Blue Ridge Spring Dinger Baseball

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Enka, NC
Blue Ridge Spring Dinger Baseball

Annual amateur men's baseball event held in April in Enka, NC for players aged 60 and over. Maybe even feel like a kid again when they drive one over the fence!

We created this event as an opportunity for older players (60+) to shake off the winter rust before starting their summer leagues and potentially re-visit the thrill of hitting home runs. The ballpark is by definition a youth-only facility, however we have been granted this unique opportunity by Bob Lewis Ball Park and some very good friends of "old guy baseball". The infields we use are set up for adult play but the fences are closer which makes HRs a possibility. Teams that want to participate in this event should send us an email requesting an invitation, but be aware that we are limited to the number of teams we can accommodate in each division and receive more inquiries and requests than we can accept. Also, know that this is NOT a competition-driven event - it's a laid back mini-vacation for players and their significant others that includes time off the fields to enjoy the area, the camaraderie on the fields and have a great time playing the game they have loved since they were kids.

10/30/2026

Looking ahead to our 75+ Sandlot Division for 2027- we sent out inquiries to all those who attended last year and a few more names we received since - 81 players were contacted and we have received 42 "yes, I want to play!" responses. Just to remind those on the fence, we will only put a max of 15 players on each team and we have four teams. Last year we had 13 per team and that would be the minimum so we can do a total of 60 players, including the managers if they also play. The math says that of the 39 inquiries still out there, we will be able to register only 18 of you, so you might want to send that in asap. If we fill up those four teams, we would have to get a minimum of 26-28 more players to make 6 teams (the max). Talk to your buddies, share the link with those who might want to play, and get those inquiry submissions in. Final registration forms will go out in January along with invoices for the $225 player fee due in March. Questions? Give us a call! For those who did not receive this link or misplaced it, here it is, but you must turn 75 by the end of 2027.

10/22/2026

Dinger Baseball would like to congratulate two of our long-time team managers on their upcoming enshrinement into the Roy Hobbs Baseball Hall of Fame - Greg Allen of the Carolina Thunder and Wayne Harris of the Huntsville Havoc! Hat's off, gentlemen!

10/20/2026

UPDATE: We now have our last 65+ berth filled. Welcome to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs who are now the 8th team in that division and closes it. We are still looking for two more 60+ Elite teams. If any teams in the RHWS or MSBL tournaments want to battle in a 3A/4A competition, we encourage them to contact us. Currently we have Yonder Travelers, Americans Baseball, West Coast Gamecocks and the Raleigh Braves ready to take you on!

10/12/2026

Happy Fall, Y'All! Many of our BRSD teams are heading to Florida and Arizona over the next several weeks for their respective WS tournaments and we wish all of you the best of luck on the ballfields and hope you all remain injury-free. While you're a part of those events, remember that we still have two openings in our 60+ Elite Division and ONE slot left for 65+; so if you're playing against a team that has never been to the Dinger invite them to call us and participate in our BRSD event in April/May. We always like to see some new faces at check in.

All invoices have gone out to the managers for the deposit due on December first. Please let us know if you did not receive one.

Thanks to all of you players, managers and fans for your support and as we head into the holiday season - our best to you and your families!

08/31/2026

Almost all of the confirmed teams for 2027 have submitted the team registration form, thank you. We now have a single slot open for the 65+ Division and two slots open for our 60+ Elite Division. If you are a manager that wants to bring your team to this popular event in either of these openings, please contact us by phone or email to discuss. 65+ teams play May 3, 4, 5th (M-W) and the Elite squads play April 19, 20, 21 (M-W). Talk to your summer teammates as you finish your seasons and consider playing in Asheville in the spring of 2027 to get warmed up for next summer's play.

08/28/2026

Those of you who participated in our 75+ Division of the Dinger in 2026 might remember that at the end of the event, some of the uniforms, hats and items were donated by many of the players to Jim Tamarack and his efforts in promoting the game of baseball in Africa. This video was sent to me by Tom Faherty and shows the impact of learning to play this "American Game" in Kenya, Africa. If you have a minute to watch, please do so; and if you ever have an opportunity to help out this organization in any way I'm sure it will be appreciated.

08/03/2026

Dates are set for the 2027 Blue Ridge Spring Dinger. 60+ managers have been sent the Team Registration link for their dates and we're in the process of determining the need for a lottery in the other two divisions. All 60+ teams will have 5 game guarantees with a sixth for the Championship game, playoff style.
Dates:
60+ Open American Division - Weds, April 14 - Fri, April 16.
60+ Elite Division - Mon, April 19 - Weds, April 21
60+ Open National Division - Mon, April 26 - Wed, April 28
65+ Division - Mon, May 3 - Weds, May 5
70+ Division - Weds, April 29 - Fri, April 30
75+ Sandlot Style - Mon, May 3 - Fri, May 7 (1 game / day) EMAILS AND DETAILS FOR THE 75+ DIVISION COMING SOON!

One important thing to note: 60+ Open teams may only have 3 players from Elite teams on their rosters.

Any 65+ or 70+ teams who have not indicated their desire to participate already should email us to let us know pronto so we can get you in the lottery, if needs be.

07/30/2026

We have made some important decisions and finalized some details for the 2027 Blue Ridge Spring Dinger. Again, we thank all our teams and managers for their interest and for making this process difficult in a good way - more teams want to play! We were fortunate enough to be able to secure Enka High School's field so that we can expand the number of teams per division and avoid having to turn away so many players. It's minutes from Bob Lewis Ballpark, no highways to take, and is regulation for varsity HS with a grass infield. (Yes, you can wear spikes on that field only) That means we can accommodate 8-team divisions when necessary, and avoid a lottery. We've also listened to the 60+ managers who like a playoff formula and will add a sixth game in all 60+ divisions and the 65+ Division. All teams in those divisions will get a 5 game guarantee but the top two teams will play the championship in the sixth game.

The Elite Division teams remain invitation only and must consider themselves to be 3A quality for the sake of competition. As we DO NOT employ a geographic integrity rule, it's understood that the players in that division can be from anywhere and encourage those manager in seeking out the best players possible. One of the rules that we are instituting for 2027 is that NO MORE than 3 Elite players can be on any 60+ OPEN team roster. Period. We need to keep the Open teams as competitive with each other as possible.

We have received interest forms from 13 teams in the 60+ Open group and are confident that we'll get another, giving us one 6-team (American) Division and one 8-team (National) Division. No lottery will be needed as we will divide them into those groups. So all who sent in the form should look for your confirmation email with your dates and the link to register your team. All other information will be in that email.
The list of 60+ Open teams for 2027:
Carolina Thunder (returning champs), Canton Tigers, Keystone Hawks, Triangle Braves, Carolina Rockies (host team), Minnesota Posse, Dundalk Nationals (returning champs), Nashville Hawks, New Hampshire Hammerheads, Cleveland Buckeyes, Raleigh Braves, Atlanta Baseball Club, and Southeast Top Cats.

In the 60+ Elite Division: Yonder Travelers (returning champs), West Coast Gamecocks, Americans Baseball Club, Motor City Firebirds (formerly Pittsburgh), Raleigh Braves. One more team TBD. Emails will also be sent to you asap.

In our 65+ Division we will have to have a lottery, as 9 teams have signed up. So we will be in contact with those managers to do that asap so plans can be made. One the teams are set we'll send all other info.

In the 70+ Division, we will continue the same format as in the past - traditional 5 game round robin. As 8 teams have sent in forms, we won't have to lottery for this group either and we will use Enka HS for the games. The teams in this division are:
Florida Storm (returning champs), Massachusetts Chiefs, Detroit 70s, Huntsville Havoc, Asheville Sox (host team), Florida Yankees, Cropdusters, and Brewers 70s. Watch for you emails, as well.

Questions can be emailed to us at [email protected] or call us at 234-200-8449. More information will be posted as we have it, along with all division dates. The 75+ Sandlot Division will also be held again and those players will get their notifications in September.

07/10/2026

We've been asked numerous times to try to create another Dinger event for the fall, similar to the Blue Ridge Spring Dinger and we have found a great complex in up-state NY near the Fingerlakes and only a couple hours from Cooperstown. We have sent out inquiries to about 25 teams (65+ and 70+) to see if there is enough interest to plan this for Sept. 2027 but we've only received three emails from teams who would want to participate. We would absolutely need a minimum of 6 teams in each of those divisions, but we could actually do 8-team divisions.
If you might have an interest, please email us at [email protected] and in the meantime, check out "The Lumberyard" in Courtland, NY, also known as Gutches Lumber Sports Complex. It's a 4 field cloverleaf with all-turf fields, convertible to our specifics and lots of amenities that make it ideal for a "Dinger" tournament. Same format as Asheville. Questions? Email or call us. We need to make this decision by October of this year to get it on the complex calendar for 2027, so we need a team count.

07/03/2026

We are incredibly sad to find out that our friend Gary McDonald passed away yesterday morning. Gary managed Bob Lewis Ballpark for the past several years and has been our go-to guy for the Blue Ridge Spring Dinger event. He was kind, helpful and our biggest supporter of what we do there. We will miss Gary and extend our sympathies to his family and friends in the Asheville area. RIP Gary

Address

Enka, NC

Website

http://DingerBaseballEvents.com/

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