2012 South Oakland A's Dinner Dance and Silent Auction

 Where:

DeCarlo's Banquet Facility
6015 E. 10 Mile Rd., Warren, MI
north side of 10 Mile, east of Mound

When:

Friday February 17, 2012
6:30 pm - 12:00 am

Buffet style dinner (served 7-8:00 pm)
Open bar 6:30-11:30 pm
DJ & Dancing
Silent Auction
50/50 Raffles
Team Basket Raffles

Tickets $50 each (all players responsible for 4 tickets)
Each Player responsible for $25 for team basket

Mail two separate checks (one for tickets made out to South Oakland A's and one for team basket made out to cash) to: Yvonne Cangemi, 21795 Whittington, Farmington Hills, MI 48336 to be received no later than February 4, 2012.  Note your team age and coach (ex: 17U-Sunde) on memo line for tracking.  Any tickets/team baskets not paid for by February 4, 2012 will incur a $50 late fee.

This is an overview.  Parents are expected to volunteer at the event.  Your team mom/manager will get more details on volunteer help.

You may contact Yvonne Cangemi @ ycangemi@twmi.rr.com or (248) 417-8132

Practice schedule beginning Dec. 1.  The first 45 minutes of each practice is core conditioning

13U: Wednesday - 6:45 - 9:30; Friday - 4:15 - 7:00; Sunday - 10:15 am - 1:00 pm

14U (Both teams): Tuesday - 5:30-8:15; Thursday - 5:30-8:15; Saturday - 10:15 am - 1:00 pm

15U: Monday 6:45 - 9:30; Friday 4:15 - 7:00; Sunday 10:15 am - 1:00 pm  

16 U (Both teams): Monday - 4:45 - 7:30; Wednesday - 4:45 - 7:30; Saturday - 2:15 - 5:30 

17 U (Both teams): Tuesday - 6:45 - 9:30; Thursday - 6:45 - 9:30; Saturday - 12:15 - 3:00

18U: Monday - 6:45 - 9:30; Wednesday - 6:45 - 9:30; Sunday 12:15 - 3:00

Friends & Families,

I am writing to you all to inform you that there is an A’s family member that needs our help. Daniel Zuchowski’s brother, TJ, had a terrible accident swimming up north over the 4^th of July weekend. The family will need us to go to bat for them now and help them get through some of the struggles they will face in the upcoming weeks, months, and years. Ever since I started the A’s years ago, I tell all the players that I have coached, that in life it is very important to be a good person. The world needs good people. Character is a trait that I look for when I select the teams that I’m going to coach, not always the best players, but those who will be team players, and will work hard towards the goals of the team. TJ is a wonderful young man. Since his accident I have asked God everyday why bad things happen to good people. The one thing that I know is that good people can help good people in their time of need, and this is why I’m sending you this e-mail to inform you of some fund raising events that are coming up and ask your help by participating and informing anyone and everyone that you can. The last Tuesday of every month will be a dinner night at a local restaurant that will donate 20% of the bill to the family. The first night will be July 26^th at Shields on 15 Mile & Crooks. We will have a night out on August 19^th at DeCarlo’s banquet hall. We are also shooting for a golf outing September 25 at the Myth Golf Course.  All of these things are in the works and more information will be coming so please look for it. We are asking for the A’s family to come together and get this done. If any families have any contacts or connections that can help TJ, Donna, Tom, Jessica and Danny please let us know for we want to use all of our networking power for this family. More info will come soon. Thanks so much.

Buster Sunde

For any donations to the family please contact:

Buster Sunde  248-866-7764 or bskhb5@aol.com

Brenda Baldwin 248-866-1141 or flashpac25@hotmail.com

Cyndi Schilling 248-990-5938 or cyndi.schilling@yahoo.com

Please click on the handout below to print the flyer needed at Shields to have 20% of your bill be donated to the Zuchowski Family. 

Congratulations to Coach Buster Sunde on being named MHSAA Division 3 Coach of the Year!!!

Also congratulations to Mike Dolloff, Eric Henderson and Daniel Zuchowski on being named to the 2011 MHSAA Dream Team

Congratulations to the following A's that were named to the 2011 Michigan All State teams

Matt Avromov 1st Team
Mike Dolloff 1st Team, Dream Team and Honorable Mention Louisville Slugger All American
Eric Henderson 1st Team and Dream Team
Mitch Kozlowski 1st Team
Brad Schalk 1st Team
Jeff Schalk 1st Team
Brett Sunde 1st Team
Ben Yax 1st Team
Daniel Zuchowski 1st Team and Dream Team
Jake Baldwin 2nd Team
Greg Fettes 2nd Team
Elliott Hall 2nd Team
Billy Malak 2nd Team

If you are participating in the Krogers fundraising program you must re-enroll your cards in the month of April to receive credits starting May 1, 2011.  This program requires annual re-enrollment.

You may want to remind yourself to contact members of your organization and encourage them to re-sign up for Kroger Community Rewards this April. All participants must sign up for the program in order to earn funds for your group during 2011.

Even if you have members who sign up for Kroger Community Rewards in February or March—which will earn your organization funds as part of the 05/01/2010 to 04/30/2011 program—they must sign up again in April to continue earning rewards during the coming year 05/01/2011 to 04/30/2012.

It’s easy for your members to enroll or re-enroll in Kroger Community Rewards. They can visit www.krogercommunityrewards.com, click on “Michigan” and click on “Enroll” or “Re-enroll” All participants must have a valid online account at Kroger.com and must sign up online to participate. Organization members can no longer scan their group’s barcode at the registers or service desk

Step by step instructions:

Go to www.krogercommunityrewards.Com

Click Michigan

Click “Re-enroll” if you were registered in the program last year.

1.       Put in your e-mail

2.       Put in your password -(If you forgot the password you set up please go thru the “Forgot you password”)

3.       Find your organization by typing in your organization’s NPO number (83305)

4.       Click the “Select Your Organization”

5.       Click the” Save Changes”

--or--

Click “Enroll” If you have never been a part of Kroger Community Rewards.com, Kroger.com or registered with the scan bar method last year.

1.       “Sign up today” (to the right)

2.       Enter your zip code and click “Search”

3.       Click on the arrow to display the list of stores in your zip code and highlight your  preferred store

4.       Enter in your email and password

5.       Click “Next”

6.       Key in you Kroger Plus Card Number (If it says that this card has already been used, please call the number on the back of your card)

7.       Enter the security code (from the box above it)

8.       Enter in your contact information.

9.       Click on “next”

10.   Verify that your account information is correct.  Check box for agreement of the terms and conditions and click “complete information”

11.   Kroger will send an email that you entered earlier in the process. (this can take up to 10 minutes)

12.   Open the email that Kroger sent. Read the email and either click on the link within the email or copy and paste it into your browser.

13.   Sign in: click on the “Click here “button and then type in your email and password.

14.   Under Kroger Community Rewards Section at right, click “Edit Kroger Community Rewards Information.”

15.   Find your organization by typing in your organization’s NPO number (83305)

16.   Click on the organization name that you want.  Please make sure that you click on the circle to the left of your organization so that it becomes highlighted.

17.   Click on “Save Changes”

18.   Scroll over the page and make sure all information is accurate

You are now “registered”

Congratulations to the 13U A's on winning Cinco de Mayo.  The A's finished pool play seeded 5th winning their three pool games, 14-0 vs. Toledo Baseball Club, 10-2 vs. MSA Vipers and 8-6 vs. Canton Cardinals. 

They opened up brackets against Teays Valley Vikings, a team that went to North Carolina the week before and competed with the teams down south as the A's did, and the A's finished off the game 9-3 with a great effort from everyone and great pitching from Chad. 

Next up were the Adrian Lookouts coached by Coach Joe's college coach Rick Smith.  The A's were in control of the game at 6-1 when the rain came and they sat for 3 hours and after the delay, they finished off the game 6-5.  Garrett threw a complete game, even after being tagged hard by a ball hit back through the box in the first inning.  The Lookouts had a great weekend, knocking MSA Black out of the tournament in pool play and upsetting the #1 West Michigan Wildcats, who did not give up a run in pool play. 

In the finals, the A's faced the Motor City Hit Dogs.  The game started off when our third batter, Billy, crushed a ball into the parking lot.  From that point forward the A's played stellar defense behind Jake's complete game and brought home the Championship with a 7-1 victory.

Good Luck down south in the Tennessee Super NIT this weekend.

It was a long weekend for all of our teams with the rain delays and congratulations to all 6 of the A's teams on a great weekend and playing some good baseball.  When it wasn't raining we had great weather and it was a fun weekend for everyone.  Good luck to all of the A's teams this weekend.  We have two teams headed South.  12's to Battle in the South and the 13's to the TN Super NIT.

This is a little late in coming but ......

CONGRATULATIONS to the 14 Green South Oakland A's in becoming the first National Championship team in the A's Organization.

The 14's went to Lebanon, TN to compete in the CABA World Series and went 9-1 to win the World Series.  The A's games:

Pool Play:

vs. Barracks Cause Baseball 12-6
vs. Franklin TN Spiders 13-4
vs. Sparks Travelers 2-5 (the only hiccup of the week)
vs. Gallatin TN Storm 11-0
vs. Washington Brewers 6-4
vs. Lebanon TN Bulldogs 6-4 (hometown team, find someone that was there to tell you about this game is a great story to hear.)

Championship Play:

vs. Hit after Hit 4-2
vs. New England Ruffnecks 9-1
vs. Seattle Select Purple 6-3
vs. Seattle Select Purple 6-4

Congratulations to Daniel Zuchowski on being named the World Series MVP

I will try and get someone that was there to write up a summary of the week and publish it here.

CONGRATULATIONS 2008 CABA 14U NATIONAL CHAMPS!!

The 12's won their first two games on Sunday, defeating the Cambridge Cubs 15-3 and the Mount Prospect Mavericks 20-6.  Against the Mavericks, Eric "McLovin" Beebe went yard 3 times for 7 RBI's.  Also going long in the game were Billy "Club" Malak, Ian "Berg" Kobernick and Zack "Zach" McGuire.

The A's won their third game 11-3 against the Carolina Riptide.  Ian "Berg" Kobernick hit two home runs, Billy "Club" Malak hit one and Zack "Zach" McGuire hit one.

The A's played the Mid-Cities Cobras (TX) at 7:00 pm on field 10 on Monday in an exciting game.  The A's jumped out to 6 runs in the 1st and 2 in the second inning to take an 8-1 lead.  The Cobras battled back to take a 9-8 lead in the 5th.  The A's came to the top of the 6th with the top of the order up and Zack "Zach" McGuire knocked in Garrett Schilling to tie the game and then with runners on 2nd and 3rd David "Crush" Chung laced a single to knock in the go ahead run.  Chad Gravlin closed out the game throwing a groundball that turned into the game ending double play. 

The A's have 2 games against two undefeated teams on Tuesday.  Follow the A's on Cooperstown Dreams Park TV  on Tuesday at 11:00 am on field 7 vs. Bulldog Baseball (GA) 4-0 and 4:30 pm on field 10 vs. Boys of Baseball (AL) 4-0.

Congratulations to the Organization Head Coach - Buster Sunde.

 Coach Buster Sunde has accepted the position of Head Coach for the varsity team of Bishop Foley High School .   Best of luck as a head coach and we look forward to watching the success that you will have at this level.

The A's will begin their 2008 Cooperstown experience this weekend.  They will have 4 games broadcast through DreamsPark TV.  DreamsPark has added cameras to 6 fields this season for additonal coverage.  To watch the games go to https://secure.dreamsparktv.net/ and register.  The skills competitions will be broadcast on Saturday starting at 5:00 with the opening ceremonies. 

 The A's TV games are: 

Monday  11:00 am Field 9 Home vs. Carolina Riptide (NC)

Monday 7:00 pm Field 10 Visitor vs. Mid-City Cobras (TX)

Tuesday 11:00 am Field 7 Visitor vs. Bulldog Baseball (GA)

Tuesday 4:30 pm Field 10 Home vs. Boys of Baseball (AL)

To follow the rest of the week and other teams go to http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/2008WeeklyResults/CDP2008WK5/CDP2008WK5.html

Here you will be able to follow scores, team standings, see some pictures from opening ceremonies, etc.

Congratulations to the 14 Green team on their 2008 USSSA State Championship.  After 3 years as runners up it is great to see you get the Championship.  The A's won a close one in the quarter finals against the Bloomfield Sting 3-2, before dispatching the Around the Horn Stampede Orange 8-0 and defeating the SEM Pirates 9-1 in the championship.

 Also congratulations go out to the 13U team and the 9u team on their runner up finish in the state championships.

Congratulations on a great weekend!!

The 15U team has has an impressive start to their season at the Triple Crown Slumpbuster in Omaha, NE during the College World Series.

They opened the tournament in an impressive fashion, beating the Dallas Panthers (finished 5th at last season's Elite 24) 14-0, the Witchita Rockies 5-0, the Americans (from St. Louis) 14-2 and the Carolina Raiders 14-3.

The A's were the only undefeated team in pool play and the next best runs against was 13. 

They begin brackets Wed. morning at 10:30 CST against the Ft. Worth (TX) Drillers.  The A's beat the Drillers 11-3 and came up just short losing to the Kansas White Sox 4-1 in the semi-finals.

The A's had some time off and were able to take in a great game at the College World Series, where Fresno St. beat 2006 and 2007 finalist UNC in the finals of the winners bracket of their pool.

The 14 Green team won the Macomb County Challenge on Father's Day.  They completed the tournament with a 4-0 record and only allowed 2 runs for the tournament.  Congratulations on a nice start to the season.

The 9's finished with a respectable 2-2 record in a very tough pool at the Cincy Flames Summer Classic.  The 12's finished 2-1 in the Macomb County Challenge. The 13's made brackets at the Michigan Major, falling short in their first bracket game against Elite 24 Qualifier, RBI Redwings.

Good luck to the 15's who start play in the Slumpbuster in Omaha, NE in conjunction with the College World Series on Monday.

Congratulations to the 13U team on winning the NFWB Cobra Classic.  The 13's only gave up 2 runs in pool play and then beat the SOA 12's 10-2 in the semi-finals and the NFWB Cobras 6-3 in the championship.

 The 9's had a strong tournament, just falling short in the championship game, losing to NFWB 12-6 in the finals.

The 12's played up in their 1st 13U tournament and making brackets and finishing 2-2.  They lost a tough 1st game in pool play 4-3 to NFWB and then won their next two pool games before losing to the SOA 13U team in the semis.

The 14 Black team went 2-2, losing in the semi-finals also.

This next week will see our teams scattered across the countryside, with the 9's participating in the Cincy Flames Summer Classic in Cincinnati where they will see teams from 5 different states, the 13's will be in Ypsilanti for a very strong tournament, the Michigan Major with teams traveling from 9 states and as far away as Florida to participate.  The 12's will be playing up again in the 13U Macomb Challenge and the 14 Green team gets their first tournament in playing in the Macomb Challenge also, being played in Mt. Clemens.

Congratulations to the 14 Black team on winning the Triple Crown May Day Qualifier.  The Black team is made up of 4 14 Green players, 5 14 Yellow players and 7 players from the 13 team.

They won all 4 games by mercy: 10-2 against the Avondale Jr. Jackets, 19-0 against the Clinton Twp. Stars and in brackets 9-1 against the Grosse Pointe RedHawks and in the Championship 13-3 against the Ashland Bombers.

Two teams that A's are playing on are rated in the top 10 in the state.

Johnny Keith plays on St. Clair Shores Lake Shore which is ranked #2 in Division 1

Blaise Salter plays on Orchard Lake St. Mary which is ranked #8 in Division 2

Jake Baldwin, Greg Fettes, Ryan Horvath, Mitchell Kozlowski, Paul Lobur and Logan Ryan play on Madison Heights Lamphere which is currently ranked #10 in Division 2

See the link for complete high school rankings

The A's would like to thank all of the parents, family and friends that attended this year's dinner/silent auction and helped to make it such a great success again.

 Also, we would like to thank Joe and Athena Kovalcik for stepping up and running this fundraiser.  Thank you for all of the hours and hard work that you put into getting this together in such a short time.

 Thank you to all of the volunteers that spent their time getting things ready and making sure that everything ran smoothly all night long.

I just wanted to give some props to a few families on the Kroger's card and show how much they can benefit both the organization and the families and really how much money, we as an organization, are leaving on the table by not shopping at Kroger.

In 1 year, the Griffins (13) and Parduns (15) have generated enough funds to make about 4 payments each, the Dolloffs (15) have generated enough to make about 5 payments and the Schalks (14G) about 3 payments.  Between these four families, they have generated over 1/3 of the funds that the A's have generated through the Kroger's program in the past year.

We have some new families that are using the Kroger's program to their benefit.  In 2 months the Lambrix (14Y) family have generated about 2/3 of a payment, the Browns (9, 13) about 1/2 payment, Pawlaczyk (9) about 1 full payment (they have 14 cards working for them and have ordered additional cards), the Beebes (12) about 1/2 payment.

Kroger offers a gas program, here is a link to see it:

http://www.kroger.com/mykroger/016/Pages/shop_save_on_fuel.aspx

Here is a link to see Kroger stores that have gas:

http://www.kroger.com/mykroger/016/Pages/fuel_locations.aspx

The closest Kroger with gas to the building is at:

KROGER CO. OF MI
26130 GRATIOT
ROSEVILLE MI 48066
Store Phone: (586) 776-8172
Pharmacy Phone: (586) 776-8583
(this is just south of 696 on Gratiot)

Last month we generated $600 in funds to the A’s on $12,000 in purchases.  These funds were generated by 56 cards used, out of 362 cards in circulation.  That works out to $217 in purchases by cards used and $11.00 to the organization per card used.  We only have 16% of our cards in use.

If we could get to 75% use of cards @ our current average purchases (which is only $50 per week in groceries, gas, etc.) we would generate almost $3000 per month.

I have heard people say that they don’t like to shop at Krogers.  I know that the people that are doing the most on this program have told me that Kroger was not where they shopped originally and if we didn’t have this program they wouldn’t shop there, but they took the extra step and are. 

The fees this year were cut in half from last year, our expenses were not.  The statement was made at the parent’s meeting that the fees were being lowered because of the economy BUT participation in the fundraising was expected or they would have to go back up next year. 

The Kroger program is a way to raise funds without spending additional money.  It is a way to have friends and family help support your children without asking them to buy something like candy or magazines or anything else.  The only thing that you might ask them to do is to change grocery stores to support their nephew, grandson, friend, etc.

Without your support it will become harder (or not at all possible) for us to provide facilities, tournaments, coaches like you have this season and have become accustomed to. 

Think about this when you grocery shop at Meijers, Kmart, VG’s, etc.:

Before we ever step onto a field this year these are the expenses that I came up with just off of the top of my head:

Practice Balls             $    4,000
Game Balls                        1,500
Tournaments                    30,000
Uniforms                          15,000
Umpire Fees                     8,000

Total                          $    58,500

That does not include any of the equipment that you see in the building, building expenses, utilities, etc.  

That total averages out to about $780 per athlete.

Please think about supporting the South Oakland A’s to the extent that you want to see your coaches supporting and training your son.

If anyone is looking for equipment, there will be an order placed by Feb. 1

If you are looking for a glove, we do have a few options, check the equipment page to see the Akadema information.

If you are looking for a Wilson glove we need 6 to place that order so see me so that I can get a list together.

If you are looking for spikes Akadema has a program for us also.  Pair of spikes and a pair of turf shoes.

Parents - as of Monday Dec. 10 - Now that full practices have begun we are asking that parents and siblings do not enter into the main area of the practice facility so that an errant baseball or equipment does not cause injury.  The areas that the parents can use are the hallway with the windows and the two rooms at the entrance - one of which has the mailboxes.

We understand that you want to watch your sons practice, but there have been too many siblings running around unattended and we are concerned for their safety.  Obviously there will be some times where a coach asks a parent for assistance in drills or to pitch in batting practice and we appreciate that assistance.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at practice.

Now that it is January, practice is mandatory.  All of our teams are between 8 and 11 weeks from their first tournament and all teams will begin putting plays in.

It is time to earn your position because no one has one yet.  Look to your left and right, is someone next to you going to out work you and take a position that you think is yours and you are coasting? 

If you can not make it to your team's practice you must notify your coach (14 yellow notify Coach Buster)

If you can not make your team's practice it is strongly recommended that you use the facility to your full advantage and come in and get work in at the time that you can get there.

The facility is also open for athletes that want additional work to get better.

Now is the time to take ownership of your 2008 season and "PRACTICE LIKE A CHAMPION !"

South Oakland A's battle to victory at Cooperstown

By Jim Evans

Daily Tribune Sports Writer

PUBLISHED: July 28, 2006

Local players pick up a trophy in prestigious tourney

MADISON HEIGHTS -- If the South Oakland A's, a youth baseball organization based in Madison Heights, keep it up, a few players could wind up being more than just entrants in the annual tournaments at Cooperstown Dreams Park.

Who knows, there may be a bronze plaque or two of A's alums on the wall at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in that same upstate New York town some day.

Sound far-fetched? So does the fact that a team from the northern part of the United States won the finals of the week four tournament in Cooperstown for the second year in a row.

The 2005 South Oakland A's also won the 12U championship.

This year's 12U South Oakland A's beat the Southern California Hurricanes 4-2 in eight innings in the championship game. The A's came out of pool play 7-0 to earn the sixth seed out of 96 teams from across the United States.

The local team then barged through bracket play beating the West Virginia Panhandle Cubs 11-4, Willis Park (Georgia) Storm 9-6, and the South Florida Bulldogs 3-2.

In the finals against the Hurricanes, starting pitcher Scott Taylor (Warren) was outstanding, striking out 13 in six innings. Conner Harvey (Sterling Heights) pitched the final two innings for the win.

The A's hammered 31 home runs in 11 games during the week. Harvey paced the attack with nine. Brad Schalk (Sterling Heights) had five, Taylor and Danny Zuchowski (Hamtramck) had four each, while Brett Sunde (Royal Oak) and Shane Dokey (Warren) rapped three apiece. David Smelser (Sterling Heights) and Brad Plec (Sterling Heights) each had one homer, with Plec smacking his during the championship game.  Jared Doss also had one homerun, a grand slam that broke a 0-0 tie game and broke open the floodgates when the A’s had a 9 run inning to put the game out of reach.  Doss also was the A’s leading hitter for the week.

Also contributing to the wins in Cooperstown were Kyle Suminski (Fraser), Bobby Griffin (Sterling Heights), Marshall Howard (Southfield), Derrick Ryan (Madison Heights), Jeff Schalk (Sterling Heights) and Tommy Wilds (Sterling Heights).

Other key members of the team are Ira Lang of Southfield and Matt Peterson of Madison Heights.

The South Oakland A's are one of only five organizations in the United States to have won more than once in Cooperstown.

"I don't think any team from the north has won it more than once," said coach Buster Sunde.

The reason is obvious. It's tough to get outside for a little hitting or infield practice when there are six inches of snow on the ground and the wind chill is enough to send an Aleutian second baseman scurrying back inside for a scarf.

Travel baseball teams from below the Mason-Dixon Line and out West typically start practicing in January.

"When we go on our spring trip south, while we can compete, it's obvious the teams from Georgia and Florida are ahead of us. That's because they've probably played 30 games by then. But by this point in the season, we've caught up with them."

The South Oakland A's have done way more than catching up to other teams, no matter what their return address happens to be. They have become a dominating presence on the country's youth baseball scene. Last year's 12U team went a phenomenal 96-3. This year's group is 76-20.

"I guess we're just trying to do our part to keep baseball alive locally," said Sunde. "When you teach a young player the proper fundamentals at an early age, they will have a chance to be successful later on."

The South Oakland A's organization is completing its fourth season. Some of the players on its first age-group team will be entering high school in the fall.

"I've heard from a few high school coaches that they'll play on the varsity as freshmen," said Sunde.

That's not on the horizon quite yet for this year's 12U squad. They'll be leaving soon for Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando to compete in the USSSA Super Elite Major World Series July 30 through August 6. The tournament brings together the top 24 teams in the country at the 11, 12, 13 and 14 age groups.

The A's will drive their opponents Goofy down in Orlando. After all, this is no Mickey Mouse operation."