Some odds and ends before I head to the beach for vacation and then out to the West Coast for a wedding.

1. I will not be very reachable over the next month due to trips for family vacations and weddings.

2. The PA Baseball & Softball Coaches Clinic will host its inaugural charity golf outing on SATURDAY, JULY 17^TH, at the Apollo Elks Country Club (12:00 start).  Have a great time at this event and benefit local high school baseball and softball. You can get registrtion information at www.pacoachesclinic.com

3. Some recent college decisions -- Scott Dierdorf (Hopewell) and Tyler Amrhein (Montour) to Penn State - Great Allegheny. Anthony Girdano (Bethel Park) to LaRoche. Rob Nahay (Thomas Jefferson) to Salem International. Matt Warhola (Thomas Jefferson) to Clarion.

4. A couple of players signed non-MLB professional contracts -- Mike Jackson (Moon and PSU Greater Allegheny) signed with the Florence Freedom of the Frontier League and Pat Trettel (North Allegheny and Seton Hill) signed with the Lincoln Salt Dogs of the American Association.

5.  USA Baseball is holding a "National Team Identification Series" Tryout on August 3 and 4 at the Youthtowne Sports Complex in Clinton PA for players in the 13U, 15U and 17U age groups. Players from the tryout will be invited to attend the second round of tryouts to be held in Cary, NC. Players must have 1993 to 1998 birthdates to participate, with birthdates based on the calendar year. Go to http://www.baseball19.com/USA-Baseball-Team-Tryout.html for more information.

Thanks to the generosity of those attending the event, $281 was collected for the Ty Marburger Baseball Scholarship Fund during the WBCA All-Star Game on June 13. The WPIAL Baseball Coaches Association added another $319 to the amount collected and sent a check in the amount of $600 to the Scholarship Fund. The Fund was established in memory of Ty Marburger, a former baseball star at Blackhawk HS, who played in the 2006 WBCA All-Star Game and attended Northern Iowa on a baseball scholarship. Ty batted a long illness and passed away this spring. By all accounts, he was a wonderful young man. Anyone interested in making a donation can send it to the Ty Marburger Baseball Scholarship Fund, ESB Bank, 800 Third Avenue, New Brighton, PA 15066.