Ten years of baseball development in Ukraine marked by significant progress
by Basil Tarasko
CONCLUSION
On July 5 Ivan Fedorenko, president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine (NOCU), presented this writer with a certificate of thanks for 10 years of volunteer work in Ukraine in helping to develop the sport of baseball and in building up the youth program with an emphasis on the Little League program. Also present were Volodymyr Kulyk, vice-president of NOCU, Vitaliy Lizogubenko, Ukraine's director of baseball development, and James Stopper, chief financial officer of Little League Baseball Inc. and director of baseball development.
Big League European Championship
The Atma Sport Club of Kyiv and Little League baseball in Ukraine hosted the first ever Big League European Baseball Championship in Ukraine on July 25-29. The Big League Champion (among teams of players age 16-18) would represent Europe in Easley, South Carolina, and compete for the World Big League title in August.
Belgium, Germany, Moldova, Lithuania, Poland and the host country, Ukraine, gave assurances of their participation in this premier tournament. But as the days to these games approached, teams started to drop out, citing their inability to pay the travel costs. Eventually only two countries agreed to compete for an all-expense-paid trip to the United States.
Poland, last year's winner, would face Ukraine in the best-of-five series. Ukraine defeated Poland in three straight games 8-5, 9-7 and 10-4 to win the European Big League Championship. The Ukrainian team comprised young men from Kirovohrad, Sumy and Symferopol. The two coaches Yuriy Boyko and Sergiy Limarenko were from Kirovohrad.
The victory enabled a Ukrainian Big League team to travel to the United States for the very first time. What better way is there to improve your baseball skills than to appear and compete at a World Series in the United States, home of baseball?
It was time to get the airline tickets, jump on a plane and play ball.
And then there was the matter of visas. Each player and coach needed one to enter the States. The U.S. Embassy was made aware in advance that either the Polish or Ukrainian team had to receive visas as soon as possible. Interviews for the visa at the Embassy were set for August 1 with departure for the United States the very next day. Each player and coach was interviewed individually and grilled about his baseball knowledge; the U.S. consul was satisfied and the entire team earned the right to travel.
Little League Baseball Inc. provided the funding for the airline tickets, for which I am very grateful but what about the cost of a U.S. visa? It only costs $75, you may say, but $75 for the parents of our players is a considerable sum.
Mr. Boyko, one of the coaches, traveled back to Kirovohrad after the third game (luckily the tournament lasted only three days, and went to the home of every player and explained that money was needed to pay for the visas. Most parents came up with only a partial amount, but there were a few who had nothing to contribute. What to do? Yuriy returned to Kyiv dejected. Then Sergiy Dobrevechir, manager of the team, came to the rescue. It wasn't easy, but he was able to borrow the needed amount. It seems that just about everything in Ukraine gets done at the very last moment.
Big League World Series
Ukraine's Big League team arrived in Atlanta, Ga., after stops in Warsaw and Chicago on Friday, August 3, at 11 p.m. After packing into vans, they had a three-hour ride to Southern Wesleyan University, which served as an "Olympic Village" for the athletes from around the globe. There was not much rest that night for our athletes because the next day's opening ceremonies were set for 10 a.m. The festivities featured a flyover by U.S. Air Force jets, and the opening pitch was thrown by legendary Yankee great Bobby Richardson.
Our boys needed to rest after their grueling trip and get used to the time difference between Easley and Kyiv. That was not to be. Our first game was scheduled for 9 p.m. on the first day against Venezuela, the Latin American representative. In addition, this game would be the first for our team played under lights.
We showed our inexperience and the effects of travel by dropping a 10-0 decision. Team Ukraine had but two hits and committed five errors in defeat.
Some of the officers of the Easley Police Department assigned to the J.B. "Red" Owens/Easley Recreational Complex noticed our athletes playing in tennis shoes. They got together and posted a letter at the local police station asking for donations to help the boys from Ukraine. All other teams had top-of-the-line equipment. "It is hard to run without proper shoes, and we wanted these kids to play on an even playing field," said Lt. Barry Seaborn. Various police officers quietly approached businesses in the local area for help.
The positive response was an example of what makes this country great. One by one, donations of baseball equipment poured in. Here is a list of contributors: Toyota of Easley, Wal-Mart, Easley Sporting Goods, Lu Bagwell Designers, Colony Theater, Wendy's, Robert Accounting, St. Michael Episcopal Church, and the many local residents who donated equipment and bought Ukrainian baseball souvenirs.
Now the question was how to get the proper equipment to the boys. Each player was to get baseball spikes, baseball shirts and a glove; correct sizes were needed. What to do? Well, Forest Thomas, tournament director from South Carolina, and Lt. Seaborn decided to "arrest" the Ukrainian team. On the morning of August 6, the van carrying the Ukrainian team to lunch was surrounded by police cars. The team was told that there was a major problem and the van must follow the police cars. Well, the van was escorted to the local Wal-Mart where the manager met the team along with local press. Here our team went shopping for much-needed equipment thanks to the generosity of the folks of Easley.
"To me, it's a magnificent story," Mr. Thomas said. "But what makes it magnificent is the people, all on their own - not prodding by me - took it upon themselves to make it happen."
Now, for the third game, the Ukrainians had cleats. Coincidentally or not, Ukraine defeated Saipan 6-5 on Monday night, August 6. Asked if the cleats helped, Mr. Dobrevechir, manager, replied with a smile: "We won - first time."
Yevgen Bliznyk, a player from Kyiv remarked, "People will know that Ukraine is not in last place, and we can actually do something. ... It will be a good advertisement for baseball."
Denis Agapov from Kirovohrad remarked, "We are learning, and when we get back, we will use what we learned here in our future games there. Other teams will learn from us, and the sport will grow."
Asked what the players like best about the United States, Mr. Bliznyk said. "The people are happy. It's a great country. Everything is built very well. People show a lot of support for sports. And people are great, and kind, and wonderful."
Yes, "wonderful" is the best word to describe the people of Easley and of South Carolina, and all that I witnessed along with the 14 players and the three-man coaching staff of Ukraine. Thank you all. Special thanks go also to Adam Davis of The Greenville News, who covered this story and provided me with much information.
For the record, the results of the games were Canada 8-Ukraine 7. Ukraine jumped to an early 4-0 lead. Canada fought back to lead 8-5 going into the last inning. Ukraine scored two runs in the top of the seventh. Agapov and Kubalsky led the attack with two hits each.
On Monday, August 6, wearing new cleats - Ukraine defeated Saipan 6-5. Pletenya came into relief in the second inning with Ukraine down 2-0. He went the distance, allowing one earned run while striking out six. Vasiuk led the team in its comeback with two hits and scored the deciding run in the sixth inning. It was our first victory on U.S. soil.
Ultimately, Ukraine finished with a 1-3 record, and U.S. West defeated Latin America for the World Big League title.
As the district administrator of the Little Leagues in Ukraine I was truly proud to see our players here in the States. All that work since 1995 to build up the Little League program was really worth it. I expect more success in the future. At the end of the tournament I wished our players and coaches a safe trip back to Ukraine. My closing remarks included the fact that the final standings were not important, what was important was the way the players carried themselves for those eight days in the United States.
My message to the team: "You were the ambassadors of Ukraine. Most people had no idea where Ukraine was located, they had no knowledge of who you were, or how you performed on and off the field. But they saw how you acted, they watched your every move. They were impressed by your actions - you were gentlemen, respectful and humble. They respect you and Ukraine. Ukraine could not have had better ambassadors than you, our Big League team."
European Championship, Group A
On July 28 to August 5 Ukraine's senior baseball team competed in the European Championship, Group A, in Bonn and Cologne, Germany.
Last summer the team had captured the European Baseball Championship, Group B, in Slovakia. That victory enabled Ukraine to move into Group A competition. The key here at the 2001 championship was to finish in one of the top 10 positions and avoid relegation. Ukraine was grouped with Spain, the Czech Republic, Russia, England and Holland. Two victories in group play would be our goal.
On July 27 Ukraine faced Spain and had to use wooden bats for the first time. These bats had arrived from a bat distributor from Russia the previous day. We had no experience using wooden bats back home in Ukraine. Well, we came out swinging and shocked Spain. Final score: Ukraine 12-Spain 7. The next day we faced the Czech Republic. The Czechs raced to a 12-0 lead, we fought back late in the game to close at 12-7, but the Czechs piled it on. Final result: Czech Republic 19-Ukraine 7.
On July 30 it was Ukraine against Russia. I was hoping for an upset, but it was not to be. Russia was one of the favorites to win the championships. Russia scored early and often and won 12-3.
July 31 was our last chance for a victory in group competition. Last year's champion, Holland, was our next opponent. We had Anatoliy Korolev, game one winner, on the mound. At the bottom of the ninth Ukraine had a three-run lead, 4-1. Korolev was throwing a strong game, but becoming weary. Our relief pitching had been ineffective in previous games. We had to force Korolev to get the final three outs. The lead-off batter for the Brits got hit with an 0-2 pitch, a baseball no-no. A walk followed and then a bloop single to right knocked in the second run for England. Then a sharp single knocked out Korolev. Andrei Semenov came in and allowed the winning hit. England walked off, winning 5-4. It was a heart-breaking defeat. We stood there stunned - we were just three outs away from finishing in the top 10.
On August 1 it was Holland 6-Ukraine 0, an expected defeat. We played like we were going to lose.
Ukraine then moved into playdown phase, ninth through 12th place, along with Belgium, Sweden and England. We needed victories over both Belgium and Sweden to finish in 10th place - our last chance.
Korolev once again was on the mound to face the Belgians, his third start. Ukraine scored no runs to Belgium's 8. All hopes were dashed for 10th place.
Even the 11-4 win over Sweden on the final day did little to make the long bus ride back to Kyiv enjoyable.
Ultimately, Italy defeated a tough Russian team to win the European Senior Championship. Ukraine was relegated back to Group B, which means that next summer Ukraine must win the Group B Championship again to move back to Group A.
Why are we in this situation again? We came to Germany missing our two top pitchers. Roman Yatsuk, also one of the top pitchers in Europe and our best, was in the Czech Republic pitching for a local baseball club. The salary he earned there was much more than he earned in Kirovohrad. The Czech Republic agreed to bring Roman to Germany and then have him pitch for Ukraine. Well, the Czech Republic was in our group, so we were not surprised that Yatsuk was a no-show. Why didn't he arrange for his own transportation to Germany? Where is his desire to compete for Ukraine? Where is his allegiance? I will get to the bottom of this.
Our second best pitcher, lefty Sergiy Trofimenko, remained at home in Crimea. A couple of years ago he and Oleh Boyko, manager of Team Ukraine, had a difference of opinion. Since then Boyko refuses to place Trofimenko on the roster. I believe that a dialogue should have taken place between the two parties, and that their differences should have been corrected. This was not done, and Team Ukraine was hurt badly.
All problems and disagreements between players and coaching staff must be resolved before the next season begins. Cooler heads must prevail. Our National Team program must have all of the top players performing and available for all international tournaments.
There is so much baseball talent in Ukraine. Let's put our best foot forward and get the best players on the national teams of Ukraine.
Basil P. Tarasko is coach of the National Baseball Teams of Ukraine, district administrator of the Little Leagues in Ukraine, and a scout for the San Diego Padres Baseball Club.
CONCLUSION
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, December 9, 2001, No. 49, Vol. LXIX
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