2010 Silent Auction Dinner Dance, the SOA Organization's largest annual fundraiser, has been scheduled for Friday, January 29, 2010. Tickets will be $45 and include a buffet style dinner, open premium bar, disc jockey and dancing, silent auction and raffles. Doors will open at 6:00 pm and the bar will close at 12:30 am. It is mandatory for families to purchase a minimum of (4) tickets for each player in the SOA Organization. Each player in the organization will also be responsible for paying $20 for baskets that are raffled off at the event. Ticket money for the required (4) ticket minimum ($180) and basket money ($20) will be due by December 1, 2009. A $50 late fee will be charged per player for those families who submit their money after December 1, 2009. Players will not be allowed to participate in team practices or any other activities at the SOA practice facility after December 1st until their money for the tickets  and baskets is received. A two page information sheet with more of the details for the event was passed out at the parent meeting on October 5, 2009.  If you need a copy of that handout please send an email and I will get a copy of it to email to you.

One check for $180 should be made out to “South Oakland A’s” for the tickets and one check for $20 made out to “Cash” for the baskets. Please mail your checks to Joe and Athena Kovalcik, 31990 Aline Drive, Warren, Michigan, 48093.

The Kroger Fundraising program is now tied into the Koger Plus Cards, not the gift cards.  There is no longer any credit given for loading your gift Card.  Following are the details to register your Plus Card:

Non Profit Organization 83305,

Congratulations on your enrollment into our Kroger Community Rewards Program.  Your participants can begin enrolling online.  Just go to the appropriate website mentioned below and begin enrolling. 

You have been assigned a new NPO number 83305.

Please refer to this number in all future correspondence.

TO USE THE KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM:

• Simply encourage your members to register online at krogercommunityrewards.com
• Be sure to have your Kroger Plus card handy and register your card with your organization after you sign up.
• If a member does not yet have a Kroger Plus card, please let them know that they are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger.
• Click on Sign In/Register
• Most participants are new online customers, so they must click on SIGN UP TODAY in the ‘New Customer?’ box.
• Sign up for a Kroger Rewards Account by entering zip code, clicking on favorite store, entering your email address and creating a password, agreeing to the terms and conditions
• You will then get a message to check your email inbox and click on the link within the body of the email.
• Click on My Account and use your email address and password to proceed to the next step.
• Click on Edit Kroger Community Rewards information and input your Kroger Plus card number.
• Update or confirm your information.
• Enter NPO number or name of organization, select organization from list and click on confirm.
• To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see your organization’s name on the right side of your information page.
• REMEMBER, purchases will not count for your group until after your member(s) register their card(s).
• Do you use your phone number at the register?  Call 877-576-7587 to get your Kroger Plus card number.
• Members must swipe their registered Kroger Plus card or use the phone number that is related to their registered Kroger Plus card when shopping for each purchase to count.

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.

Please send your payments to:

Tracy Wilds
11747 Monsbrook Ct.
Sterling Heights, MI 48312

Make sure to put the players name and team (ie., 9U, 15 Yellow, etc.) on the check.  It should be made out to South Oakland A's.

See everyone in the practice facility soon.

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."