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Slugging Air Force Academy grad expected to make pro debut tonight with Muckdogs

By Howard B. Owens

Air Force Academy grad Nic Ready is expected to make his professional baseball debut tonight with the Batavia Muckdogs, reports the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Ready, a slugging third baseman, was drafted last week in the 23rd round by the Miami Marlins. He drove in 224 runs in 216 games for Air Force.

The Muckdogs open their season at 7:05 p.m. against the Auburn Doubledays.

Bill Pitcher: An umpire for 50 years

By Howard B. Owens
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Bill Pitcher has been an umpire for high school and youth baseball in and around Batavia for 50 years.

Updates on Batavia 24U Baseball Team, next game is Tuesday night at GCC

By Billie Owens

By Dan McComb:

June 4

The Batavia 24U Baseball Team kicked off its season at GCC Tuesday, June 4, with a 2-1 win over the Titans.

Trevor Sherwood pitched six shutout innings, striking out 12 and earning the victory. Tristan Aldinger worked the seventh for the save, striking out two batters.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Jerry Reinhardt led off with an infield single and went to second on a bad throw. Reinhardt stole third and came home on a wild pitch.

Then AJ Marcello walked with one out and came home on a triple by Casey Radka.

In the top of the seventh, with the tying run at third base, Aldinger struck out the #3 hitter looking to preserve the win.

The Batavia 24U Team next plays Shoshone at Shoshone Park Thursday, June 7.

June 7

The Batavia 24U Baseball Team beat Shoshone of North Buffalo 4-0 on Thursday, June 7, behind the combined one-hitter of Zeke Lynn and Casey Radka.

Lynn worked the first five innings, giving up one hit and striking out six. Radka earned the save, pitching two innings without issuing any walks or surrendering any hits and striking out three.

It was scoreless until the top of the third inning when Batavia struck for three runs. Ryan Mullen led off the inning with a single and was followed by a single by Josh Baptiste.

Josh Bradley grounded into a force-out, but a throwing error by the second baseman to first base brought Mullen to third base and Bradley to second base.

A wild pitch brought Mullen home.

Jerry Reinhardt then singled, and Radka delivered a two-out, two-run single to drive in Bradley and Reinhardt.

Batavia scored its final run in the top of the sixth. AJ Marcello led off the inning with a walk and was followed by a single by Luke McComb. Mullen then walked, and after two force-outs at home, Tristan Aldinger was hit by a pitch to score the fourth run.

Reinhardt and Radka led the hitting attack with two hits apiece.

Batavia improves to 2-0 on the season.

Batavia’s next game is against the defending champs, Clarence, in Clarence Sunday, June 9. Clarence beat Batavia at the playoffs last year 6-5 with a two-out, two-run double in extra innings.

June 9

The Batavia 24U Baseball Team continues to be undefeated (3-0) with a 10-5 win over Clarence in Clarence. Clarence is the defending champ. They beat Batavia in the playoffs last year in extra innings.

Casey Radka came in in relief in the first inning with the bases loaded and no outs and finished the game off allowing only two runs and striking out six batters.

Batavia got on the board first in the first inning when Tristan Aldinger singled. Jerry Reinhardt followed with a double to drive in Aldinger. At the top of the second with Batavia trailing 3-1, Ryan Mullen got a single with two outs and came home on an RBI double by Josh Baptiste.

In the top of the third, with Batavia trailing 3-2, Aldinger singled, stole second and came home on an RBI single by Radka to tie the game.

Zeke Lynn then gave Batavia a 4-3 lead with an RBI double.

In the top of the fourth inning, with the game tied at 4, Luke McComb led off the inning with a walk, went to second on a single by Mullen and went to third on a stolen base. McComb scored on a ground-out by Josh Baptiste to go ahead 5-4.

In the top of the fifth inning, with the score tied at 5, Reinhardt was hit by a pitch, stole second base and came home on a Radka double. Radka scored on an error, as Batavia pulled ahead 7-5.

In the top of the seventh inning Batavia scored three more runs. Josh Bradley singled as did Aldinger, and both came around to score on a two-run double by Reinhardt. Zeke Lynn then drove in Reinhardt with an RBI single.

Aldinger had three hits and Reinhardt, Radka, Lynn and Mullen had two hits apiece.

Batavia’s next game is against North Buffalo at home at Genesee Community College at 6 p.m. next Tuesday, June 18.

Video: Batavia Muckdogs 2019 preview

By Howard B. Owens
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The Batavia Muckdogs open their 2019 campaign at home at 7 p.m., Friday, which is the start of a two-game home stand against cross-Thruway rivals Auburn.

In the video, we talk with Tom Lawless, the new Muckdogs manager, and Dalvy Rosario, a top Marlin's prospect who is 19 and is expected to be the Muckdog's starting shortstop this season.

Last year in the Dominican Summer League, Rosario hit .257 with four home runs, 42 RBIs, 42 runs scored, and 26 stolen bases in 46 games.

This will be the 12th season Lawless has worked as a minor league manager since 1994. He's also been a hitting and infield instructor at the minor and major league level and he managed the Houston Astros in 2014 (70-92).

The former big-league ballplayer is best known for his bat flip after hitting a home run in Game 4 of the 1987 World Series (video below).

Batavia baseball, cigarettes, excelsior, and the back of a police car

By David Reilly

(Photo circa 1958. That’s Dave Reilly sliding and his infamous pal Charlie making the "safe" sign.)

This year Batavia will be celebrating 80 years of baseball. Through the names Clippers, Indians, Pirates, Trojans, back to Clippers, and since 1998 the Muckdogs, the local team has provided adults and kids with a source of entertainment during the summer.

It also indirectly affected me ending up in the back of a police car about 60 years ago.

In the late '50s and '60s when I was about 10 to 15 years old (before girls), baseball was king with my friends and me.

In the daytime in the summer we would constantly be on our bikes with our bats and mitts riding all over looking for a place to play ball. One of our favorite places was the Little League park on State Street, which was deserted during the day and another field right by MacArthur Stadium where the Indians (as they were called from '57-'59) played.

We had a group of our guys and there was another ”gang” who lived in the stadium area who we would play for bragging rights.

As long as we were near the Indians' field we would go there when the team was at home and see if we could talk to, get autographs from, or maybe even score a broken bat from our heroes. The “heroes” were in reality 21- or 22-year-olds who had slim chances of getting to the majors, but they were still gods to us.

In 1957 the star was Ken Kraynak, who led the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in and thus won the Triple Crown trophy. We had an in with him, too, because for the summer he was dating my buddy Charlie's older sister.

In 1959 the “man” was Al Luplow, who went on to spend nine years in the major leagues. Once again, Charlie stood out but this time for the wrong reason.

Luplow was there in the clubhouse the afternoon Charlie mouthed off to some kid and got his arm broken. Al tried to comfort my friend who was screaming in pain until the ambulance got there. At least Charlie got his cast autographed by most of the players, but he never did learn to keep his yap shut.

When we were younger, 10 to 12 years old, we might have been allowed to walk to the game, but one of our parents would usually pick us up afterward.

Batavia Baseball Bargain -- the 'Knothole Pass'

Also, we would most likely sit in the grandstand section and watch the whole game. We were there for the baseball.

Back then, they had a season ticket for kids called a “Knothole Pass.” It cost one dollar and was good for almost every game. We sure got our money's worth out of that.

I guess the team figured they would make up the money by us kids buying the proverbial peanuts, popcorn and Cracker Jacks. I rarely had any money though, so they lost out on me. Also, I hated Cracker Jacks and still do.

In 1960 Batavia did not field a team due to financial problems. I'm not sure what we did with our summer nights that season, but it probably involved whining at our parents that, “There's nothing to do in this one-horse town.”

However, in 1961 the team returned as the Pirates and we returned as teenagers and some of the shenanigans that come with that wonderful age came with us.

Our parents didn't know it (do they ever?), but now we were likely to spend more time fooling around outside the stadium than in it. Also, we would more apt to be in a group of guys and the monster of peer pressure was lurking around to rear its ugly head.

One of our obsessions was trying to get a foul or home run ball that was hit out of the stadium.

But, in those days, minor league teams had no money to keep replacing expensive baseballs. So, they hired a few teenagers to go get the balls and return them to be used again.

Now, I'm not saying that the team intentionally hired mean bullies for that job, but it sure seemed that way to us younger kids. 

The teenagers were faster than us and mostly got to the balls before we could. But, on the few occasions when we actually snagged a foul or homer before them, let's just say that they didn't ask in a polite way to get it back.

We'd usually submit pretty easily, but if not we might go home with dirt on our clothes or a bruise somewhere. I do not recall ever getting to keep one of those baseballs.

Around that time, like many young teens, we began to get daring and try to smoke cigarettes. Of course, even though many of our parents smoked, we'd be in big trouble if they caught us doing it: "Do as I say, not as I do."

Acts of Derring-do

So, we couldn't smoke inside at the game because someone might see us and tell mom and dad. In fact, one time in elementary school I had a candy cigarette (there's a great product for kids) in my mouth outside and by the time I got home, my mom had gotten a call that I had been smoking!

So, if we wanted to sneak a cigarette we'd have to hide outside somewhere. One night, this is what got us into a bunch of trouble.

Behind the center field fence of MacArthur( now Dwyer) Stadium was a stone structure everyone called the Civil Air Patrol Building.

Apparently, during World War II, volunteers used be stationed there with binoculars to keep an eye out for German bombers who wanted to take out the Doehler-Jarvis Tool and Die factory or some other Batavia target.

By 1961 it was pretty much deserted except for men's and ladie's restrooms, which were kept open for people in the park area. 

(Author's Note: I was surprised on a recent visit to Batavia to find the old building still standing, albeit in ragged shape and marred by graffiti.)

My friends Charlie (yup, him again), Jay, Mike, and I were in the vicinity of the Civil Air Patrol Building during a Pirates' game. We were most likely once again on a futile mission to get a home run or foul ball.

At some point we went into the men's room to sneak a smoke. We were such chickens to get caught that we even shut the door. But, since the building was really not in use, there were no lights and this is where someone, maybe me, came up with a completely idiotic idea.

Enter Excelsior

In another open but unused room there were some old, cushioned chairs. They had either fallen apart or been vandalized so the stuffing of the cushions was hanging out.

We must have had a good vocabulary because we knew this straw filling was called "excelsior," a word that becomes important in this tale later on.

We took some handfuls of the excelsior back to the men's room, lit it on fire for light, shut the door, and commenced to fire up our Winstons or whatever brand we had. 

With no ventilation, within seconds the room filled with dense acrid smoke.

Not wanting to suffocate we had no choice but to throw open the door and exit posthaste while choking and coughing. As we regained our breath the gagging turned to laughter at ourselves as we realized how dumb we had been.

This hilarity did not last long.

We went back inside to stomp out the now smoldering straw, but didn't realize that the plumes had been seen by people inside the stadium at the game.

As we exited again, we looked up to see a Batavia City Police car speeding across the grass toward us. It turned out that a Batavia policeman (who shall remain nameless) had stopped at the game on his patrol and had seen the smoke, too.

What would you do if you were 13 or 14 and saw a police car coming after you? Of course -- RUN!

I'm not sure where the other guys bolted to, but I took off for a huge junkyard nearby. I spotted a rusted out delivery truck and hid inside.

I cowered there trembling like a kitten in a dog kennel. After a few minutes I got up the courage to peek out. There stood the cop with an annoyed look on his face.

“C'mon kid,” he said, “and don't even try running again. Your buddies are in my car already.”

Busted, I hangdoggedly trudged to the cruiser.

Meanwhile, Back at the Police Station...

As we sat in the police car sweating, we asked the officer what was he going to do with us?

“You're going to the station and the desk sergeant can decide how to deal with you,” he replied. “You know you could be charged with arson for setting that straw on fire.”

Then big mistake number two happened.

Someone, and it definitely wasn't me it was Charlie who said, 'It's not straw, it's excelsior.”

“Seltzer?”, the cop asked? “What the heck are you talking about? I know straw when I see it, and I'd advise you to shut up before you get in more trouble than you're already in.”

Charlie eventually became a lawyer, but in this instance he was ruled out of order.

Upon our arrival at the station on School Street, mistake number three occurred. As I exited the police car I tried to throw my pack of smokes underneath it.

They clunked off the side of the car and fell on the street just as the officer turned around.

“Nice try kid,” he snorted as he picked them up. 

Once inside, the desk sergeant saw us being herded in and asked the cop, “What were these guys up to?”

“I was at the baseball game and saw smoke coming out of the Civil Air Patrol Building," he reported. “I drove out there and these kids had been in there smoking cigarettes and set a bunch of straw on fire. They ran, but I got 'em,” he announced proudly.

“What have you guys got to say for yourselves?”, the sergeant asked.

Remember, Charlie couldn't keep his yap shut. With aplomb, he unbelievably inserted his foot into his mouth yet again: “Well sir, we were smoking but it was just a little fire. And it wasn't straw, it was excelsior.”

Wow. Fresh blood might be redder than the first cop's face, but that's doubtful.

Perp Walk for Rare Company

Mercifully, we did not get charged with arson. Our parents were called and had to come pick us up.

My parents almost never had company, but on this night a group of people were at our house and I had to do the perp walk through them to my parents' embarrassment.

For the next month my mother had me scrubbing walls, pulling weeds, and generally working from morning until night.

And Charlie's fate? His parents promptly enrolled him in military school in Syracuse instead of returning to Notre Dame.

It was questionable as punishment though; he went on to become a Captain and got to carry a sword around. It also served to add to his already big ego.

All of us had to go with our parents to see the Batavia Police Youth Officer Lewis Snell.

I'm not sure what admonitions he gave or what advice he might have given for our future, but it must have worked on some level because that turned out to be my last time in the back of a police car.

Unless I really go off my old guy wheels, I'm pretty sure things will remain that way, too.

Photos courtesy of Dave Reilly.

Below, Batavia's minor league baseball field as it was when Dave Reilly was a boy, circa 1958.

Below, the old Civil Air Patrol Building as it stands today; the site of the excelsior escapade.

Blue Devils win Section V title in baseball

By Howard B. Owens

The Batavia Blue Devils beat Geneva 9-0 behind an Alex Hale one-hitter at Wayland-Cohocton today to win the school's first sectional title in baseball since 1998.

Submitted photo.

Video: Muckdogs hold National Anthem auditions for 2019 season

By Howard B. Owens

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The Batavia Muckdogs hosted auditions Thursday for community members to sing the National Anthem at the start of a ballgame sometime this season. In this video, Jessica Beal, of Batavia, auditions and Kerri Schmidt, director of sales and marketing for the Muckdogs, explains a little about the process.

Batavia blanks Le Roy in Rotary Championship, Sallome named MVP

By Steve Ognibene

Last evening, the Batavia Blue Devils advanced to the finals (following their close win to Oakfield-Alabama) between the Le Roy Oatkan Knights.  Alex Hale pitched the first five innings while Andrew Francis closed on the mound for the duo to have a complete game.

The first three innings showed no score from either team, until the bottom of the fourth as Batavia scored five runs. Sam Sallome, Trevor Zewan, Andrew Francis, Josh Weis, and Luke Grammatico each had a hit and RBI. Later on in the sixth, Luke Grammatico would score again with his second hit and RBI. Alex Hale and Jake Humes came to home plate as well.

Batavia was calm, cool, and collected throughout tonight and having continuous hits led to many runners on base, which turned into plenty of scoring opportunities. They were defensively sound. Batavia led Le Roy in hits 12-3 and one error to Le Roy’s three. Final score 8-0.

After the match, Sam Sallome was announced 2019 Rotary Tournament MVP.

Story submitted by Thomas Ognibene.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Batavia beats O-A in bottom of the 7th with sacrifice bunt

By Howard B. Owens
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Batavia beat Oakfield-Alabama 5-4 with a bottom-of-the-seventh bunt in an opening round game of the annual Batavia Rotary Club Tournament.

Earlier today, Le Roy beat Notre Dame 8-2.  

Batavia and Le Roy face each other at 7 p.m. in the championship game.

Knights cruise to 8-2 victory with early lead to advance to Rotary Championship game

By Steve Ognibene

Today, the Le Roy Oatkan Knights took on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to kick off the 21st Annual Batavia Rotary Club High School Baseball Tournament at Dwyer Stadium.

Tim McMullen and Tommy Saunders held the mound for Le Roy, while David Russo and Spencer Misti pitched for Notre Dame.

Giavanni Caccamise, Reece Tresco, Tim McMullen, Kenny Saunders all recorded a hit and RBI, while Ryan Friend had two hits and RBIs to make it 6-1 Le Roy after two. Zachary Cocking had the lone RBI for ND in the first.

Later on in the fifth inning, Tommy Saunders and Austin Saeya came home safely and scored. It was 8-1 Le Roy after five.

Spencer Misti, David Russo, Andrew Moore, all collected hits while Alex Totton had a RBI and hit of his own in the final inning of the game.

Le Roy led ND in hits 9 to 8 and was defensively strong overall only allowing two errors. With Le Roy’s 8-2 win they will move on to the championship game at 7 o'clock tonight to face the winner of Oakfield-Alabama and Batavia.      

Story and photos by Thomas Ognibene.

To view or purchase photos click here.

Young pitcher in Pembroke following in his great-grandfather's footsteps, pitches a no-hitter

By Howard B. Owens

It was a perfect day for the Lang family in Pembroke yesterday. 

Ten-year-old Brayden Lang didn't give up a hit or and walked only one batter in four innings of work to record his first perfect game on Cal Ripken League team coached by his father Dan Lang.

Brayden wears number 46, just like his great-grandfather, Harry Pilarski, when he was a minor league pitcher in the Red Sox organization in the 1940s.

"He pitched a perfect game," Dan said. "His number is 46. He threw 46 pitches. His grandfather wore number 46. It all kind of chimed together for me after the game."

Yes, Dan is a proud father but the most meaningful moment came when Brayden told him, "Papa Harry would have been proud."

"That means more to me than anything," Dan said. "That he's thinking about the history."

After that, dad said he took his coach's hat off for a second and gave his son a hug.

"He pulled away from me and I said, 'what, you can't hug your dad in front of your friends?' " Dan said. "He said, 'no, your pencil behind your ear is poking me in my cheek.' "

Pilarski began his professional baseball career after World War II, pitching for Oneonta in 1946, Lynn in 1947, and Roanoke in 1948, posting records of 13-13 with an ERA of 2.97, 14-9 and 3.98, and 7-8 and 3.22.

He didn't play in 1948 and in 1950 he joined an independent team, Kingston in the Border League, and posted a record of 19-6 with a 2.81 ERA. He played for two separate Border League teams in 1951 before retiring from baseball. Overall, his career record was 65-45 with an ERA of 3.29.

He served in the 11th Airborne. Dan Lang said he was in the raid of Los Banos as a paratrooper and he was part of the rescue of P.O.W’s there. He played baseball while in service, then was recruited after his honorable discharge.

Brayden's game last night was called after four innings because his team was up 15-0. In his previous start this year, he gave up only one hit, struck out 12, in another 15-0 four-inning game.

CORRECTION: The first person who contacted us about this game said it was a perfect game. After the story was first published, we learned Brayden did walk a batter.

Submitted photos.

Rotary baseball tournament this Saturday at Dwyer Stadium

By Howard B. Owens

The forecast for Saturday currently looks like good baseball weather, which is a good thing, because the Rotary Club of Batavia will host its annual baseball tournament at Dwyer Stadium.

The first game, Le Roy vs. Notre Dame, starts at 10 a.m., followed by Oakfield-Alabama at 1 p.m.

The championship game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

Batavia Muckdogs choose TicketReturn as exclusive ticketing partner

By Billie Owens

Press release:

TicketReturn announced today that it will become the exclusive ticketing provider for the Batavia Muckdogs professional baseball team.

The club’s box office will be able to take advantage of TicketReturn’s strategic partnerships and dedicated client support representatives to best serve fans across Genessee County.

TicketReturn, a leading provider of box office, online and mobile ticketing services, offers nearly two decades of technology management experience to help clients across the country exceed their goals.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based company offers a full suite of ticketing innovations, including event marketing, access control, attendance reporting, accounting and fundraising features for sports and entertainment venues.

The Muckdogs will benefit from TicketReturn’s strategic partnership with Groupmatics, which offers a streamlined process for the sale and distribution of group tickets. The club will also be able to add its own color palettes and logos on TicketReturn’s enhanced mobile design for customer transactions.

Batavia can now offer non-ticket inventory items during the online transaction. TicketReturn has shown a proven ability to deliver incremental revenue for its ticketing partners.

The Muckdogs will be able to offer fans a variety of ticket packages, including season tickets and mini-plans.

“We’re looking forward to working closely with Batavia’s box office team as they prepare for the season.” said Christie Hussey, TicketReturn’s vice president of Sales and Marketing.

“We pride ourselves on offering client support representatives that are available to provide support and fast onboarding as the Muckdogs prepare for the new season.”

The Batavia Muckdogs competes in the New York-Penn League as the Short-Season Class-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.

This partnership furthers TicketReturn’s commitment to provide ticketing solutions and services to professional sports teams, colleges and universities throughout the country.

About TicketReturn  

TicketReturn is a leading provider of box office and online ticketing services serving more than 250 client venues and issuing more than 38 million tickets annually. As the leading provider of ticketing services for Minor League Baseball (MiLB) in the United States and Canada, TicketReturn also serves minor league hockey teams, soccer, basketball and lacrosse. TicketReturn’s diverse client venues range from theater and casino showrooms, motorsports, horse racing, university arenas and sports stadiums reflecting the ease of use and scalability of the platform.

For more information about TicketReturn, visit us at www.ticketreturn.com

Marlins tab coaching veteran Jorge Hernandez to manage Muckdogs in 2019

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

The Batavia Muckdogs and Miami Marlins have announced that Jorge Hernandez has been named Manager of the Muckdogs for the 2019 season. The move comes after the promotion of Mike Jacobs to the Marlins Low-A affiliate in Clinton, Iowa after two seasons in Batavia.

Hernandez is entering his 13th year with the Marlins organization after spending the past five as Infield Coordinator. 2019 marks his fifth season managing within the Marlins system after spending four seasons as manager of the Gulf Coast Marlins and one as manager of the Single-A Greensboro Grasshoppers. Hernandez spent the 2008 season as the hitting coach in Greensboro and 2007 season as hitting coach for the Gulf Coast League Marlins. He began coaching professionally in 2004 as hitting coach with the Pensacola Pelicans.

Hernandez began coaching in 1993 as the hitting coach for the University of Mobile. From there he spent two seasons at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi. In 2003, he was the hitting coach at the University of West Florida. Hernandez is a former ninth-round pick of the Houston Astros in 1986, but did not sign. He earned All-Conference honors at Troy State University and was a member of the Trojans team that won the 1987 Division II World Series. In addition, he was a member of the 1984 American Legion World Series championship squad.

Hernandez and his wife, Hilma, reside in Frisco, Texas. The couple has a daughter, Haley, and a son, Eric.

Hernandez is joined by three new additions to the Muckdogs coaching staff for the 2019 season. 

Mike Jacobs, the Muckdogs' manager the past two seasons, has been promoted and will manage the Class A Clinton LumberKings in 2019.

GCC to host baseball camp starting Jan. 20

By Billie Owens

Press release:

Genesee Community College is hosting a four-week baseball camp starting Jan. 20.

GCC Head Coach Skip Sherman will direct the program in conjunction with U.S. Baseball Academy.

Classes are available for players in grades 1-12 and are limited to seven players per coach.

Sessions are offered in advanced hitting, pitching, catching, fielding and baserunning.

Space is limited. Registration is now underway.

For more information, visit www.USBaseballAcademy.com, or call toll-free 866-622-4487.

GCC hosts four-week baseball camp in January, registration underway now

By Billie Owens

Genesee Community College is hosting a four-week baseball camp starting Jan. 20.

GCC Head Coach Skip Sherman will direct the program in conjunction with U.S. Baseball Academy.

Classes are available for players in grades 1-12 and are limited to seven players per coach. Sessions are offered in advanced hitting, pitching, catching, fielding and baserunning. Space is limited.

Registration is now underway. For more information, visit www.USBaseballAcademy.com, or call toll-free 866-622-4487.

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