December is upon us, spring will be here soon!

I hope you all had a very Happy and healthy Thanksgiving. I also hope you had the chance to spend time with family and friends as you feasted on whatever your favorite food for Thanksgiving dinner was! Now the time is short in the fall semester as the team continues with conditioning, hitting the books for a strong academic finish, and before you know it they will be home for the Holidays!

Spring baseball is just around the corner, the blog should be heating up soon as we get closer to Opening Day 2009 in Florida!

See you soon at the ballpark!!

All the best,

Ed

Baseball Video

There's a short promotional video on the UR site. Go to this link and click on Baseball under the spring sports. http://www.rochester.edu/athletics/video/
Patti Sullivan

Tentative schedule for 2009 and Alumni game this weekend!

The tentative schedule for the spring trip looks like this:

Sat 3/7 and Sun 3/8 - Liberty League DH with Skidmore in Tampa - 4 games; 2 each day
Mon 3/9 - no games scheduled - rain date for Skidmore if necessary
Tues 3/10 - UAA Championships in Sanford 2 games: 11 AM vs. Emory
and 230 PM vs. Case Western Reserve
Wed 3/11- UAA 1 game 600 PM vs. Brandeis
Thurs 3/12 - UAA 1 game 400 PM vs. Emory
Fri 3/13 - UAA 1 game 230 PM vs. Washington University
Sat 3/14- UAA 1 game 1100 AM vs. Brandeis
Sun 3/15 - Back to Rochester

3/21, 22 - SUNY Cobleskill (H)3/21# single game on 3/22
3/24 - SUNY Cortland (A)
3/28, 29 - St. Lawrence (A)*
4/1 - SUNY Brockport (H)
4/4, 5 - Union College (A)*
4/7 - St. John Fisher (H)
4/10, 11 - RPI (H)*
4/14 - RIT (H)
4/15 - Keuka College(A)#
4/18, 19 - Clarkson (H)*
4/21 - Ithaca (H)
4/22 - RIT (A)
4/25, 26 - Vassar College (A)*
4/29 - St. John Fisher (A)
5/8, 9, 10 - Liberty League Tournament TBD

* Liberty League doubleheaders 2 days 4 games - 7 and 9 inning games each day
# Non-League doubleheaders

Single games are usually 9 innings

A challenging 42 game schedule for 2009 - but our boys will be up for the challenge.

Eddie was formally introduced as an assistant coach for 2009 at the team meeting on Monday night. The team is starting winter weight training in preparation for the spring season.

The Alumni game is this weekend ( Saturday @ 10:30 AM ) in conjunction with Meliora weekend. I do plan on attending and hope to see anyone who is in town.

See you at the ballpark!

Ed

Annual Blue / Gold

Has anyone made it out to any of the Blue / Gold games? 

How do we look this year?

Rochester plays at D-1 St. Bonaventure this Saturday

The Rochester boys of summer travel to Olean, NY this Saturday to face D-1 St. Bonaventure on their home turf in the only "game" of the fall season. The game starts at 1 and will be a 9 and 7 inning DH.

Coach emailed me that fall ball is going well with the freshman class looking very good to this point. The newest members of the UR baseball family are showing a lot of depth and pop!! The returning players have shown a significant improvement over the last year and as always, all will come down to pitching!!

I am planning to be in Olean this Saturday and hope to see any of you that make the trip!! Nina may tag along, but that will probably be a game time decision. I am planning on bringing sandwiches for the team in between games.

In case you have not yet heard, it looks like Eddie will be working with the team this spring as a volunteer assistant. He is going to meet with coach when he gets home. It is a great opportunity for him to build his coaching resume. If all goes well, you may have to put up with me for another season. "Say it isn't so, Joe!"

Eddie has had a great experience in Germany, he has had a good season and was named to the all-star team for one of the leagues he played in. He is ready to come home and his first stop will be Nick Tahoe's for a garbage plate!! He is getting back to Rochester on Monday, October 6, after stops in Amsterdam to see Jeff Juron ( Last years UR basketball point guard ) who is playing basketball there and North Carolina to see Devin Shane who is working there, and Jess Sorrentino @ UNC where she is persuing a doctorate in toxicology.


I'll keep you all posted.

See you at the ballpark!

Ed

Summer League (Chanatry / Larioni / Just)

www.syracusemets.org  

Ned and Greg played in a wooden summer bat league.  They played for the Syracuse Mets, website above.   Steve Just played in the same league but not on the same team.  

Hope to see everyone this fall,

Greg Sr.

Germany update

Just got back from Germany yesterday - Eddie is fine and the team played through 3 splits while we were there. We spent a week in Paris and saw all the sights and spent the rest of the time with Eddie.

Unfortunately, the team needed to win one of the splits and now must win all of their last 4 games and get some help to remain in the league. Realistically, it looks like they will move down one division next year.

Nina says hi, as she is still in Germany until the 28th with Michael!

Hope all is well with all of you, keep in touch.

See you at the ballpark,

Ed

Winning Never Gets Old!

The Goose (Steve Guzski) finished summer wood bat ball with the Rome T'bolts of the ECBL two days ago. In an important league game vs the Utica Brewers that had implications for the league title he threw a 5-hit shutout and Rome won 3-0. With a couple of teams left to play a couple of games at that point, today he found out that the T'Bolts won the league. They finished 10-4 in the league, and 18-7 overall. For the season Goose was 3-2 with 22ks in 27.1 innings. Most importantly he played, just like at UR, with a great group of guys that really enjoyed each other.

Our younger son, Bryan, leaves for Ithaca College (easy, he's not playing baseball) on August 24. That will start the "empty nest" departures for our family...Beth and I are alittle nervous about being left alone, but excited for the boys.

Hope all is well with everyone. And in the spirit of "Eddie K" I'd say that there are approx 72 days till the Fall Ball game !!! Hope to see you all there.

Come on people - blog about your summer

I was hoping to see a little more activity over the summer, but I guess we are all busy. The weather here near Rochester has had a great deal of sporadic rain. Driving down 490 from sun into a torrential downpour and back onto dry pavement within 10 miles.

Eddie has finally reconnected with the internet and is available through the following email: ekahovec@gmail.com. also check out Grasshoppers.de, but you will need a translation site like babelfish .com to get any idea about what is going on, unless of course you can read German! He continues to enjoy himself in Germany and soon he will have company, as we will travel across the big pond to visit. Chris will not be able to travel due to his commitments for his internship at Disneyland in California, but everyone else is going. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see my son play in Germany. We leave on the 5th, Andrew and I will return on the 20th, and Nina and Michael will return on the 28th.

Andrew has been playing in a summer league for both baseball and basketball, and is lifting for football. Michael is just enjoying the summer after his rec baseball season ended and before football camp next week.

Nina and Michael travelled to California for 1 1/2 weeks to visit Chris, so by the end of the summer I will classify them as the world travellers of ther summer of 2008!

I hope this finds all of our U of R family enjoying the summer in good health!

Debbie Mc - emailed us on Peter's first professional win!!!! Way to go Pete, we are all so proud of you! You can check out Traverse City Beach Bums on line for more info.

There is much more going on I'm sure - so please share and keep in touch with vacation plans, baseball updates, etc!!!

Beth - I'm looking for Tomato Pie in the fall!!

I got an email a while ago from a father of an incoming freshman, his name is Jeff Caghan and his son is Alex. He is a recruit who visited during the Vassar weekend, and has committed to U of R. His Dad had several questions - the usual stuff - what is Joe Reina like, how is the league, fall ball, spring trip, time commitment, etc. They are very excited to have their son attend U of R. Please welcome them into our family in the fall!! We all remember what it is like to be freshman parents, the time flies by so quickly, I still am adjusting to the thought that Eddie is a college graduate. I also wish that he was going back in the fall!!

Plan on seeing us in the fall at some point, and if anyone is coming into town, please let us know about any get togethers that are planned or that pop up on the spur of the moment. We'd love to see you all!!

Have a healthy, happy, and great summer.

See you at the ballpark!!

Ed

Kahovec records a win and save in DH

Eddie reported that he pitched again, getting the win and save in a doubleheader last weekend. At the dish he was 1 for 2 with 5 HBP's!!! Should have been a brawl???

Everything is going well for him in Germany. The German soccer team won and they were going to drive around for a few hours beeping horns and yelling "I love Germany" in German!! He bought a team soccer jersey and is immersing himself in German culture and apparently fitting in very well with his teammates!

We sent him a care package and this 22 year old was like a 5 year old at Christmas!! They are still kids!! Yeah!!

Nina is flying to California on the 25th with Michael,to visit Christopher. She should be home on July 4th! Clean the house, hide the women and booze!! Just kidding, Ha Ha Ha! Andrew will be home to keep me straight.

I hope you are all having a great summer so far, soon the younger children will be out of school and then the real fun begins.

All the best to everyone,

Ed

Goose Update

Steve Guzski is playing for the Rome (NY) Thunderbolts of the East Coast Baseball League (wood bat) this summer. The team includes players from D1 Lemoyne College, Canisius, Marist, Vermont and UBuffalo...as well as premier D3 programs, none better than the UR of course :)

The T'Bolts opened their season with an exhibition game against the Geneva RedWings of the NYCBL last night in Geneva. Geneva sported a roster of Notre Dame, Holy Cross, UToledo, LynnU, USouthFlorida and UConn players (you get the idea), and the manager is from Stanford...we're they surprised when the T'Bolts handed it to them 7-4. Goose pitched the 8th inning; 3 up and 3 down, including a K of the DH from ND.

I must admit it was neat to hear the "crack" of the wood bat vs the "ping" of the metal stuff. Only one broken bat all night, and 11 total runs...I think the college ranks are missing the boat by allowing metal. Of course that's a pitcher's father speaking.

All the best to the UR players this summer. For those coming back next year, we can't wait...

Ed Kahovec, A pitcher ?????

Fact is truly stranger than fiction! Eddie played in his first 2 games in Germany over the past weekend and pitched 1 inning. He was 2 for 6, but that is all I know. The team is still looking for their first win of the season and are currently in last with an 0-12 record. This is important because the 2 teams that finish last in the league move down the next season. He is getting used to the culture and the town he is living in.

I also heard that the Jackets won again to remain undefeated at 3-0.

The team website is : www.grasshoppers.de

It is in German, so you need to use a translatioin website - like Babel fish.com to translate it into english and make it more readable.

June 2nd Information

Well Andy had about 5 days of rest after he returned home before his summer baseball started. As like last summer, he is in two leagues. The MABL (Mens Adult Baseball League), which by the way is a national organization with teams all over the country. The starting age is 18 with teams have age levels of 30, 40, 50, and 60 years of age. The league Andy is in has 10 teams and is made-up of ex-high school and college players. The second more competitive league he is in has 16 teams made-up mostly of ex-college and ex-minor league pro players. There are some ex-high school players as well. On average Andy plays from 3-5 games per week. The way Andy is talking, it looks like he will be playing baseball next summer in New York!!!! Where is yet to be determined. The last bird is getting ready to fly, just a few more worms!!! :)

This past Friday, we had Pat Locke over for dinner! He is doing an internship this summer in the Chicago area. We live approximately half way between where Pat is working and where he is living. Unfortunately for Pat, his daily commute by bus and train will be about 1-1/2 hours, one way!!! God lov'um. Pat will play some games with Andy's team when his schedule permits.

In addition to this, a certain "PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PLAYER" is coming to Chicago this weekend to play. None other than the University of Rochester's Pete McEneaney!! Andy, Pat and I are planning on going to the games that start this Friday night, June 6th. I don't know if Andy or Pat have contacted him yet, I hope not, I thought it would be a good surprise if we just showed up. And don't feel to sad about Pete's long bus ride trip, have you seen the ball park he plays at in Traverse City? Not to shabby!!

Well this should hopefully get us started with a follow-up to Ed's summer blog updates. Lets keep it going.

Rich

Ed Kahovec arrives safely in Germany

Eddie left on Thursday for Germany and arrived safely on Friday morning. He was exhausted from the trip and last minute preparations. He practices with the team on Friday and plays his first games on Saturday. The website "loosely translated" said that the coach was looking forward to his arrival to jump start the offense and solidify the defense. I hope he plays well this weekend and gets started on the right foot over there. It is definitely weird to think of him playing and us not being able to watch in person. Now I can more easily relate to the Fuke, Cannon and other long distance families! I can't even call myself for game updates, what a bummer!

There were a couple of nice articles about Eddie playing in Germany in the local papers, but I was driving to work today and listening to ESPN Radio - the Mike and Mike show, when a local sportscaster came on during a break to give the local sports hilites - and he mentioned that recent UR grad Ed Kahovec was going to be playing professionally in Germany. On my car radio!!! It was so awesome!! I actually got an email from an old co-worker who heard it also and he sent along congratulations - then I knew that I didn't imagine it!! It was a pretty special moment for one proud Dad.

Eddie did play with the Jackets team on Wednesday night - maybe he should have been packing???? They came back to win in the bottom of the 7th inning?? I don't remember if it went extra innings or not - but you get the idea.

Please keep us posted on all of the boys summer leagues.

We gave Eddie a surprise going away party on Tuesday night - it was fun, but very last minute. Several players, coaches, parents, etc showed up in addition to the usual cast of characters from Victor.

I found out that Coach Pfohl doesn't plan on returning as he is looking for a position as a Graduate assistant, getting his masters and coaching, and Blair Veenema will be pitching this summer in Ohio.

Pete is doing well, but had to endure a bus breakdown and 14 hour trip to a game the next day. They left from the previous night's game and went right to the next day's ballpark. No hotel until after the game, such is life on baseball's backroads!

Andy Cannon recognized for his Academic Prowess

Andy Cannon has been recognized by ESPN the magazine for its Academic All-District Team for Baseball. He carries a 3.67 cumulative GPA, in addition to his great baseball playing. Division 3 is the combination of Academics and Athletics, but at a school like U of R, the Academic load is much more rigorous than at most other D3 schools. For our boys to put in the time necessary to play well and to maintain their grades is quite a feat that will serve them well in the future!

I know that the Liberty League All Academic team has been posted, but they deserve to be recognized again here on the blog:

Andy Cannon
Steve Guzski
Dave Kloc
Pat Locke
Pete McEneaney
Chris Olsen
Nate Stein
Blair Veenema

Congratulations on your Academic achievements!

Jackets open season with a win over Sleep City

The Jackets ABC team opened defense of their title with a win over Sleep City, who they beat for the Championship last year.

The positions were interesting - Blayne at 3B, Nate at Short, Dan Pfohl at 2B, and Jay Jay at first. Tyler Reed was in left, Liberty League player Dan Ludwig from St. Lawrence was in center. Mike Zollweg - UR Alumus was in right and another UR Alumnus Steve Foley was on the mound. Eddie was the DH and Justin Long coached first base for several innings. Gabe Chodak made a relief appearance to close out the win for the Jackets!

Coach Coble was in attendance along with several of the parents.

On another note, Pete McEneaney made his professional debut the other night for the Traverse City Beach Bums and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, including a strikeout for the final out. Way to go Pete, congratulations!!!

Eddie leaves for Germany on Thursday, we will miss him, but are planning a trip in August!

Please pass along all your summer league news, so we can all keep up with what the boys are doing.

2008 ABCA/RAWLINGS ALL REGION TEAM

UR placed 5 players on the all region teams.

1st team - Peter McEneaney - Pitcher

2nd team - Jay Jay Vanderstyne - 2B

3rd team - Dan Brien - 1B
Ed Kahovec - SS
Matt Francis - OF

Congratulations to all the players on a great season!

Graduation tomorrow - RPI advances

Tomorrow morning is graduation at the U of R. Mixed emotions for sure, and I'm sure that tomorrow will be an emotional day. We are having a family cookout after the ceremonies - More uses for the new grill!!!

I am still following the NCAA regionals - RPI advanced out of the losers bracket today and faces Cortland this afternoon. If Cortland wins, they advance to the D3 World Series. If RPI wins they play again tomorrow and the winner advances to the D3 World Series.

I hope you all enjoy the summer and I'll keep posting throughout the summer and keep everyone updated on the Kahovec family and anyone else that I hear about!!

I do know that Pete made the team in Traverse City, you can follow him on their team's website - google the Traverse City Beach Bums - I love that name!!

Eddie's team in Germany is the Ehrbach Grasshoppers - check out grasshoppers.de - but you will need a translation engine or program, unless of course you can read German!

Take care and we'll blog soon!

Ed

No bid for UR

Well now it is official - the season is over, as the Rochester baseball team did not receive an at large bid for the NCAA regionals.

RPI wins Liberty League Tournament

As expected RPI beat St. Lawrence 13-4 this morning to win the tournament and secure the automatic bid to the NCAA regionals. Now, we sit and wait for a slim chance at an at large bid. Most people think that had we gotten to Sunday, we would have had a decent shot at an at large bid. Hopefully, a minor miracle happens as I believe that this team deserves a chance to show what it can do. Now the question is did we do enough to earn that chance???

Or do some of the losses we endured ( Ithaca, Case Western, Medaille, St. John Fisher, etc. ) doom our chances???

Only the selection committee can make those decisions.

UR splits in the Liberty League tournament

The team started out strong in defeating Clarkson behind Peter McEneaney's 9 inning complete game shutout 3-0. They faced RPI in the 2nd game, and came up short, despite a good performance from Michael Park on the mound, 5-3. They had plenty of opportunities to blow open the game, but just could not get it done! Now they will have to do it the hard way. They will face the winner of the Clarkson / St. Lawrence morning game in the 2nd game of the day on Saturday. If they can win that game - they advance to face RPI in the championship round on Sunday and will have to win 2 to take home the conference tournament title and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament that goes with it.

If they can not do this, they hope for a NCAA at large pool c bid, few of them available and they are hard to come by, as these are for all the country's DIII teams, not in the tournament thru automatic bids by winning conference tournaments, or not pool B - for conferences that do not have an auto bid by winning the conference tournament.

3 games to go - hopefully they can play well enough to get to a 2nd game SUNDAY vs. RPI!

Julie and Jay Vanderstyne host dinner

Many of the boys attended a pre-tournament dinner tonight at the Vanderstyne's. Unfortunately, not everyone could attend due to studying for finals or finishing projects, etc.

I am cautiously optimistic for tomorrow and this weekend. I am also nervous with anticipation, I hope all of the boys play great and leave everything they have on the field this weekend. It will take a total team effort to win this tournament. I am not ready for this season to end. I am not ready for Eddie's collegiate baseball career to be over. I am really not ready for him to go to Germany and for his brother Christopher to go to California.

I don't think that my not being ready, has anything to do with any of this, but it is just a small wish, or hope that the boys have at least 1 more great weekend in them. I know many parents are in town this weekend, I look forward to sharing this weekend with all of you. For those of you who can not be here in person, I know you will be here in spirit and rooting just as hard as those of us @ UR!

Thank you all for making this year so enjoyable for me and my family. The memories we have of the past 4 years will last forever, but this senior year has been really special because we were able to spend it with all of you! To the senior parents - it has been a great ride and I'm glad we were able to share it together. To the junior parents - enjoy this! Enjoy next year even more because despite the old baseball saying "There's always next year", there is not a next year when your son is a senior. To the sophmore parents - it has also been great getting to know you over the past 2 years, your time is also short - can you believe that your sons are 1/2 way through college?? To the freshman parents - you and your sons are the future of this program, and based on what I have observed, the future is bright! These 4 years pass by so quickly, grab every moment and hold on to it tightly, as these are the days you will remember when you tell your grandchildren about your sons college experiences as an athlete at one of the best schools in the country.

Coach Reina - "You are the best!" I could not have asked for a better situation both academically and athletically for my son.

Coaches Coble, Lanning, and Pfohl thank you for your efforts. The award for Liberty League coaching staff of the year was well deserved, but does not adequately recognize you for the roles you have played in our sons lives.

A special thank you to Coach Fulkerson - for the time you spent with Eddie in his freshman and sophmore years in helping him to reach his potential.

Parents - Thank you all for your support of the team and for helping me to do some of the things we were able to do - The sweatshirts, t-shirts, lunches, cookouts, etc. Your participation and generosity showed that the team spirit was evident with the great group of parents we have had this year!

I'm sorry to be so sappy or mushy, but I really, really, REALLY, don't want this to end!!

I love you all.....

Liberty League All-Conference and All-Academic Awards

With much deserved fanfare, here are the 2008 Yellowjackets Liberty League Conference Award winners.......


2008 Liberty League "Player of The Year" - Jay Jay Vanderstyne

2008 Liberty League "Coaching Staff of The Year" - Joe Reina - Assisted by Andrew Coble, Joe Lanning, Dan Pfohl

2008 Liberty League First Team - 2B Jay Jay Vanderstyne, 3B Blayne Fuke, C Ryan Sullivan, P Pete McEneaney, DH Nate Stein

2008 Liberty League Second Team - SS Ed Kahovec, OF Andy Cannon, OF Matt Francis, P Blair Veenema

2008 Liberty League Honorable Mention - 1B Dan Brien

2008 Liberty League All-Academic Team - Andy Cannon, Steve Guzski, Dave Kloc, Patrick Locke, Pete McEneaney, Chris Olsen, Nate Stein, Blair Veenema


CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!!!!

Liberty League field set

The teams are set for this coming weekends Liberty League Tournament:

1. Rochester
2. RPI
3. St. Lawrence
4. Clarkson

Skidmore tied with Clarkson, but is out due to UR sweeping them, and Clarkson splitting with UR.

The tournament is double elimination.

RPI meets St. Lawrence @ 9:30 AM
UR meets Clarkson @ 12:30 PM
The 2 winners meet at 3:30 PM

Saturday - the 2 losers from the first 2 games on Friday play @ 10:00 AM;
the winner of that game, plays the loser of the third game from Friday @ 1:00 PM

The winner of that game, meets the winner from the 3rd game on Friday, on Sunday for the Championship, with the champion getting an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament

It should be a great weekend!

St. John Fisher series

Last year, UR played St. John Fisher 5 times during the last week of the regular season. Fisher won 4 out of 5 and ended up with a bid to the NCAA regionals. Many think that if UR would have at least split with Fisher 3-2, based on beating Emory in Florida, UR would have gotten a bid last year.

These cross-town rivals have more than just bragging rights at stake again this year!

On senior day @ UR, Fisher jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings. UR scored single runs in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings, but Fisher added runs in the top of the 5th and 9th to seal the 6-3 victory and give Pete McEneaney his first loss of the season. Steve Guzski did a nice job in relief of Pete, and Chris Olsen finished up. the offense could not string together enough hits to overcome the early Fisher lead.

Two days later the same 2 teams met @ Fisher on their senior day. UR jumped out to a 5-0 lead, batting around with 4 hits and 5 runs, the big blow a 2 RBI double by Matt Francis, after one inning.

Dave Kloc doubled in the top of the 4th and scored on Blayne Fuke's RBI single to make it 6-0. Fisher came storming back with 7 runs on 4 hits and were assisted by 2 UR errors, to take the lead 7-6 after 4 innings. Ur scored a run in the top of the 5th to tie it at 7. Fisher scored 2 in the bottom of the 6th to take the lead for good and close out the scoring with a 9-7 victory.

I hope that these 2 losses do not come back to haunt us as far as the NCAA is concerned.

The best way to insure that would be to win the conference tournament, and get the automatic bid, instead of hoping for an at large bid. All 4 teams in the Liberty League tournament will be thinking the same thought. It should be a dogfight to the end.

RPI weekend

The RPI weekend is always a big deal. They are an important rival in the Liberty League, NCAA regional implications were hanging on this weekend, and they are the team that you love to hate, kinda like Boston vs. New York, right Paul?

Coach Reina made a tactical move to start Steve Guzski in game one vs. Joe Zongol, RPI's ace.

Dan Brien had a 3 run homer in the 1st inning to give Rochester a short lived lead, as RPI answered with 8 runs over the next 4 innings to lead 8-3 after 5 innings. UR tacked on 2 runs in the top of the 6th on a 2 RBI single with the bases loaded by Jay Jay Vanderstyne, to close to 8-5. RPI answered with 2 runs of their own on a 2 run homer in the bottom of the 6th to make the final 10-5.

In game # 2, Peter McEneaney pitched a complete game, 9 inning shutout!!!! It was a masterful performance, especially in light of the fact that the RPI coach did everything he could to slow down the pace of the game and disrupt each at bat. Pete just ignored it all and did a fantastic job!

UR scored 1 run in the 3rd inning on a RBI single by Ed Kahovec, and scored the 2nd run in the 6th on a hit by Dan Brien and 2 errors by RPI. That was all that Pete needed.

Once again, the parents hosted a hot dog cookout, with even more food than the Clarkson cookout!! Thanks again to all, as we could not have done this without all of your help and participation.

We were cautiously optomistic with the split, and many were hoping for a split on Sunday, though that was not to be the case.

In game one on Sunday, UR managed just 4 hits and 2 runs, but that was more than enough for Michael Park, who followed Pete's great performance on Saturday, with one of his own on Sunday!! Another complete game shutout, another 2-0 win for UR!

Ed Kahovec homered to left in the first inning to give UR a 1-0 lead, and Matt Francis singled with 2 outs, to score Dave Kloc, who had doubled and advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch.

Michael Park did the rest. I thought that Clarkson was his best performance ever at UR, but I was wrong. This was so much better, and much more important. What a great job!

Now it was time for the last game. We were hoping for a split on Sunday after Saturday's split, but now a win in the last game would make us 3-1 on the weekend, give us 1st place in the regular season Liberty League, which meant that we would host the Liberty League tournament, and go a long way with NCAA regional rankings.

To say that this game was important, well that would be understating the obvious. It was important for both teams!!

Blair Veenema was not to be outdone by his fellow pitchers. He went 7.2 innings with no walks and 11 strikeouts!

UR scored 2 in the first on RBI singles by Vanderstyne and Stein, and 6 in the 3rd with an RBI single by Fuke and a 3 RBI double by Cannon, assisted by 3 RPI errors in the inning,to take a 8-0 lead. RPI scored once in the top of the 4th, but UR got that one back and added another on RBI's by Cannon and Francis, to lead 10-1 after 4 innings. RPI added 2 runs in the top of the 5th and UR got one back in the bottom half on an RBI triple by Stein, and added another in the bottom of the 6th on a Vanderstyne RBI single, scoring Fuke, who had doubled, to take a 12-3 lead. RPI closed out the scoring in the top of the 8th with 2 runs making the final score 12-5. Ned Chanatry closed out the game in fine fashion with no hits and no runs in 1.1 innings of work!

It was a great weekend for UR baseball!!

Great pitching performances with timely hitting and good defense, got the job done!

Still catching up!

Next up was the weekend @ Clarkson. The team started off well with a 7-1 victory in the first game behind a very well pitched game by Michael Park. Possibly his best performance at Rochester to date! The first 3 innings were scoreless and UR scored a run in the top of the 4th on a Dan Brien RBI single. In the top of the 5th, UR scored 6 runs to put the game away. The big blows were a 2 run homer by Kahovec and an RBI double by Sullivan, to go along with 4 singles in the inning. Michael Park has 11 strikeouts in the game!

In game 2, Pete McEneaney earned his 5th win with a lot of help from the offense that scored 14 runs on 20 hits. He cruised through 7 innings and left with a score of 14-1. Clarkson scored 2 runs in each of the final 2 innings to close to the final score of 14-5. Blayne Fuke had 4 hits, Dan Brien and Jay Jay Vanderstyne had 3 hits, Andy Cannon, Ed Kahovec, Matt Francis and Jim Bard had 2 hits each, and Nate Stein and Devin Shane added hits to complete the hit parade!

It was a good day for the Yellowjackets, and the parents held a postgame hot dog roast for all in attendance. It was a great way to end the day, and was enjoyed by all! Thanks to all who helped to make the cookout the success that it was by bringing whatever you did! We had hot dogs, salads, deserts, drinks, etc.

On Sunday, the tables were turned as Clarkson scored runs in each of the 1st 5 innings to build a 12-3 lead. In the bottom of the 7th, UR scored 6 runs, but it was too little too late. Clarkson was aided by 4 errors, but we were hopeful that the 6 runs in the bottom of the 7th would get the boys going in the 2nd game. This was not the case, as Clarkson started out with runs in the first 3 innings to mount a 6-0 lead, and then tacked on 3 more in the top of the 7th and an insurance run in the 9th to lead 10-0. UR scored 2 in the 9th to avoid the shutout, Dan Brien homered to center for one of the runs, but managed only 4 hits in the game, compared to Clarkson's 17 hits.

This was dissapointing to say the least and has large implications for both teams in the standings. It was a long ride home from Potsdam, NY.

The team travelled to Ithaca on Tuesday to face the Bombers in a game that had NCAA regional implications. UR scored 2 runs in the second inning on a Matt Francis 2-RBI single, and Ithaca answered with 2 runs of their own in the bottom of the 2nd. UR went ahead by scoring 3 runs in the top of the 4th inning on doubles by Ryan Sullivan and Dave Kloc, an error, a balk, and a wild pitch. Ithaca added a run in the bottom of the 6th and UR answered with 2 in the 7th, on 3 singles, a SAC bunt, and a wild pitch. Ithaca came back with a solo homerun in the bottom of the 7th to close to within 3 at 7-4. We held that lead until the bottom of the 9th, when Ithaca came back to score 3 runs on 2 hits, 2 walks, and 2 wild pitches, and force extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th, they scored the winning run to snatch the victory away from UR.

Three losses in a row, left us limping into the weekend with 4 very important games against RPI @ RPI coming up.

UAA Athlete of the Week or Honor Roll

Look at the number of times our players have been nominated as Player of the Week (or Honor Roll). Congratulations!
(Note: Only the current Honor Roll players are showing on the website).

Week of April 28th Honor Roll
http://www.uaa.rochester.edu/Weekly_Sport_Updates/BB_Update.html
Ryan Sullivan
The junior catcher hit .333 (5-for-15) with a team-leading five runs scored and a run batted in during a four-game week for the Yellowjackets. His biggest impact defensively came in a 2-0 win over 10th-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he threw out a pair of base stealers.

Pete McEneaney
The senior pitched a complete-game seven hitter with one walk and six strikeouts in a 2-0 win over 10th-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Earlier in the week, McEneaney worked the first 5.2 innings during a 8-7 loss to 24th-ranked Ithaca College in 10 innings, allowing eight hits and three earned runs while striking out three on a short rest rotation. He registered a 1.84 earned run average for the week.

Week of April 23rd Athlete of the Week
http://www.uaa.rochester.edu/Association_Links/AOW_2007-08/AOW_4-21-08.pdf
Blayne Fuke — Kailua, HI (Mid-Pacific Institute)
University of Rochester sophomore Blayne Fuke hit .522 (12 of 23) with five doubles, five runs scored,and a team-high seven runs batted in during a 3-3 week for the Yellowjackets. He also posted a .739 slugging percentage and stole two bases in two attempts. His best performances came in the second game of both doubleheaders against Medaille College and Clarkson University, hitting 3-for-5 with two doubles, a run scored, and five RBI in a 20-10 victory over Medaille, and batting 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored in a 14-5 triumph over Clarkson.

Michael Park — Scarsdale, NY (Scarsdale)
University of Rochester junior Michael Park pitched a complete-game two-hitter with a career high 11 strikeouts in leading the Yellowjackets to a 7-1 victory over Clarkson University in game one of a doubleheader. In seven innings, Park held the opposition to a .095 batting average, walking two and yielding one earned run. He gave up a single in the first inning and did not allow another hit until the seventh.


Week of April 14th Athlete of the Week
http://www.uaa.rochester.edu/Association_Links/AOW_2007-08/AOW_4-14-08.pdf
Jay Jay Vanderstyne — Victor, NY (Victor)
Senior Jay Jay Vanderstyne of the University of Rochester registered a .542 batting average (13 of 24) during a 5-1 week for the Yellowjackets, scoring 10 times while driving in an additional 12 runs on six doubles and a home run. In a four-game weekend series with Vassar College, Vanderstyne hit 10-for-16 with 12 RBI and seven runs scored in leading Rochester to three wins in the weekend set, highlighted with a 3-for-5 effort (four runs, six RBI) in a 22-1 triumph in game two, including a grand-slam home run.

Blair Veenema — Fairport, NY (Fairport)
University of Rochester junior Blair Veenema posted a 2-0 record with a 1.08 earned run average in 8.1 innings pitched for the Yellowjackets. Veenema picked up the win in relief during a 5-4 victory over Rochester Institute of Technology, yielding a hit while striking out two batters in 1.1 innings pitched. He picked up a complete-game win in a 9-1 triumph over Vassar College, striking out seven and allowing five hits. For the week, Veenema held opponents to a .200 batting average.


Week of April 7th Athlete of the Week
http://www.uaa.rochester.edu/Association_Links/AOW_2007-08/AOW_4-7-08.pdf
Dan Brien Liverpool, NY (Liverpool)
University of Rochester senior first baseman Dan Brien batted .500 (14 of 28) with 11 runs scored and 12 runs batted in during an 8-0 week for the Yellowjackets. He tallied a .929 slugging percentage with five doubles, two triples, and a home run and compiled a .588 on-base percentage on five walks and a hit-by-pitch. He hit a combined 4-for-6 (2 doubles, triple) with three RBI in a doubleheader sweep of St. Lawrence University, batted 4-for-9 (four doubles) with three RBI in a doubleheader sweep of Keuka College, and hit 6-for-13 with a triple, a two-run homer, and six RBI in back-to-back doubleheader sweeps over Union College. In the field, Brien handled 61 of 62 chances cleanly.

Blair Veenema Fairport, NY (Fairport)
University of Rochester junior left-hander Blair Veenema, working on three days rest, earned two victories in a span of four days as part of a 6-0 week for the Yellowjackets. Veenema pitched a complete-game, one-hitter in a 10-0 win over St. Lawrence University in game one of a doubleheader, striking out eight batters while walking only four in seven innings. Four days later, he threw six innings, allowing seven hits and two earned runs while striking out six in a 7-5 win over Union College. In 13 innings of work, he held opposing batters to a .186 batting average.

Week of March 17th Athlete of the Week
http://www.uaa.rochester.edu/Association_Links/AOW_2007-08/AOW_3-17-08.pdf
Ed Kahovec - Victor, NY (Victor)
University of Rochester senior Ed Kahovec drove in four runs on two doubles to lead the Yellowjackets to a 5-4 victory in the second game of a morning/afternoon doubleheader with Skidmore College. Kahovec hit a two-run double in the fifth inning to give Rochester a 2-1 lead. After Skidmore battled back to take a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth, he hit a game-winning double with two outs and two men aboard in the bottom of the inning. Kahovec also scored a run during an 8-7 Rochester win in the morning contest.

Time to catch up the blog

When I left you last the boys had just beaten Vassar twice on Saturday. On Sunday, in the first game they beat them again 9-7. Jay Jay had another great game at the plate going 4 for 4 with 3 RBI's and 2 runs scored to pace the Rochester offense. Matt Francis and Nate Stein had 3 hits and Nick Cacciola added 2 more. The defense did not play as well as they should have, committing 5 errors to assist Vassar and keep them in the game. Steve Guski pitched well going 5 innings for the win. Paul Toland pitched a good 6th inning, got into some trouble in the bottom of the 7th and was replaced by Nick Cacciola who got us out with the win, but not without some fluttering hearts from the UR fans as Vassar left the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th!



I guess this was a foreshadowing of what was to come...



In the 2nd game on Sunday, Vassar won 7-6. Steve Just had 2 hits, no one else had more than 1. We did not take enough advantage of 5 Vassar errors, and we flew out 11 times and left the bases loaded in both the 1st and 2nd innings. We needed to score more in those innings and keep the ball on the ground and let them boot it around. In the 9th, with Jim Bard on 2nd base and 2 outs, Andy cannon hit a line drive that should have tied the game. Their shortstop jumped and snared the line drive ending the game. They say that baseball is a game of inches, this proved that saying! This was a tough loss and we felt like we did after the Case game, kind of shocked and in disbelief.



On Wednesday, the team took on Medaille from the Buffalo area. We only managed 4 hits as Medaille went on to defeat UR by a score of 6-3 in the 1st of 2, 7 inning games.



So that made 2 tough losses in a row to teams, that on paper, we should have beaten. The next game restored the faith of the UR fans as the team exploded for 20 runs on 17 hits!! Kahovec led the way with 4 hits, Reid and Fuke had 3 each, Vanderstyne, Sullivan, and Francis chipped in with 2 hits each. Sullivan had a homer in the 4th inning.



Blair Veenema got the win in relief.

New Ranking

Well, our boys did it. They made it into the Top 25 of the D3baseball.com Poll today by being ranked 24th nationally!

And, as an added plus, when you open the D3baseball.com site, if you go to the top righthand side under "Notables" click-on the link, and you will see a nice picture of Jay Jay Vanderstyne.

Boys, keep working hard and supporting one another! Stay focused, and bigger things can come for you all. Continued success!!

GO YELLOWJACKETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rich

UR takes 2 from Vassar

The boys continued their winning ways yesterday - sweeping Vassar and are now at 20-3, having won 13 in a row. Speaking of 13, Jay Jay Vanderstyne was a wrecking crew yesterday with a 3 for 4 and 3 RBI's in game # 1, and 3 for 5 with 6 RBI's in game # 2, including a GRAND SLAM in the 4th inning to get UR started with a 4-0 lead.

Blair Veenema had another strong outing pitching a complete game on his way to a 5-0 record.

Nate Stein also had 3 hits and Blayne Fuke chipped in 2 hits in a 9-1 victory!

In game # 2, Pete McEneaney had a no hitter through 6 2/3 innings and "Baby" Ned Chanatry finished it up with 2 innings in relief in a 22-1 victory.

The offense had 20 hits, Kloc, Stein, and Francis, joined Vanderstyne with 3 hits, Brien, Fuke, and Cannon added 2 hits a piece. The hits included doubles by Vanderstyne (2), Cannon, Kloc, Fuke, and Francis, triples for Nate Stein who had 2 and Dave Kloc, and Dan Brien added a 2 run homer, to join Jay Jay in the long ball category.

The games today are @ UR starting @ 1:00 PM, giving a little extra time for field prep as it rained last night and early this AM. There were also snow flakes swirling around this morning!
The games were moved to RIT due to a track meet, and then moved back to UR, when the track meet was cancelled!

Thanks to the Sullivans for the sandwiches and the Cacciolas for the gatorade, and as always Gretchen Brocks for the delicious cookies.

See you at the ballpark!

Ed

UR takes 2 from RIT

This week - the Jackets showed their depth in the RIT games. In the first game, Luke Brocks pitched very well on his way to a 3-0 record and Michael Park finished it up. Ryan Sullivan started at catcher and was hit by a pitch in the 1st inning and was removed from the game. He was replaced by Steve Just who went on to have a great game, going 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored and 5 RBI's. He had a single, double, and he also homered!! This team has shown great resiliency and depth throughout the lineup and on the field.

The pitching staff continues to get the job done, and the offense has been great 1-9 in the lineup! Defense has shown itself to be consistent and improving.

In the second game, all of this was needed!

RIT got off to a fast start, scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the first inning off of Paul Toland. Steve Guzski was put in to pitch in the 2nd inning, and RIT added 1 run in the bottom of the 3rd, to lead 4-0 thru 3 innings.

In the top of the 4th, Dave Kloc tripled to drive in 2 and cut the lead in half.

In the top of the 5th, UR played small ball to produce 2 runs and tie the game. A couple of singles, a sac bunt by Greg Larioni, a wild pitch and a passed ball, and we had a 4-4 tie.

In the top of the seventh, Steve Just came through again with an RBI single to put UR ahead by 1!

Blair Veenema, in a rare relief appearance, had come in to pitch for Guzski in the 6th, faced 1 batter, and left 2 RIT runners stranded. In the bottom of the 7th, he struck out the first 2 batters, let up a single, and got the last out on a fly ball to left!

This weekend, Vassar comes to town with 2 games at UR on Saturday, and 2 games @ RIT on Sunday!

Thanks to the Cannon Family for providing for the food between games at RIT!

UR sweeps Union

Last weekend the Yellowjackets swept Union in a Home Saturday/Away @ Union on Sunday format.

In the first game on Saturday, Steve Guzski pitched a strong outing, going all 7 innings for a complete game win.

Ryan Sullivan and Nate Stein had 3 hits a piece, and Dan Brien, Jay Jay Vanderstyne, and Blayne Fuke added 2 each! Nate Stein and Ed Kahovec both homered in the 4th inning breaking the game open on the way to a 15 - 2 victory!! There was a large contingent of fans on the hill beyond the left field scoreboard causing havoc for Union's fielders in the vicinity. There was also a large crowd on hand along the walkway.

Game # 2 also featured a strong outing by Michael Park, with relief work by Paul Toland and John Fishback.
Dave Kloc had 3 hits, and Andy Cannon, Blayne Fuke, and Jim Bard added 2 hits a piece.

The final score of 8-1, following the 15-2 win earlier, had many in the crowd discussing a sweep with 2 victories the following day @ Union in a park in Schenectady.

We had to travel to Schnectady on Sunday morning, due to a track meet @ U of R.

In game # 1, @ Union, Blair Veenema struggled a little bit in the early going, as Union scored 1 run in each of the 1st 2 innings. The offense posted 3 runs in the 3rd inning and 1 in the 5th, to take a 4 - 2 lead after 5 innings of play. Then they added 3 more runs in the top of the 7th inning, but Union came back with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of 7th, before John Fishback closed the door. An UGLY win, but a win just the same! Dan Brien, Ed Kahovec, and Ryan Sullivan each had 2 hits a piece to spark the ballclub.


Game # 2 in Schnectady was never in doubt, with Pete McEneaney pitching 6 strong innings, Baby Ned Chanatry finishing it up in the 7th, due to the mercy rule, on the way to a 13 - 0 victory.

Jay Jay Vanderstyne led the way with 4 hits, Andy Cannon chipped in with 3 hits and Dan Brien homered in the 1st inning.

A great weekend overall!

Thanks to the Long Family for the food on Saturday and to the Olsen Family for the food on Sunday!

Brien, Veenema, and Just Liberty League recognition

Dan Brien was named Liberty League Co-Performer of the week!

Blair Veenema was named Liberty League Pitcher of the week!

Steve Just was named Liberty League Rookie of the week!

Congrats to all 3.

It's raining in Rochester tonight, we'll see what happens tomorrow!

National Rankings

Congratulations to our Yellowjackets team and coaching staff for their national rankings in two national polls!!!

The Yellowjackets are ranked #19 by the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III Baseball Poll. Our Yellowjackets are also ranked 29th on the D3baseball.com website poll having received 37 votes by the voting committee.

Also, if you go to the D3baseball website, there is a link on the left side of the page for NCAA Stats. If you go through the process and follow the steps required, you can pull up the latest stats for how our Yellowjackets compare to the rest of the DIII teams in the nation.

I know I shouldn't editorialize but, anyone who has seen our boys (men) play, knows what kind of team they are. They are a "team" that can play at the highest level. Continued success!

GO YELLOWJACKETS!!!!!!!

Rich

2 wins vs. Keuka, Union moved to Sat/Sun

The team overall played well against a lesser opponent, many got an opportunity to play and in game # 2, some of the pitchers even pinch hit.

In game 1, Paul Toland got the win in relief of Chris Olsen. The hilites of the game were Dave Kloc and Ed Kahovec taking the ball deep for homeruns. Something that the UR faithful had not seen in a very long time, 2 home runs in the same game by the UR squad. Jay Jay Vanderstyne, Nick Cacciola, and Steve Just all had 2 hits apiece in the 7-3 win!

Game 2 turned into a blowout, "Baby" Ned Chanatry got the win in relief of Luke Brocks. Dan Brien led the way with 3 of the total of 16 Rochester hits. The final score was 23-3 and it was pretty ugly as Keuka had 7 errors in the 7 inning game to go along with 10 walks given up by the Keuka pitching staff. Andy Cannon homered in the contest and had 5 RBI's and 5 runs scored. Greg Larioni, David Kloc, Steve Just, and Pat Locke had 2 hits a piece.

The team is currently at 12-3 and faces Liberty League foe Union this weekend. Due to the impending rain on Friday, the games have been moved to Saturday and Sunday. Due to a track meet at U of R, the Sunday DH will be played at Union!

I forgot to mention in the last post - the Fuke family provided for food at the St. Lawrence games. Thanks Mike and Jan!

The Vanderstyne family provided food for today's games against Keuka. Thanks Jay and Julie!

See you at the ballpark!

Ed

Finally baseball in Upstate NY!!!

UR played 2 games against St. Lawrence today, sunny, blue skies, very cold and breezy, but at least they were playing.

The boys beat St. Lawrence twice, going to 6-0 in conference, which is HUGE!!

Blair Veenema pitched a gem in game 1, a 1 hit, complete game shutout in 7 innings. The first 4 1/2 innings were scoreless with both pitchers doing a great job, then the Rochester boys got busy at the plate. Nate Stein walked to start the inning. Matt Francis sacrificed him to 2nd with a bunt. Blayne Fuke walked and Andy Cannon doubled home Stein. Ed Kahovec walked, and during the at bat, Blayne scored on a wild pitch and Andy moved up to 3rd. Jay Jay Vanderstyne hit a sac fly to score Andy and Ryan Sullivan and Dan Brien followed with doubles, Briens hitting the 350 sign in left center. Dave Kloc singled to score Brien and Stein was up again in the inning, and grounded out to end it. Six runs!!! We added 4 more in the bottom of the 6th inning and Blair finished it!! Through the 1st 5 innings Blair only faced 15 batters, the least amount possible as he was aided by a double play and a caught stealing. Everyone played very well!!

Game 2 was more of a struggle. Pete McEneaney got out of a first inning bases loaded jam, by getting the batter to hit a ground ball to short - over to 1st and we were out of the inning. UR gave him some run support by scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the first with 2 hits, ( Cannon and Kahovec), 2 walks, (Sullivan and Vanderstyne), and a sac fly by Dave Kloc. We added another run in the 3rd inning when Dan Brien started off with a triple and scored on a passed ball. St. Lawrence came storming back in the top of the 4th, to tie it up at 3. The bullpen struggled in finding the plate, Luke Brocks finally silenced the threat in the 6th, and John Fishback closed it out in the 7th!!

Both games were 7 inning games today and the current rumour is that the 2 games against Keuka tomorrow will also be 7 innings each.

Pitching will be stretched thin this week, rain is in the forecast for Friday, this may help. If the Union games are pushed to Saturday and Sunday, Sunday's games will have to be played somewhere other than at UR, due to a track meet!

On the injury report side of things: Matt Francis suffered what seemed to be a concussion in a collision at 2nd base, he was replaced by Jim Bard. Hopefully, he will be ok and back in the lineup soon! Also, saw Devin Shane for a few minutes after the game, he looks great, and was very upbeat about his prognosis for a full recovery and he may be back at UR next year!

See you at the ballpark!!

Ed

Cortland PPD - UR named in ABCA DIII poll

The game against Cortland was postponed due to wet field conditions. It was sunny, breezy, and cold in Rochester today! I hope that we can get the games in this weekend against St. Lawrence!

UR was mentioned on the ABCA DIII poll as one of the teams listed alphabetically and receiving votes and named on more than one ballot!

The address to see the poll is: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/sports/abcapoll.html

Cortland is ranked 4th, Emory is ranked # 14, and RPI is # 15.
Ed

Brockport ppd - wet, Cortland ???

Wet weather postponed the Brockport game scheduled for Tuesday, and the Cortland game is doubtful for Wednesday, due to rain and cold in the forecast. If they can get it in, they will try to, I understand that the final decision is to be made by 10 AM this morning.

St. Lawrence comes to town this weekend, I am hoping for a little warmer weather, and fairly dry conditions!!

UAA announces 2008 All-Association teams

Matt Francis, Ed Kahovec, Ryan Sullivan, and Jay Jay Vanderstyne were named to the UAA 1st team and Steve Guzski and Pete McEneaney were named to the UAA 2nd team in a balloting by the coaches following the tournament. We had the most players named with 6, followed by Emory with 5, including Tournament MVP Frank Pfister, Wash U had 4 and Brandeis had 4, including Rookie of the year Tony Deshler, while Case had 2.

Congrats to all!!

Spring Trip Update # 3 - UAA Tournament

Our first game in the UAA's was against Brandeis on Tuesday. We started strong scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning, Brandeis answered with 2 in the top of the 2nd and we scored 1 in the bottom of the 2nd to tie 2-2 after 2 innings. Brandeis scored 2 in the top of the 4th and we answered with 1 in the bottom of the 4th. Both teams posted a run in the 6th and Brandeis added 1 in the 7th to lead 6-4. After a scoreless 8th inning, Brandeis scored 4 runs on 5 hits and were aided by an error, to take a 10-4 lead. Matt Francis walked to lead off the inning and many of us were thinking, here we go again, another comeback! Devin Shane solidified that thinking with a single moving Francis to 3rd! Andy Cannon flied out scoring Francis, 10-5! Ed Kahovec then homered to left to make it 10-7!! Ryan Sullivan singled and we were all believers at this point!! Jay Jay Vanderstyne lined out to right and Ryan was doubled off first, bursting the comeback bubble of the Rochester faithful! Tough way to end the game, but there were still many positives to talk about - Paul Toland pitching well, Dave Kloc going 2 for 3 with 2 runs, and Ed Kahovec going 3 for 4 with a homerun. In talking with several of the boys after the game, they were not happy with their individual efforts due to the team losing the game!

On Wednesday the team played against Case Western Reserve, and they started early with 1 run in the 1st and 9 in the 2nd, to lead 10-0. Case scored single runs in the 4th-8th innings, while UR added 1 in the 5th to cruise to a 11-5 victory. Luke Brocks got the win in 5 innings, Mike Wexler pitched 3 innings in relief, and John Fishback finished the 9th with 2 strikeouts with 2 men on base. Jay Jay Vanderstyne and Ed Kahovec both had 3 hits and Andy Cannon, Dan Brien, and Matt Francis added 2 hits apiece in a 16 hit attack.

Thursday was the big day of the tournament for the Yellowjackets with a doubleheader against Washington and Emory. The Wash U game was memorable for being a pitchers duel with Pete McEneaney shutting out Wash U for 8 innings before John Fishback finished the game in the 9th inning to preserve the shutout! Tyler Reid hit a triple off the wall in left to lead off the 4th inning and Nate Stein scored him with a groundout to the right side. The second UR run was scored by Matt Francis in the 9th, when Ryan Sullivan drove him home with a single. Low scoring - YES, exciting - YES, beating Wash U - PRICELESS!

Emory was next - they finished 2nd in the nation in 2007, and were ranked 5th coming into the tournament. UR started out hot, we batted all 9 players in the top of the 1st inning and scored 4 runs. We added 3 runs to that total in the top of the 3rd to take a 7-0 lead after 3. Emory scored 1 run in the 4th, and added 4 in the 5th. At the end of 6 innings we still led 7-5, and we added a run in the top of the 7th to lead 8-5, then the pitching staff struggled to find the plate and Emory scored 7 times in the 7th to take a 12-8 lead. We answered with 1 in the 8th to close within 3 at 12-9. Emory then went on to score 3 in the bottom of the 8th to put the game out of reach at 15-9. We scored 1 run in the top of the 9th and the final score was 15-10. A dissapointing loss for sure! Both teams used 6 pitchers each, and both teams had 14 hits! This was a great chance to beat one of the best D3 teams in the country, but they were able to hold on and come back against us!

We played Case on Friday and got a great pitching performance from Steve Guzski, who tossed a shutout for 7 innings. We scored in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead and added 2 runs in the top of the 7th to lead 3-0! Case came back to score 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th and get their only win of the tournament! Case has hurt us the last 2 years in this tournament.

The last game of the tournament was against Wash U, who was looking to avenge the earlier defeat, and a win would get them a share of the UAA Title with a record of 4-2. We were at 2-3 and wondering how the wheels had fallen off such a promising week!

The boys came out hot again and posted 20 runs on 20 hits walking over Wash U in a laugher 20-4! This was a great way to finish the week. Andy Cannon, Ryan Sullivan, and Matt Francis had 3 hits each and Andy also had 5 RBI's. Mike Park pitched well and Justin Long finished up the game in the 7th. It only went 7 due to the mercy rule.

All in all it was a great week in Florida, the weather cooperated very nicely, the team came home with an 8-3 record, but there were many who were thinking of what might have been - we easily could have been the UAA Champs by ourselves - but that's baseball!! The team has some things to work on as they prepare for the Liberty League schedule and a challenging non-conference schedule. One game at a time, one inning at a time, one at bat at a time, and there is no telling how far this team may go!

Spring trip update # 2 - 4 LL games vs. Skidmore

Sunday and Monday had 2 doubleheaders scheduled against last years LL Champs @ the Miller Huggins - Casey Stengel complex in St. Petersburg. The parents were still talking about the come from behind victory vs. Drew from the day before in Tampa!

Game # 1 featured a matchup of Skidmore's ace Ed Reilly and Blair Veenema. Overall, a well pitched game on both sides with only single runs being scored in any given at bat for either team.
Our boys went up 3-0 and then held on for a 3-2 win, John Fishback getting a save after the win in relief against Drew!

Our team came to life offensively and continued its offensive assault with 19 hits and 11 runs in game 2, following 15 hits and 15 runs vs. Drew.

Ryan Sullivan, Blayne Fuke, and Matt Francis each had 3 hits in the 11-6 win in game #2. Pete McEneaney got the win.

We were all feeling pretty good about the teams start, some things to work on, but a split on Sunday would be a great start to the LL season!

Skidmore started strong and built a 7-2 lead after 4 1/2 innings. The boys answered with 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th and 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th to take an 8-7 lead and John Fishback got them out 1-2-3 in the top of the 7th with 2 strikeouts and a ground out to shut the door! Dan Brien had 3 hits and Chris Olsen got the win in relief of Steve Guzski! Now 3-0 in LL, we were thinking sweep - greedy, but now possible!!

In the second game of the day and 4th against Skidmore, the pattern continued. Skidmore was up 1-0 through 4 1/2 innings and we came back with 2 in the 5th and 1 in the 6th to take a 3-1 lead through 6. Skidmore would not go away and answered with 2 runs in the top of the 7th and 1 in the top of the 9th to take a 4-3 lead.

Matt Francis started the bottom of the 9th inning off with a single, Nate Stein struck out, Dan Brien pinch hit for Pat Locke and singled, sending Francis to 3rd. Andy Cannon grounded out to 3rd with Francis holding and Brien advancing to 2nd. Jim Bard was sent to pinch run for Brien at second, representing the winning run in the bottom of the 9th! Ed Kahovec was now at bat. The pitcher got ahead 0-2, and then Eddie ripped a single into the outfield scoring 2 runs and helping UR go 4-0 against Skidmore. The team mobbed him at 2nd base in celebration of another come from behind win!! For many this was the game of the week in terms of drama and excitement! Eddie had 3 hits and 4 RBI's and Nick Cacciola got the win in relief of Mike Park, who pitched well!!

A 5-0 start and 4-0 Liberty League start were better than expected by most, and left all of us very optimistic for the UAA Tournament.

After the game, the UR travelling caravan headed out to the Orlando area and Altamonte Springs for the UAA Tournament in Sanford starting on Tuesday.

Libert League recognizes U of R players

If you go to the Liberty League site and look under the weekly performers tab several U of R players have received recognition from the league. I'll summarize here - but go to the Liberty League site and check it out!

Liberty League performer of the weeek:

3/10 Blayne Fuke
3/17 Ed Kahovec

Libert League pitcher of the week:

3/17 Pete McEneaney

Liberty League rookie of the week:

3/10 Matt Francis

Nice to see our boys getting some recognition!

Ed Kahovec - UAA Athlete of the Week

Hi everyone. I was poking around the links at the right of our website and found the following at http://www.uaa.rochester.edu/Weekly_Sport_Updates/BB_Update.html

Ed Kahovec (Rochester): The senior drove in four runs on two doubles to lead the Yellowjackets to a 5-4 victory in the second game of a morning/afternoon doubleheader with Skidmore College. Kahovec hit a two-run double in the fifth inning to give Rochester a 2-1 lead. After Skidmore battled back to take a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth, he hit a game-winning double with two outs and two men aboard in the bottom of the inning. Kahovec also scored a run during an 8-7 Rochester win in the morning contest.

Congratulations Ed!

There's also several articles on the UR Baseball site about some of the Florida games at http://www.rochester.edu/athletics/sport.php?id=1; click on the links under "News" in the upper right corner.

Photo by: Susan Kost http://www.rochester.edu/athletics/person.php?id=1251

Devin Shane update

What a great trip and such a great group of parents. As I sit here in NH and watch the skin continue to fall off of my forehead like snowflakes, out my window I can tell you all I'm not getting much sympathy. And, I can't believe it's over for the Shane family. As Ed said in an earlier blog, the four years of college baseball goes by twice as fast as high school...so please take as much time to enjoy it as you can. My biggest regret is not having my movie camera ready when the boy's won the fourth game against Skidmore. You would have thought they just beat the NY Yankees (do you like that Paul Tolland?) in the World Series. While my favorite parts were many: Finally seeing Jan Fuke without a coat or a sweatshirt the night it was 90 degrees, discussing whether a play was an error or not with Rich Cannon and Ed Kahovec, and hearing Paul Tolland keep the umpires in line. You may have heard that Devin was injured during the teams last practice in Florida on Sunday. As of now he is doing very well, and is scheduled for surgery some time on Monday where he will have three plates attached to his cheekbone just below his right eye. Not surprisingly he has received care and support from the players and parents that can only be likened to that of what a family would offer. I wanted to take a moment to thank not only the players and parents of the U of R Baseball Team, but the entire coaching staff, as well as Eric for the quality care they have supplied to our son. After the accident, Devin was taken to the emergency room in Altamonte Springs where X-Rays and a CT Scan was taken. They were read by Eric and the Doctors on staff, and the decision was immediately made that the risks were too high for Devin to fly back to Rochester. Without hesitation, Eric and the coaching staff decided not to just put him on a train, but to rent a car and drive him back to Rochester. Eric and Coach Pfohl drove for 23 hours (Devin wasn't allowed to drive) stopping in South Carolina on Sunday night to get some sleep, (and then to see Pedro at "South of the Border") arriving on campus late Monday night. Devin saw Dr. Girrado of the Strong Hospital plastic surgery staff on Tuesday afternoon where he received the recommendation for the surgery. I just want to take a moment to thank Eric, Coach Reina, and his entire coaching staff for the care and support that was offered to Devin. I would like to let you all know that if in the unlikely circumstance your son gets injured, he is in no better hands than the coaching staff and Eric. These people offer the care and support that would be considered at the "Mom" level." I'll send pictures soon, as well as let you know how the surgery turns out. Go Jacket's!!!!!!

Spring trip review # 1

It was a great week overall, I'll leave a few thoughts on each of the days in a seperate posting for each. Today - Friday travel woes and Saturdays game with Drew.

Everyone has a travel story relating to the snowy weather in the northeast. Howie and Laurie Long were at the Rochester airport very early on Friday morning. They took a bump that netted them 2 tickets each, then went home to wait for a later flight, returned and were on the same flight as we were, and we all wondered if we were going to be able to get out. I think we were the last ones to get out on Friday night! When we got to Atlanta, there were people all over laying on the ground, propped up in chairs, etc. due to the delays and cancellations. We got in to my sister-in-laws, in St. Pete, about 1 AM. Jay Vanderstyne had issues getting out and ended up flying out of Syracuse.

Please comment or post with other travel stories!!

The game against Drew was sunny, but very windy!! We did come back to win, but it was a tough day with Drew hitting 3 homeruns and our fielders struggling with the wind. I remember our outfielders running after a fly ball and turning several times without success due to the wind.

After the game, Mike and Jan Fuke presented each of the players with a cellophane wrapped candy lei from Hawaii.

It was good to reunite with our UR baseball family and welcome new members to our group. I hope that the new families do feel welcomed, although I can be a bit much at times, it is only to try to get everyone involved and connected. As the parent of a graduating senior, I can tell you from experience that these 4 years fly by so much faster than high school did. Next year it will be your turn to help to welcome the incoming freshman families to our UR baseball family.

I am having trouble locating boxscores from the Drew and Skidmore games, hopefully they will be available soon. Stats are also hard to come by, I don't know if there is a new program, or if that part is just not working properly, because in the past this info was usually available by the next day in most cases. Coach, if you read this, can you let us know where the stats and boxscores are?

I had a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt on and was enjoying the weather despite the wind, I looked over at Jan Fuke and she was bundled up in her sweatshirt, and admitted later that she was cold. Funny how different the perspective was in relationship to the weather!

The one thing that all the parents seemed to agree on was that despite the wind and some miscues, it was great to start with a win, and coming from behind scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to win by one, 15-14 was very encouraging. UR did not usually come from behind to win in the past, but this was just a taste of what was to come in the rest of the week! The offense posted 15 runs on 15 hits, and we committed just 2 errors, while Drew was 14 runs on 12 hits and 8 errors. We saw a lot of pitchers, some freshmen making their college debut!! ( Brocks, Cacciola, Olsen, Chanatry, Toland, and Fishback who benefitted with a win in relief when the team came back in the bottom of the 9th. )

For those that were there, what are your impressions on Game # 1 of the 2008 season?

Well, that's all for tonight, It has been a long week at work after a great week in Florida, and its not over yet!! More to come over the next few days and the weekend!!

All the best,

Ed

Yellowjackets - Spring Training - Florida

Hello to all!!!!!

To those of you who were in Florida this week, it was great seeing you all again!! Shirl and I really enjoyed the company and conversations!!! To those families that couldn't attend, well lets just say that we missed you and hope some day soon, we will be together.

The team looked great in spite of a few losses, and should continue toward a very successful season. The unity and brotherhood of those kids, excuse me, men, really speaks volumes of the parents, coaches, work ethic, and intelligence of those men. I am so thrilled that my son associates with, and plays baseball with all of your sons.

I personally will miss all of the baseball chatter and critiquing and second guessing that we all did. I also really like "keeping the book" during the games. I am notorious for this, even from Andy's high school days. I love baseball, I love watching Andy play baseball, and I love you all!! You, the families of the Yellowjackets baseball team, have made Andy, Shirl and myself fell welcome and a part of something very special that our boys are involved in. Thank you!

I hope that I can find the opportunity of being in Rochester this season for some games. I plan on being in Troy for the RPI series, AND in Rochester for the Liberty League Tournament!!!

Love you all. GO YELLOWJACKETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rich and Shril Cannon

Opening Day tomorrow!!!

Safe travels to all!!

The boys got outside last night on the football field under the lights. This is the 2nd time they were outside, so at least the outfielders got some fly balls and long toss in prior to Florida.

See you all tomorrow!!

Ed

2 Days until Opening Day!!

From the sounds of it, the University of Rochester Baseball Team will have plenty of parental support on the spring trip in Florida.

I just heard that Jim Bard broke his hand in practice a week or so ago. How unfortunate!! He will be out of action for a while, but hopefully back before the season ends.

Well, its getting close now, like many of you I am looking forward to a little vacation and a whole lot of baseball!!

I will be contacting our shirt vendor tomorrow. He was hoping to have the order completed by tomorrow. If you have not yet sent in your payment, please do so tomorrow. He will not ship your items out without payment. Thanks!

I will be attending the Bruce Springsteen concert tomorrow night in Rochester with 3 of my 4 boys, as Chris has to work. What a great way to kickoff the vacation! We are flying out Friday night and hope to see a great 1st game out of our boys on Saturday morning! Who is bringing the coffee??

Luke Brocks is scheduled to start against Drew, Pete and Blair to start the League games against Skidmore on Sunday.

See you on Saturday morning!

Safe travels to all, especially the team!

Ed

Counting Down to Opening Day

It is hard to believe that we will be playing baseball at the end of this week! The first time outside is in an opening day game vs. Drew in Tampa! I am looking forward to a change from this upstate NY weather!

I am sure that the team is looking forward to actually playing outside also! The fieldhouse is great for working out due to the weather, but there is nothing like the smell of the grass, feel of the dirt, and having to adjust to sun, wind, etc. in a real game situation. They have a very challenging schedule this upcoming week, and this week can set the tone for the entire season. Especially, with 4 Liberty League contests right out of the gate. Skidmore is the defending Liberty League Champion and they have designs on repeating as Champs, with a lot of returning players from last year's team. Hopefully, we will put a beginning of the season crimp in their plans!!

Thanks to Julie and Jay Vanderstyne for hosting a team brunch yesterday at their house.

Looking forward to renewing our UR baseball family relationships, and welcoming new parents into our baseball family! I have missed you all, looking forward to seeing those of you that are able to travel in Florida, hoping to meet everyone new to the program at some point during the season, if not in Florida! The season is so short, with a lot packed in, and at the end of this week it begins!

Go UR Baseball!!!

5 days until Opening Day!!

See you at the ballpark,

Ed

Shirt orders have been submitted

FYI - the shirts have been ordered, the rep - Brian Mattoon, has placed his order and the shirts are due in to him this week. Then the sweatshirts go out to be silkscreened and the polos go out for their embroidery. I will touch base with him early next week. We will then have a better idea on shipping, there will be several options depending on when the order is completely ready.

I will keep everyone posted as we progress through this process!

9 Days until Opening Day VS. Drew in Tampa!

See you at the ballpark!

Ed

Parent contact email has been sent

Today, I emailed the first draft of the parent contact spreadsheet. Hopefully, it is mostly right, but just email me back and I will make any necessary corrections. If you did not get the email - I am still having issues with your email address. Send me a blank email and I will copy that address into my contacts and then transfer it into the UR Baseball distro list.

Tomorrow, I will send out the shirt order form, for your review. I will also send out the payment info. Last chance to get an order in or correct any of my mistakes!!!

Thank you all for your help and support in getting this put together.

There will be a large contingent of parents in Florida to support the team, I'm looking forward to it!

16 days until Opening Day!!

Ed

Florida Trip - Parent Get Together

I mentioned this in the previous topic to Ed suggesting that since the parents really haven't had a chance to meet everyone, that we get together for a simple dinner during the tournament. There are several Romano Macaroni Grill's in the area, Lake Mary and Altamonte Springs. The food is good and they can handle a group of people. The restaurant isn't that expensive and the dress code is casual.

**** Special Note to Beth Guzski - NO, I'm not buying!!!

Anyway, I will do some more research. Just to think about a day, Wednesday, March 12th, the team plays at 11:00a.m. It might be the best day since it will give everyone a chance to relax after the Yellowjackets win that morning. We can pick a time as we get closer to the date.

I'm presenting this as an idea. There is no obligation or pressure to attend. Your feedback is welcome with other ideas/suggestions, plus I already have interest from several parents/couples.

GO YELLOWJACKETS!!

Rich

All shirt orders are due by Friday 2/22/08

All shirt orders are due by Friday to me. I will then send the group order to the Nike rep that coach has used. On Friday, I will send out an email with the Nike rep name, address, checks made out to info, etc. We will all have to send him a check for the total amount + $ 4.50 for shipping per order. On Thursday night, I will send out a spreadsheet with the orders to those who have placed an order, Please review this spreadsheet and let me know if there is a mistake. If your info is correct - no need to contact me.

The spread sheet will reflect the pricing, add in shipping, and list your total in the last column. The sweatshirts remain at $ 40, but he was able to lower the polo shirt to $ 36 based on our order so far.

I am still having some trouble with some email addresses. If you received my latest email about shirts, great! If you have not been receiving emails, send me an email and I will copy your email address into my contacts and then transfer to the distribution email listing.

I am trying to get my son to get me email and contact info for some parents - Just, Chanatry, and Francis - if any of you can assist with their info, please get it to me or have them contact me.

More and more parents have indicated that they will be going to Florida - some all week, some for only a part of the week. Rich Cannon is trying to organize a dinner for the parents during the UAA tournament in Sanford, please advise on your level of interest, I think there were 6 parents so far.

The team is getting ready, hope to see you in Florida!

18 days until Opening Day!

Ed

Shirt orders, email distro list, parent contacts

A little bit of everything this morning -

I am developing an email distribution list for contacting all of the parents. If you did not receive an email regarding this, I don't have your email or do not have a correct email. Please drop me an email, ekahovec@highfalls.com, so I can add your email address to the list. I am also developing a parent contact list, this has proven helpful to many parents in the past. It will have names. addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. I personally carry this list with me to each game, just in case a parent is not present and there is a need to contact them. Fortunately, I have not had to use it for emergencies, just to give game updates parents who request it. I have received phone calls throughout games and weekends, with update requests from parents who could not attend, but couldn't wait for their sons to call later that evening for an update.

Shirt update - Coach has arranged through his Nike rep the following:

Polo shirt - Nike dri-fit polo embroidered for $38

Sweatshirts - Nike premier fleece hoody, nice and heavy, 2 color silkscreen and number on the sleeve for $40

Please get your orders to me as soon as possible and I will try to push this through. I'm not sure who we will be paying, U of R, UR baseball, Nike rep, etc. but I will find out and let everyone know. I want to get the orders in ASAP to be able to get the shirts out to everyone who orders them quickly.

20 days until Opening Day vs Drew in Tampa!!

FYI - for the countdown I do not count the day I am currently in, or the day of the game, only those in between, feel free to debate this with me!

At this point - the parent contingent in Florida that I am currently aware of will be as follows:
Kahovec, Vanderstyne, (Bowe - Eddie and Jay Jay's grandparents on their mothers' side), Cannon, Guzski, Sullivan, Larioni, McEneaney, Fuke - all the way from Hawaii, and Toland. I'm sure there are more, sorry for anyone I have missed, although I'm sure that Shane, Olsen, Veenema, Kloc, Park, Brocks, and others will be there! I would expect that some time during the week, a great majority of the players will be represented, if you are unable to travel to Florida - we will miss you! I'll try to keep everyone posted as the week progresses, but being on vacation and watching UR Baseball at the various parks, may not leave much time for blogging...

I will do my best!

See you at the ballpark!

Ed

Rochester mentioned in D3Baseball.com

Check out www.D3Baseball.com as they review the New York Region. Rochester is mentioned as the dark horse in the region, and is also mentioned in the review of the upcoming Liberty League season. Both comments are very positive and shed a positive light on the program and the upcoming season.

High expectations and some recognition for our boys, this could be a very good year indeed!

They just need to take it one game at a time, one inning at a time, and they can live up to the hype!

I am certainly looking forward to this year, starting in Florida, as the warmer weather will be appreciated.

Mark your calendars now for the weekend of April 26 and 27th, as we travel to RPI, and May 9, 10, and 11th, which is the Liberty League Tournament, hosted by the regular season champion, with an automatic bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament at stake!!

The Liberty League Tournament is a double elimination tournament for the top 4 teams in the standings at the end of the regular season. The team that finishes in first place in the standings, gets to host the tournament. The tournament winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA D3 Regional Tournament. The past few years, the New York Regional has been hosted by Ithaca College at a minor league park in Auburn, NY.

Happy Valentine's Day to all, I hope you all had a LOVE-ly Day!

22 days until Opening Day vs Drew in Tampa!! I hope many of you can make the trip, even if only for a portion of the week.

See you at the ballpark

Ed

Roster set at 27, less than 1 month to Florida

My son told me that the roster was set at 27 as of Friday. In less than a month, the team will be in Florida, competing in the UAA tournament, 4 Liberty League games, and a non-league contest. Unless the weather in upstate NY changes drastically over the next few weeks, the first time the team gets outside is in Florida. The team has the most challenging schedule in Florida, that I have seen. No days off, play the first morning, and 4 Liberty League games against last year's League Champion will certainly indicate what type of team this will be coming out of Florida!

I will be working on the parent contact/email listing and contacting Coach in regard to the shirts this coming week.

Now that the roster is set, welcome to the Rochester Baseball Family to all the new players and parents. I have already been working out positions, batting orders, and pitching matchups in my head, and the good news is that it isn't easy, there will be competition for playing time in many positions. It will all boil down to who is hitting and who is not.

As far as the pitching staff, there are some new faces, which is very good! This team will need every arm available, especially in Florida.

Overall, I think the team looks very solid on paper. This could be a very good year for Rochester Baseball!!

See you at the ballpark - Go Jackets!

Baseball team supports basketball team

The UR Mens Basketball Team has a very big homecourt advantage at the Palestra. There is a student section called the Hive, and its most vocal and loyal inhabitants are the members of the UR Baseball team. They cheer on the basketball team with great enthusiasm. There are pictures of recent UR games on Democrat and Chronicle.com, which is the local Rochester, NY newspaper, look under photo galleries, and D3hoops.com where a running blog during a recent game noted that the blogger had never heard a crowd as loud as the UR crowd at a recent game. There are many pictures of the crowds on both websites, take a look and perhaps see your son enjoying the game.

Coach Neer has spoken on the microphone, a few times this season, a first in his 32 years @ UR. He thanked the students, and told them that sleep was overrated, and to be there @ noon on Sunday.

The basketball team has been ranked # 1 in D3, during the season and beat then # 2 Brandeis, then lost to Emory, dropped to 3rd and then beat # 1 Wash U. All of these teams are in the UAA. Baseball is just as competitive, as we play the UAA tournament in Florida.

Just a little over a month until Florida, hope many of you can make the trip! For those who cannot, I will try to update you through the blog, so keep watching!!

Sweatshirts and golf shirts

I sent out an email and received a pretty strong and favorable response to ordering sweatshirts and golf shirts. I passed the basic info to Coach Reina and he will let me know what we will be able to order. He did state that sweatshirts will probably be silk-screened to keep the cost in line. I will keep everyone posted as we move through this process. If you did not get the email, I apologize, I used Coach Reina's email list and several email addresses bounced back. Please let me know your email address and I will update my list. If I don't have an updated email, once the team roster is set, I will have my son contact the boys whose parents email is in question and we will get it corrected as we move into the season.

I will use this blog throughout the season as the main way to communicate, as it is available to everyone without clogging up email. I will review games and give my biased opinion on how good our team is and how well the boys are playing!! This way those of you that can not make it to the game can get an insight that your son may not share with you.

How was the game - good, we won, How did you play - good, etc, don't you love those one word answers!!

My review will be positive and stress the good things that I observed, and although there will be mistakes, errors, strikeouts, etc. I would rather focus on the positives and name those boys who did well, rather than writing that Johnny struck out with the bases loaded and cost the team the game! As we have all followed our sons and this great game long enough, we all know that the strikeout with the bases loaded was not the reason that the team lost the game, and it is a team game played by individuals. Although, a grand slam late in the game is always appreciated by the pitching staff, coaches, and fans!!!

I will try to include enough information about the games, who attended, the weather, dinner, the hotel, and other useful or not so useful information, so you all can feel like you know what went on when you can not attend. I hope you will find this to be helpful.

As always, I welcome your input - this is for all of us to share in support of the baseball team.

I will be in touch as soon as I know more details on the clothing.

All the best,

Ed

GO Jackets!!!!!

Websites & Summer Leagues

I added two links on the right side of the blog for the Liberty League and the UAA - University Athletic Association. Both of these websites will have information on the UR Baseball team as the season gets closer. These links are also available on the UR Baseball site.

I contacted Coach Reina about summer league info and he has requested that parents ask their sons about this question since the players know the process.

Patti Sullivan

Florida Update per Coach Reina

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year to all of you and your families. I hope the Holiday season was relaxing for all of you and you are as excited for the spring season as I am. I have received several e-mails concerning the logistics for our trip to Florida. This is what I know as of today:

The Dates of the trip are March 7-16th. We will be flying into Tampa, FL on the 7th. We have 5 games scheduled in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area prior to our annual UAA Tournament in Sanford, FL.

Hotel: Comfort Inn Executive Center
3580 Ulmerton Rd.
Clearwater, FL
727-573-1171

March 8-Game vs. Drew University (NJ) Time and Venue are TBD
March 9- Game vs. Skidmore College DH - 10am @ Miller Huggins Field in St. Pete
March 10- Game vs. Skidmore College DH - 9:30am @ Miller Huggins Field in St. Pete

The Games vs. Skidmore College are in place of the weekend in March 22-23. Both teams agreed that playing the games in Florida would greatly increase the chances of actually playing them.

After the games on the 10th we will travel to Altamonte Springs, FL

Hotel: Holiday Inn of Altamonte Springs
800-266-4544

Rate for Parents is $92/ night

The UAA Tournament Starts on Tues the 11th. Here is the schedule:

March 11- vs. Brandeis 2:30pm
March 12- vs. Case Western 11am
March 13- vs. Wash U 10am
vs. Emory 1pm
March 14- vs. Case Western 6pm
March 15- vs. Wash U. 6pm

We will start practice on January 29th (Tues) with 30 players trying out. The roster will be final by the 7th of February with the final 26 players. All players will be receiving a letter within the next 2 weeks letting them know what this years contribution to the Florida Trip and apparel package will be.

I will e-mail everyone a 2008 Spring schedule as soon as it becomes final. There are a few Liberty League dates that are in the process of being switched around to conflicts with other outdoor sports. As soon as we resolve these issues and the dates and times are final and contracted out, I will be sure to e-mail you all a copy.

Enjoy the start of 2008 and Go Yellowjackets!!!!

Joe Reina

Florida trip

I don't have a lot of detail, hopefully more to come soon!

This is what I know so far:

Saturday March 8 - 1 Game in St. Petersburgh vs to be announced
Sunday March 9 - 2 games in St. Pete vs Skidmore, Liberty League games
Monday March 10 - 2 games in St. Pete vs Skidmore, Liberty League games

Games in St. Petersburgh are going to be played at Miller Huggins Park - a former Yankees spring training site

Tuesday March 11 - UAA tournament starts in Sanford @ Historic Sanford Stadium and continues through the following Saturday

Tuesday March 11 - 2:30 UR vs Brandeis
Wednesday March 12 - 11:00 UR vs Case Western Reserve
Thursday March 13 - 10:00 UR vs Washington University - St. Louis
1:00 UR vs Emory University
Friday March 14 - 6:00 UR vs Case Western Reserve
Saturday March 15 - 6:00 UR vs Washington University - St. Louis

This is all preliminary - times/schedules subject to change.

For anyone new to the program - welcome! We have a great group of parents and are very supportive of the team. We travel well to all games home and away, as well as the Florida trip. I do not have details on where the team will be staying, but will post as soon as I get more details. Some parents like to stay where the team stays, while others stay at other places. As a suggestion, make reservations as soon as possible, that can be changed or cancelled as you get more details and can make an informed decision.

My personal plan is to fly into Tampa on Friday night and fly out of Orlando the following Sunday. We are staying with my sister-in-law in St. Pete, and then staying in Orlando when the team moves to Sanford. Sanford is located off I-4, between Orlando and Daytona Beach, a little closer to Orlando, on the northeast side of town.

We also have an email list which will be updated as I receive new email addresses. I also use this for contact info for parents in case of emergency, as I have been fortunate to be able to attend almost every game, and if I am not there, my wife will be.

To contact me, feel free to use any of the following methods:

Home Phone: 585-742-2370
Work phone: 585-263-9282
Cell Phone: 585-721-9776
email @ home: nkahovec@yahoo.com
email @ work: ekahovec@highfalls.com

I remember what it was like to be the new parent, please feel free to contact me with anything at all, questions, comments, suggestions, etc. Also, if anyone has any suggestions for what they would like to see in the BLOG, let me know or feel free to suggest in a post.

Happy New Year to all,

Go Jackets!

Ed Kahovec