August 4, 2017

Rivne team wins Little League Championship, advancing to regional tournament in Poland

More

Participants of the 2017 Ukraine Little League Championships in Kremenets, Ternopil Oblast.

KREMENETS, Ukraine – Nine all-star teams from across Ukraine descended upon the city of Kremenets, Ternopil Oblast, on Sunday, May 28, to compete in the 18th Ukraine Little League Championship for children age 10-12.

A total of 105 players, boys and girls, were set to compete on May 29, after the opening ceremony. The nine teams were divided into two groups. Eventually, the winners of both groups would face off in the final.

This year, each manager needed to bring original birth certificates to certify the age of each player. The winning team in this championship is then eligible to represent Ukraine at the European Regional Championship in Kutno, PoIand, on July 17-25. In the LL program the winning team stays intact. We do not form an all-star team or a national team. This way it is possible for a team from a small town or a village to represent Ukraine in Europe. That is the dream for each boy and girl competing in Kremenets.

In the past, there were issues with documents and there is still some of that “Soviet style” pressure on coaches to produce “results” no matter what the cost. Here in the U.S., most communities are satisfied when their children participate. Good results are welcome. That is not the case in many parts of Ukraine. So after a review of the documents from the South LL (Mykolayiv Oblast), I discovered that two younger players came to play instead of two other players on the roster. Those players were too old to participate. This was a just cause for disqualification. The team and its coaches were sent home.

Exciting final games

A total of 15 games were played. The Kirovoghrad LL defeated the Diamond LL (from Kyiv) 12-2 to win third place. The championship game featured two undefeated teams, Kyiv Baseball School LL versus the Rivne LL. The final game was played on the main soccer field in Kremenets. A portable backstop and dugouts made this field ideal for the final six-inning game. Off and behind the third base dugout, the fans and players could see Bona, remnants of a historic castle. What a setting for the most exciting finish to a championship game ever!

Kyiv jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning. Rivne scored four runs in the second inning to tie the game. Slowly, Rivne pulled away to lead 7-5, as Kyiv batted in the bottom of the sixth inning, its last chance for that special trip to Kutno. With their best batter,  Dmytro Yerofeiev, on deck, Ivan Labavlov stepped up to the plate with men on first and second bases with one out. On the mound for Rivne was Dmytro Kalko, a crafty lefty pitcher who was about to deliver his 85th pitch of the game. Per LL rules, a pitcher may not exceed 85 pitches in a game.

Killian Knowles (left), who donated baseball mitts, and Basil Tarasko, district administrator for Ukraine Little League Baseball.

Killian Knowles (left), who donated baseball mitts, and Basil Tarasko, district administrator for Ukraine Little League Baseball.

This was the last batter for the Rivne pitcher. He would have to be removed after this batter. No one was warming up. What was the Rivne manager thinking? Who would go in relief, and with no warm ups?

In a split second, tears would flow and others would jump up in total disbelief and victory. What happened?

Labarov lined the 85th and final pitch down the first base line, and Vladyslav Oleynyk, the Rivne first baseman, dove to his left and caught the line drive, and at that same moment fell on first base to double off the runner at first. The umpire raised his right arm to signal the third out at first base. End of game, game over.

Rivne advanced on to the European Regional Championship in Poland.

What a finish! Tears flowed and heads were down on the Kyiv LL team. The Rivne LL team was in shock from the miraculous finish. That day, there were no losers, just two evenly matched teams that fought until that final pitch. Both programs won. Congratulations to both LL programs!

This LL Championship was not just about baseball, it was a festival for the children. There was a cultural component. The children were able to visit the holy monastery at Pochayiv. Some teams went to the Spring of St. Anna, where they were able to immerse themselves in the holy water. Many teams visited the botanical gardens and various museums in Kremenets. Others climbed up to the ancient castle “Bona.”

Also, I held the annual pitching skill competition. There were individual awards, and the Kyiv Baseball School LL won the team competition.

The highlight of the games is always the lottery, during which each child picks a prize. Gloves, shirts, caps and other goodies were available. There were many smiles and happy faces as they chose their prizes.

Once again, I would like to thank Self Reliance (New York) Federal Credit Union, the lead sponsor, for making this festival a reality for the Ukrainian children during a time of war in the eastern part of Ukraine.

This kind of contribution helped to pay for meals, housing and half of the transportation costs of the players and their coaches. A total of 131 children and adults benefited.

Thanks also go out to Emily Rivers from Eastern Region Little League for donating those wonderful items for the lottery. In addition, Killian Knowles provided new baseball gloves from Rawlings for the lottery. Rod Reamer donated new baseballs for the games.

Near Kerhonkson, N.Y., the Indian Valley LL is collecting funds to help pay for some of the travel expenses of the Rivne team to Kutno. Special thanks go out for their efforts to help the Little Leaguers in Ukraine. This is the second consecutive year of this wonderful fund-raiser.

Peace Corps volunteers

In 2014, all Peace Corps volunteers were evacuated from Ukraine as Russian forces and their supporters started a war in eastern Ukraine. Now, three years later, the United States has renewed the Peace Corps program in Ukraine.

I am happy to report that three Peace Corps volunteers – Casey Mohrien, Janet Nguyen and Sierra Burtis – joined us and served as umpires and scorers. They represented the United States in an admirable way.

Mr. Knowles, 24, born in Cherkasy, Ukraine, was adopted by U.S. parents when he was only a few months old. He returned to Ukraine a second time to volunteer as an umpire. He had the distinction of being the home plate umpire at the championship game.

I asked Mr. Knowles: “Why did you come back to Ukraine?” He remarked: “I feel something special in my heart.”

Helping me in Kremenets to make this a fantastic experience for all the children were: Volodymyr Mishko, director of the Kremenets Internat, Victoria Scherbatuk, Sergiy Zez, Victor Titarchuk and the city officials of Kremenets, who allowed us to use their soccer field.

The 10th Ukraine LL Championship for children is set for September 21-25. These games will be held in Kremenets. Four internats will be invited: Mizoch LL (Rivne Oblast), Kremenets LL (Ternopil), Donetsk LL (Ukrainian territory) and Bald Mountain (Lysa Hora) LL (Mykolayiv). In addition, a new LL formed in Odesa Oblast has been invited. I feel it is a good idea for those children to get a taste of western Ukraine, its culture and its language.

Once again, the lead sponsor for this special championship is the California Association to Aid Ukraine (CAAU). The CAAU wants this baseball event to be the highlight of these children’s sports year. Games, cultural trips, a pitching competition and that lottery full of gifts for the boys and girls are all part of the program.

The Donetsk League

More about the Donetsk LL: prior to 2014 and the start of the war in the east, Internat No. 1 in the city of Donetsk participated every year at the championship. The team won three consecutive titles and then we lost contact with the internat. Recently, I learned that the children in that internat were eventually resettled in Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast. And now, that internat and three others are joining the Little League program in 2017.

The Little League team from Rivne, Ukraine, champions of the 2017 Ukrainian Little League Championships in Kremenets, Ternopil Oblast.

The Little League team from Rivne, Ukraine, champions of the 2017 Ukrainian Little League Championships in Kremenets, Ternopil Oblast.

New for 2017 will be four new teams from Donetsk Oblast, including Sloviansk general education school-internat (first to third degrees) No. 1, Bakhmut general education school-internat (first to second degrees) No. 1, Chasovoiarsk specialized general education school-internat No. 8, and Paraskoviyivsk specialized general education school-internat No. 40.

Recently, over 350 pounds of donated baseball equipment was shipped to Sloviansk to be shared by the seven Little League teams registered there. The United Ukrainian American Relief Committee (UUARC) arranged the shipment. Thanks go out to Pitch In for Baseball, Al Erdmann of the Monroe American Legion Post and Paul Venosdel of the Idaho LL program for supplying them the much-needed baseball equipment.

Another LL program was begun at the Lysohir SZOSHI with help from its director, Valeriy Ivashko.

The Lysa Hora internat is also new to the LL program. The director of the internat informed me that his school is a magnet school for Mykolayiv Oblast, which serves students with speech impediments. According to the director, most of the children are orphans.

It takes many caring individuals to organize and coordinate these two championships. Readers may support the championships in many ways, and are encouraged to offer suggestions, assistance or comments. Please contact Mr. Tarasko, district administrator of Ukraine Little League Baseball, via e-mail at [email protected], www.ukrainebaseball.org or at www.Facebook.com/UkraineLittleLeagueBaseball.

Comments are closed.