THE IN BOX... Testimonial Letter received by ASBA

All Star Baseball Academy received a Thank You note after the highly successful Indoor Fall Classic tournament, which was held at ASBA West Chester, November 13-14.  Bill McCrossan has coached the Avon Grove Mustangs 11U team for 3 years now, along with coaches Dan Raff and Brian Brady.  All three have also been active as coaches in the Avon Grove Little League.

 Congrats to the Avon Grove team members and coaches for winning the 11U tournament and thanks for sending this note to ASBA Manager Jake King last week: 

To Jake King and All Star Baseball Academy: I wanted to take a moment and thank you again for a great 11U Fall Classic tournament.  All of the teams played well and our boys really enjoyed the ASBA facilities.  You ran a first class tournament.  Great Job!!  Thanks,  Bill McCrossan – Avon Grove Mustangs

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THE HOT CORNER: Sports Shorts with Ken Leidheiser

Tom Cochran

ASBA Pitching Instructor

Both the Western PA Youth Camp and the College Coaches Camp in Indiana, PA were big hits this past weekend.  All Star Baseball hosted over 100 players (ages 13 to 18) at the White Township Athletic Complex on Saturday and the players got great instruction and tips from top college coaches.  Shawn Pender, Major League Advance Scout for the CIncinnati Reds, was also part of the superb staff for the Western PA players..... We have our best series of College Coaches Camps ever this winter, so see our website for full details and sign up for the top-rated ASBA instructional camps starting with the Coastal Carolina Coaches Camp at ASBA West Chester, December 4-5.

 

Our West Chester facility is also hosting the Villanova University Indoor Winter Prospect Clinic on Saturday, December 29.  Pitchers and catchers should report at 11 am and position players report at 1 pm.  Cost is just $175. for this excellent Prospect Clinic with members of the Villanova coaching staff.  Call ASBA at 610-399-9356 for more details or go online to our website for the flyer and registration form.....Area pitchers should sign up for the ASBA Advanced Pitching Program at West Chester this winter.  Super instruction from Tom Cochran (Cincy Reds Minor League Pitcher of the Year), Mike McGuire (Star relief pitcher, Lakewood Blueclaws), and Jared Lehman (West Chester U.) will really help young pitchers with their off-season conditioning and velocity improvement.  The Program will run Wednesday evenings starting Dec. 15th through Feb. 23rd, from 7 to 9 pm.  Sign up this week!

 

Are you thinking ahead to warm weather and Spring Training already?  If you want a great Spring Training experience for players in the 9U through 12U age group, then sign up for the 2nd Annual ASBA Spring Training at the Ripken Experience, in Myrtle Beach, SC.  The baseball facility in Myrtle Beach lends itself well to a "spring training" style format, preparing young players for their upcoming spring and summer seasons.  This year's event with ASBA's outstanding staff will be held February 18-21, 2011.  We welcome your All Stars to join us for this great trip!  Contact Mark Freed of ASBA at mark@allstarbaseballacademy.com for full details and to sign up for this popular Spring Training event....Also, if you have young players in the 10U through 12U age category, contact Mark Freed for information on our new Youth College Coaches Camp series.  We are now offering top instruction from college coaches to Little League age players who want to advance their games to the next level.  Youth Camps are available in West Chester, Robbinsville, NJ and Long Island, NY.  Contact Mark or see our website for full details!.....

 

Trivia Time:   Roy (Doc) Halladay of the Phillies recently won the National League Cy Young Award after a dominating season on the mound.  This week's Trivia Test:  Can you name the 3 other Phillies pitchers to win the coveted Cy Young Award?  Hints-- One is a relief pitcher and another is one of the greatest lefties of all time.  

Send your Triva answers to ken@allstarbaseballacademy.com.  Winners will be announced in the next Sports Shorts column on the ASBA Blog.

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ALL STAR BASEBALL TIP OF THE WEEK

Mike McGuire

This week's Tip is from Mike McGuire, one of the top instructors at our West Chester Academy.  Mike starred as a relief pitcher for the Class A Lakewood Blueclaws team this summer and helped the Phillies farm team win the South Atlantic League title.  To schedule a series of lessons with Mike McGuire, contact our West Chester staff at 610-399-8050 or stop in to see us.

 

Strong Pitcher-Catcher Relationship Makes A Big Difference!

 

In order to become a successful pitcher, it is important to develop a strong relationship with your catcher. The catcher should be able to know your best pitch, and also your worst, to help you get out of jams and potential long innings. The better the catcher knows your strengths, the more confident you will become as a top pitcher.

 

As a pitcher, I believe that if I have a close-knit relationship with my catcher, I know I am more confident to pitch well and help my team win ball games.

 

So, you should be in complete sync on the signs for different pitches and pick-off moves. But on top of  those basics, the pitcher and catcher should also be "on the same page" with your pitch strategy for each hitter.  If you have a strong trust in your catcher, your confidence as a pitcher will grow and your ability to get hitters out will grow as well.

 

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AVON GROVE MUSTANGS WIN 11U INDOOR FALL CLASSIC TITLE!

Avon Grove Mustangs-- 11U Indoor Fall Classic Champs

ASBA West Chester hosted a successful 11U Indoor Fall Classic Tournament during the weekend of November 13-14.  The competition between area teams from PA and NJ was close and the games were tight contests.  The talent level was excellent.  The 11U team from Avon Grove won the tournament over the host ASBA West Chester team on Sunday in a well-played championship game, 4-0.

ASBA West Chester-- 11U Fall Classic Runner-up

Please see below for the results of the tournament action and also for the All Tournament Team and Tournament MVP:

The 8 am game on Sunday was a back and forth battle that the Delco Tigers finally were able to win and put away the Hickory Bandits.  Final score was 14-9.  

 
The 9:45 am game was a 9 inning game between  the Roxborough Rebels and the Central Jersey Lashers.  Neither team was ready to go home and both played as hard as any teams in the tournament.  After six innings, the time limit was up, so moving into the top of the 7th inning each team started with a runner on second and no outs.  There were no runs scored after the first two extra innings. In the top half of the 9th, the Lashers were unable to score and in the bottom of the 9th, the Rebels were able to score to end the 9 inning battle.  Both teams played as hard as they could. It was one of those games where you wished there was no winner and no loser.  The final score was 5-4, Rebels.

The 11:30 am game was between the 2 seeded Avon Grove Mustangs and the Steel City Titans.  Both teams had solid pitching performances with the final score being 2-0, Avon Grove.
 
The 1:15 pm game had All Star Baseball Academy WC  match up against the Upper Providence Patriots again.  The game the day before was decided by just 1 run.  Both teams were ready to go in the quarter final game.  UP threw their left handed pitcher again against ASBA and he again threw very well.  Going into the bottom of the 5th inning ASBA was down but rallied to take a 6-4 lead.  ASBA was able to hold  on in the top of the 6th for the win and advance to the semi-finals. 
 
The 3:00 pm game was the first semi-final game which was between Delco Tigers and ASBA WC which was another game that came down to the bottom of the 5th. ASBA found a way to come back and make the score 9-6, then held in the top of the 6th for the win.  
 
The 4:45 pm game between Avon Grove Mustangs and Roxborough Rebels was to see who would be play ASBA in the finals.  For the second straight game the Rebels went extra innings but fell short of advancing to the finals.  The final score ended up 3-2 in 8 innings, with Avon Grove on top.

The 6:30 pm Championship game was between #1 seed ASBA WC and #2 seed Avon Grove Mustangs.  Avon Grove and ASBA came out with great pitching for the first two innings. The Mustangs pushed 3 runs across in the top of the 3rd to take a 3-0 lead.  ASBA then had bases loaded with no outs and but was unable to find a way to score.  Avon Grove scored another run in the top of the 6th to make the score 4-0.  ASBA had come back in their other 4 games but was not able to score against Avon Grove. The game ended with Avon Grove Mustangs 4 and ASBA WC 0.  

Champion—Avon Grove Mustangs
Runner Up—All Star Baseball Academy West Chester
3rd—Roxborough Rebels
4th—Delco Tigers

"This was a great weekend of baseball and All Star Baseball Academy would again like to thank everyone for participating," said ASBA West Chester Manager Jake King, who hosted the tournament. 

Avon Grove Mustangs--Tournament MVP—Austin Hoferer

All Tournament Team:

Hickory Bandits—Jordan Adair

Upper Providence Patriots—Jake Kelchner

Central Jersey Lashers—Brandon West

Steel City Titans—Luke Hess

ASBA West Chester—Stephen Morrison

Roxborough Rebels—Sean McCann

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ALL STAR BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK..... Luke Alicknavitch

Luke Alicknavitch

This week's ASBA Player of the Week award goes to Luke Alicknavitch, senior at Kennett High School.  Luke starred as a pitcher and outfielder for Kennett and also for ASBA tournament teams over the past several seasons.

Two weeks ago, he signed a Letter of Intent to play next year at the University of Delaware on a baseball scholarship. Congratulations, Luke!

“I am excited about the opportunity that Luke Alicknavitch has in front of him.  He will be a positive addition to the University of Delaware baseball roster," said Coach Mark Freed of ASBA.  "Luke has developed into a solid pitcher, as he locates his pitches and changes speeds very well.  He gained confidence after every pitching outing this summer and put himself in a great position to be recruited—he landed himself a great opportunity.  I am very happy for him and his family, and proud to say that I was his coach and instructor.”

Luke was a top starting pitcher last spring for Kennett, and then for ASBA this summer and fall on tournament teams.  At Kennett, he also starred as a hitter, with a .400 average at the plate.

"I am really excited to be going to the University of Delaware," said Luke.  "I've had Delaware on my radar for a long time and to earn a baseball scholarship to go there is a dream come true."

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"COLLEGE CORNER" with Steve Van Note

ASBA's Steve Van Note

Official Visit vs. Unofficial Visit: Understand The Differences


A major part of the college selection process is visiting a school. You can visit a school in two different ways-- an official visit or an unofficial visit. A good idea for any student-athlete is to take an unofficial visit. An unofficial visit allows a family to travel to a school of their choice, tour the campus, visit the athletic complex and get to see what type of atmosphere the school has to offer on their own. This is a very important trip.


On the other hand, most official visits are scheduled around a big football weekend or a sporting event that will have the school running on all cylinders. Going on an unofficial visit will allow you to see a school during its down time. For an official visit, you will be toured around campus by one of the coaching staff and possibly a player. They will be able to answer any questions you may have about the baseball program. Mom and Dad may be able to get more questions answered than they need on the unofficial visit, but by far the player will have more fun on the official visit. Below I have listed the definitions of both official visits and unofficial visits.


An Official Visit is a prospective student-athlete’s visit to a college campus paid for by the college. The college can pay for transportation to and from the college, room and meals (three per day) while visiting and reasonable entertainment expenses, including three complimentary admissions to a home athletics contest. NCAA recruiting bylaws limit the number of official visits a recruit may take to five.


An Unofficial Visit is any visit by a prospective student-athlete and their parents to a college campus paid for by the prospective student-athlete or the prospect’s parents. The only expense the prospective student-athlete can receive from the college is three complimentary admissions to a home athletics contest. The prospect may make as many visits as he or she likes and may take the visits at any time. The only time the prospective student-athlete can not talk with a coach during an unofficial visit is during a dead period.

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ASBA 13U Warminster - Slideshow

ASBA 13u Warminster from stacey bonnell on Vimeo.

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LOCAL ASBA PLAYERS ANNOUNCE COLLEGE COMMITMENTS

Taylor Wright
  Episcopal Academy Senior

Talented area players who have trained with All Star Baseball Academy and played on ASBA teams have announced their college commitments during the early signing period this week.

Coaches Mark Freed and Mike Manning of ASBA have worked closely with these players in improving their games for play at the collegiate level.  An addition to this list below is Tyler Coleman of Quakertown HS, who is receiving a scholarship to play at West Chester University next year.  Tyler has played for Coach John Bellis on Warminster-Hatboro ASBA teams for the past 3 years. 

Congratulations to all of these student-athletes!

"Having the opportunity to sign a National Letter of Intent in the early signing period is truly an honor. We are extremely proud of these young men and know that they will represent All Star Baseball Academy very well at the next level," said Mike Manning of ASBA. 

First	Last	High School	Commitment
Ryan	Donovan	Pennington Prep	Fairfield
AJ	Koscelansky	Pope John Paul II	Millersville
Tyler	McCallin	West Chester East	George Mason
Tom	Spitz	West Chester East	Wingate
Andrew	Amaro	William Penn Charter	Maryland
Justin	Thomas	Council Rock South	Rider
Brian	Leon	Marple Newtown	Millersville
Matt	Ternowchek	Downingtown East	Notre Dame
Chris	Murphy	St. Mark's, DE	Texas Christian
Josh	Mellon	Spring Ford	Millersville
Dom	Wyshinski	Pennsville Regional	Young Harris
Connor	Walsh	Radnor	Cincinnati
Troy	Sarpen	Downingtown East	Johns Hopkins
Ty	Warrington	A.I. Dupont	Delaware
Tyler	Coleman	Quakertown	West Chester
Luke	Alicknavitch	Kennett	Delaware
Taylor	Wright	Episcopal Academy	Brown
Sean	O'Keefe	Malvern Prep	Johns Hopkins
Zach	Norton	West Chester Henderson	Molloy College
Andrew	Russo	West Chester East	Penn State

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