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.