|
|
|
 Welcome |
|
Welcome to the Official Web Site of the Southline Storm!
The Southline Storm are a group of Tournament/Travel Baseball and Softball teams, based out of the Southline Athletic Association in Cheektowaga, NY (near Buffalo).
In 1995, Ron Nero coached the Southline 8U Tournament Team in a few local tournaments. From 1996 to 1999, that same group of players participated in many local tournaments, finishing very well each time. In 2000, I began helping Ron with the team
During the winter of 2000-2001, several members of the Southline Ahtletic Association (SAA) travel baseball team, participated in a hitting league at Rick Lancelotti's Buffalo School of Baseball. When the guys signed up, they did not have a team name, nor could they decide on one. Rick decided to give us the name Storm for the hitting league. Since the SAA travel team also needed a nickname, the players decided to keep Storm. So thank you to Rick Lancelotti (not only for the name, but for everything else he has done for us over the years).
So in the summer of 2001, Ron and I took the first Southline Storm team (14U) entered the ECTB (East Coast Tournament Baseball) July 4th Blast Tournament, finishing 3rd. This qualified us for the ECTB World Series where we finished 9th.
In 2002, the Southline Storm team (15U) finished 2nd in All-America Baseball Association (AABC) regionals, and 7th in AABC Championship. We also won the championship in the South Cheektowaga Inter-League (18U), and the Crabapple Tournament (16U) as a 15U team.
In 2003, the Southline Storm came in 7th place in the AABC Regional Finals, and won the Crabapple Tournament (18U) as a 16U team.
The 2004 season was somewhat bittersweet for the Storm. As a 17U team, were were limited to just 8 games. This was due to the fact that almost all of our team was still playing baseball. Unfortunately, the geographical restrictions of American Legion Baseball (19U) forced some of our players to play for other coaches. Some of our players were selected to play on AAABA (All-America Amatuer Baseball Association) 21U (wood bat) teams. Still other players were lost to school, jobs, or other interests.
As sad as we were to see the Original Southline Storm, Ron and I were extremely happy to hear that Darryl Kumro and Ray Struzik from the SAA were continuing the Storm tradition by founding the new Southline Storm teams.
Currently, there several Southline Storm teams operating out of SAA. For more information about the new Southline Storm teams, go to http://www.southlinestorm.com.
While some of our former Storm players have moved on to other sports/careers, most of them are still playing baseball and pursuing their college educations. Ron and I are coaching the Depew Legion and AAABA BT Comdoc teams. Ron is also the Head Baseball Coach at Medaille College.
I am happy to announce that I have been asked to help out with my granddaughter's (Isabel Letson) 8U Softball Tournament Team. And so the Original Southline Storm Team lives on.
Tony Sekuterski
Go to the "Links" Section for more information.
If you have any questions, contact me at the Original Southline Storm at tsekuter@aol.com, or the Other Southline Storm Teams at southlinestorm@adelphia.net.
|
|
|
