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Welcome to the Home of the 13-14 Year Old
"Western New York Storm"
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The Western New York STORM is a 13-14 year old Travel/Tournament Team that is made up of the most talented 13-14 year old Boys from Cheektowaga, New York and it's Surrounding Areas. This Team plays for the Southline Little League and competes in the Lockport Little League Inter -League, which is composed of Lockport, Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda,and Tonawanda were each team puts their best 13-14 year olds on the field to compete against each other in a highly competitive League. The Storm also will play in the AABC(American Amateur Baseball Congress)League were they will play Niagara Falls Cyclones, Lancaster Renegades, WNY Kats,Inferno 13, Inferno 14,and the Academy Stars. They will also play in 4-6 local Tournaments this season. Each of these boys will play approximately 50 games this season between Inter-League, AABC, and Tournaments.
The very first Southline STORM team was started by Ron Nero and Tony Sekuterski in 2001 who goal was to take a group of local boys from the Southline Athletic Association and advanced them to the next level. Today those same boys are still playing together in a 17 and under age group as well as playing in other leagues such as AAABA, American Legion,and CEBA. Ron Nero and Tony Sekuterski have made the Southline STORM well known through out the community and Region by competing in National Tournaments and finishing very high in all of them. The Southline Storm has only been around for a short while but it has already made an impact on many people in and around the Western New York Area. It is teams like the Storm that have opened the eyes of other local organizations who are trying to follow the Storms footsteps.These Organizations have a lot of hard work ahead of them and no gaurantee that they will be as successful as the STORM already has. Please check out their website by going to http://www.eteamz.com/southlinestorm or clicking on links then 17 year old STORM.
The new wave of the Southline STORM was established in 2004 by Darryl Kumro and Ray Struzik. The two of them have coached Tournament Teams and Travel Teams together for the past few seasons when they decided to take a group of Local Boys and advance them in what they hope is a a once in a lifetime expierience by entering some National Tournaments.The Southline Storm then became the Western New York Storm due to playing in some out of state Tournaments and making it easier for people to realize where the team is from.T he team still has VERY strong ties to Southline Little League by having ALL of its players play in the house program.Last year the Storm went to Cooperstown to play in a national Tournament against teams from all over the U.S.A and finished in 2nd place. This was a awesome expierince for the boys and hopefully a memory that will last a lifetime.
In 2004 Southline also added a 10 year old STORM Travel/ Tournament team which is Coached by Jim Korczynski and Gene Dudek. These are some of the most talented 10 year olds from Cheektowaga, New York and its surrounding areas. This team also has the same goal as the rest of the STORM teams, to take these boys to a new level and prepare them for High School and hopefully College Baseball. This team already has their eyes set on the Cooperstown Tournament which they will be going to in 2007. You can check out their website by going to :southlinestorm.net or by clicking on links and then 10 year old STORM.
Southline Little League also offers travel teams in a number of different age groups such as 9(STORM), 10(STORM),11(Storm), 12 (Bulldogs),and the 13- 14(Storm).
We are ALL very excited about the upcoming 2006 season which starts in mid May. Our Teams Objectives this year is to provide a enviornment that is positive and enjoyable for both players and parents alike. We will also like to build Character, and add Confidence in each and every Boy who has the opportunity to be a part of the "STORM". Each Boy was selected to be part of the STORM by their playing Skills, Leadership, Character and by their on and off the field Performance. We know we will be a very competitive team this year and for many more years to come. We would like to emphasize that winning is not everything, but with hard work and dedication we will reach our goal which is to be a very successful team. The purpose of this team is to play competitive baseball and to provide a supportive and competitive enviorment that the Boys can use as young men as well as in their future.
We would like to teach our players that this is a team sport and to be successful you have to play as a team. We will win as a team as well as lose as a team, not as individuals. We would like to ask all the parents involed to please help us with our team theory and not only comment your son on how well he did but also make some positive comments to the other players .
Lastly, we would like to ask ALL parents and players to please give a full 100% commitment, effort, to make this season be successful ,fun ,exciting, and MOST OF ALL ENJOYABLE , for all of us who will be involved .
Western New York STORM Coaches:
Darryl Kumro
Ray Struzik
TREASURER/TEAM APPAREL:
Teresa Fusani
STORM FINISHES SECOND IN COOPERSTOWN
******THE STORM*******
Front Row L to R:
Chuckie Manuella, Chase Protas, Zachary Guzda, Maxwell Crabtree, Michael Fusani
2nd Row L to R:
Jordan Kumro, Joey Chmura, Blair Estarfaa, Andrew Mrozek, K.J. Zinermon, David Hill, Ryan Struzik, Coach Ray Struzik
3rd Row L to R:
Coach Joe Mrozek, Manager Darryl Kumro, Coach Scott Protas
click on game results and game summary for more details.
This letter was posted in the Cheektowaga Times
Sports August 12, 2005
Southline Storm places second in Cooperstown
The Southline Storm 12-year-old baseball team compiled a 4-2 record, good for a second-place finish at the Cooperstown Baseball World’s National Tournament held July 30 to August 4.
The Storm, which consisted primarily of town athletes, compiled a 4-2 record in pool play against national teams, defeating Boca Raton (Fla.) Bombers in the quarterfinals and Team New England (Mass.) in the semifinals before bowing to the champion Bergen (NJ) Bandits.
All of the team’s 12 players,were selected from the Southline Athletic Association league’s 550 total players and are from either Cheektowaga or Depew. Team Manager Darryl Kumro, a 22-year veteran coach of Southline baseball, said much of the team had played in the Southline Baseball League for years.
"For these 12 kids, it’s a awesome expierience," Kumro said. "Growing up playing in this league,even makes it much more special. Our league is much smaller than the other teams we faced, and the kids were a little worried at first.The kids were pumped, though, and got better and better as the tournament went on."
Kumro said Boca Raton, for example, picked athletes from a league with 1,800 players. Other national teams that participated in the tournament included the Lincroft (N.J.) Cyclones, Flemington (N.J.) Devils, New Jersey Shorecats(N.J ), Kearney (Mo.) Outlaws and Edison (N.J.) Boys.
After winning four of the six games in pool play, the Storm beat Boca Raton, 4-3, in the elimination round. In the semifinals, Southline overcame a late 12-8 deficit to stun New England 14 - 13 and move on to the Championship Game against the Bergen Bandits (N.J.).
In the Championship Game, Bergen jumped out to a 5 - 0 lead after 2 innings of play.The Storm however never let down and fought back into the game and cut the lead to 5 - 4 after 4 innings.The Storms tank finally went dry and couldn't produce any more runs and Bergen outlasted the Storm, 7-4, to claim the National Title.
Kumro said tryouts for next year’s tournament team will take place during the second week of September.
"We’ll start all over with the 13-year-olds," said Kumro.
Fran Hill, designated as the Storm’s "Team Mom" during the Cooperstown Trip, said the trip brought the players closer both on and off the field.
"The team played its heart out," Hill said. "They never gave up on themselves. It was their ultimate goal, to come to Cooperstown, which was the first appearance for the kids. They got to see the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which was a real treat for them."
2005 MEMBER
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