A's 7 - Rays 4

After a tough and intense game, the A's won yesterday's game against the Rays 7-4. A great game was played by all with some kids new to baseball getting their first "live" hits. A big thank you to Tracy for the cupcakes and juice.

Todd will send out a mail later this weekend as a reminder for next Sunday's game. But you can check the schedule in a previous post below for game time. Remember its a work day so traffic may be heavy. Please give yourself plenty of time to arrive. We may try to get there early to have some fielding practice.

Thanks again to Mr. Solnick for the pictures. If any of you have any more pictures or videos email them to me at rosinka2008@yahoo.com and I can post them here.

A's are 1-0

Great game today! Despite being the first game (and the weather) the A's played great today, both in the field and at bat finishing the game with a win over the ????'s 10-5. I am sure Todd will have stats out later in the week.

A special thanks to Hatice Tekdemir for the delicious snacks, Bruce Dingeman for the batting coaching, Jose "send them home" Moreno for the 3rd base coaching and Steve Solnick for the pictures. Reminder emails will go out this week for Saturdays game.

Please remember if you have a burning desire to bring snacks next week email Todd and we appreciate any picutures or videos you have so I can put them on the blog.

Saturday

Dear Parents,

Baseball season is upon us, and I finally have a firm schedule to share with you. As you can see, the times vary week to week, and there are two Sunday games. We regret the irregularity of the schedule, but MYBL is entirely dependent on AAS for facilities, and AAS sometimes has other activities scheduled. I have attached the entire schedule for all the levels of play, in case you have children on other teams.

For our first game, this coming Saturday, let's meet at the bottom of the bridge-stairs on the lower Athletics fields at Anglo-American school. Our children will be wearing A's caps (image attached). Shirts too, but those will likely be obscured by their parkas. If you need directions to AAS, you may click here to find them.

We still need a parent to volunteer to coordinate snacks each week.

Play Ball!

Todd Kerns, Coach
John Fekete, Asst Coach, Talent Scout and BlogMaster

Here's the Schedule:

Saturday 19 April 9:30 - 11:30 versus the Question Marks

Saturday 26 April 11:00 - 13:30 versus the Devil Rays

Sunday 4 May 13:30 - 15:30 versus the Red Socks

Saturday 10 May 9:30 - 11:30 versus the Braves

Sunday 18 May 13:30 - 15:30 versus the Orioles

Saturday 24 May 9:30 - 11:30 versus the Question Marks

Saturday 31 May 11:00 - 13:30 versus the Devil Rays

Saturday 7 June 9:30 - 11:30 versus the Red Socks (End of Season Barbecue and Awards Ceremony at Rosinka to follow play).

Practice Update

Dear Parents of Machine Pitch Players,

In order to provide more possibilities for kids to get more practice time, the Machine Pitch coaches who are able have volunteered more of their time. In order to ease traffic time, we will attempt to host practice around the city.

Below is an email from Todd Kerns and Geoff Moskowitz who will be holding practices in the Southwest of Moscow. Please note all Machine Pitch kids are invited, not just those children on their respective teams. Also note the practices are not mandatory.

You will be receiving other emails about other practices around Moscow . For those in Rosinka, John Fekete will be hosting practices.

Please don’t forget to thank these coaches when your kids go to practice. We are lucky to have parents who contribute their time each week to your children. These practices are more of their time and let them know we appreciate their sacrifice.

From: Kerns, Todd [mailto:Todd.Kerns@promail.ru] Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 11:23To: Kerns, Todd; Geoffrey MoskowitzSubject: Baseball - Batting Practice for Machine Pitch in South-West Moscow

Dear Parents of Machine Pitch Players,

Girls and boys who are playing Machine Pitch baseball this year are invited to batting practice every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. The first practice will be on Wednesday, 9 April. If it rains on Wednesdays, then practice will be held on Thursdays. Please telephone one of at at about 5:00 p.m. if you have any doubts about the weather.

We will set up the pitching machine in the park by the New Circus at Universitet Metro Station. Click on this Yandex Map to see the location. You may park on Nicolai Copernicus Street (улица николая коперника) and then look for us.

This practice is open to all Machine Pitch players, regardless of which team they play for. It is optional, not mandatory. Families who live in South-West Moscow (or who wish they lived in South-West Moscow) are encouraged to participate. Other practices will be scheduled at Pokrovsky Hills and at Rosinka (contact John Fekete rosinka2008@yahoo.com ).

Play Ball!

Todd Kerns
Coach, The Athletics
mobile: 766 2262
Todd.Kerns@promail.ru

Geoffrey Moskowitz
Coach, The Devil Rays
mobile: 727 67 48
gmoskowitz@tiptop.com.ru

Thank you for enrolling your child in the Moscow Youth Baseball League for the 2008 Season. We are pleased to inform you that your child has been selected to play for the Athletics, also known as the A’s. In choosing a team, we looked not only at a child’s athletic ability, but at the character of the child, and of the parents as well. We believe that both the children and the parents will have a wonderful time this season as we spend our sunny Saturday mornings with the children on the baseball field. Win or lose, we have assembled a great group of people.

When? We do not yet have concrete information about the times and dates of the games, as we await a decision from the Anglo-American School. For now, let us assume that the games will be every Saturday at 10 in the morning, from 19 April until 14 June. The exceptions will be 4 May and 18 May, which will be Sunday afternoon games, around 2 in the afternoon.

Where? All games will be played on the Lower Fields at Anglo-American School. (http://www.aas.ru/)

Who? There is a roster of the team at the bottom of this letter..

What do you need? We will provide an Athletics Shirt and Cap. You must provide your child with a baseball glove. Ordinary athletic shoes and clothing will be fine—no special clothing is required.

What do we need? We would like one parent volunteer to coordinate the providing of snacks for each game. We would like another to volunteer to be the team photographer and/or videographer. We have set up a blog site to share photographs, videos, schedules, and other information each week. The address is http://www.moscowAs2008.blogspot.com/.

How to play? There will be practice sessions so that the children can learn to hit balls from the batting machines. John Fekete will organize this at Rosinka, other coaches will do so at AAS, and Scott Poulsen and I will do so in South-Western Moscow.

We will give you more information as it becomes available. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Welcome to the Team! We’re looking forward to a great season.

Todd Kerns - Coach

John Fekete, Assistant Coach

Scott Poulsen, Assistant CoachTeam