  Please use the link below to register online.

Our 2019 pre-season development will focus on building community and sportsmanship, ensuring each player is in throwing and baseball shape at the start of the season, and improving mechanics, situational awareness and confidence in all positions and major elements of the game. We will accomplish this by offering 4 core programs.

1. Return to Throwing / Pitching
2. Hitting and Base Running
3. Team Based Practices
4. Fielding and Catcher

Please review the details below and click here sign up your player for the sessions that work for their schedule. It is important to note that there are limited spots per session and we will require a minimum number of participants to hold a session. Therefore, do not sign up for a session if your player is not intending to participate.

St. Louis Park High School Baseball coaching staff will be participating in and leading these workouts.   Danny Bissonnette (Varsity Assistant) will be leading the hitting portion of the workouts and Greg Meyer (Freshmen coach) will be leading the fielding and pitching portions of the workouts.  Other members of the High School staff and 2019 traveling coaches will be assisting.   

If a player maximizes his participation, he will receive a total of 24 hours of off-season development.

Return to Throwing / Pitching program – Saturdays

The objective of this program is to improve throwing and pitching while ensuring each player is ready to pitch and throw at the start of the season. This program is intended for all players including those who are not focused on pitching.

The focus of the program is to:

• Build strength and conditioning
• Teach proper warm up and arm care
• Improve mechanics, velocity, and control
• Improve situation play – what pitch to throw, pick offs, pitch outs, etc.

The program will be held on six Saturdays, for one hour, from February 2nd to March 30th at the St Louis Park High School Field House (except 2/16 which is at the Middle School). There will be 3 sessions offered each Saturday with a maximum number of 12 players per time slot. A minimum of 6 players will be required to hold the session.

• Session 1: 1 pm to 2 pm
• Session 2: 2 pm to 3 pm
• Session 3: 3 pm to 4 pm

Typical Session format

• Warm up, arm care and conditioning
• Throwing progression
• Bullpen session with mechanics
• Situational pitching and play
• Mini competitions to keep it fun and build confidence

Hitting – Saturday afternoon

Come for the pitching program and stay for some hitting. The program will be held on five Saturdays, for one hour, from February 2nd to March 30th at the St Louis Park High School Field House. There will be 3 sessions offered each Saturday with a maximum number of 12 players per time slot. A minimum of 6 players will be required to hold the session.

• Session 1: 1 pm to 2 pm
• Session 2: 2 pm to 3 pm
• Session 3: 3 pm to 4 pm

Hitting and Fielding – Sunday mornings / afternoon

The program will be held on 12 Sundays from January 6th to March 31st at the High School Field House. There will be 2 sessions offered each Sunday and each session will offer a hitting / base running group and a fielding group. Players may sign up for both groups on a Sunday. For example they could participate in hitting at 11 am and then fielding at 12 pm. There will be a max of 30 players per time group and a minimum of 10 players will be required to hold a group. 

• Session 1: 11 am to 12 pm
  • Hitting / Base Running group – Back side of Field house
  • Fielding group – Front side of Field House
• Session 2: 12 pm to 1 pm
  • Hitting / Base Running group – Back side of Field house
  • Fielding group – Front side of Field House

The objective of this program is to improve fielding and hitting by focusing on mechanics, situational awareness, and building confidence. Fielding will focus on infield and outfield with special drills for corners, middle infield, catchers, and first base.

Typical Hitting and Base Running Session format

• Warm up and conditioning
• Hitting with a focus on mechanics - tee work and live hitting
• Situational hitting and base running
• Mini competitions to keep it fun and build confidence

Typical Fielding Session format

• Warm up and conditioning
• Fielding and catcher drills with mechanics
• Situational play
• Mini competitions to keep it fun and build confidence

We have also secured additional gym time in March and April for team based practices and additional programs if we are unable to be outside. More information will be communicated as we get closer to these dates. 

Congratulations to all players and head coaches. We will be working with the head coaches to finalize assistant coaches in the next few weeks.