“Path To Grassroots Success Demonstrated In Maryland School Program”
JUly 15, 2015
http://usyca.org/07_15_2015_path_to_grassroots_success_demonstrated_in_maryland_school_program.cfm
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Capital Gazette Article – May 13th, 2015
“Kids in Bowie have caught the cricket bug”
http://www.capitalgazette.com/bowie_bladenews/ph-ac-bb-bowie-cricket-20150513-story.html
With 2 inches of rain forecasted for Saturday 27 June, the Maryland Youth Cricket Association (MYCA) Championship Games were rescheduled for Sunday 28 June. As Bowie was hosting the matches at Rockledge Elementary School, the Bowie ground crew was out at 8:30am to remove a large puddle from the field and fill low spots with sand and topsoil. Even though the field was wet from all the rain, the artificial turf/concrete pitch made it possible for the matches to play.
The crowd of spectators filed in setting their lawn chairs just outside the boundary line. The players from Germantown and Bowie were all set for an on-time start at 11:00am. Germantown’s Mihir and Angali and Bowie’s Lisa Ramjit and Joseph Zacharski took the toss with official umpire Roxroy Anderson in charge. Mihir called it right and won the toss, and as usual, Germantown decided to bat first, which was quite okay with Bowie.
Germantown started with their two best batsmen, Raghav and Abhinav. The Bowie opening bowlers Nathan Zacharski and Lisa Ramjit bowled accurately and made it difficult to score runs. The damp heavy grass did not help the batsmen either. Stevie Fleshman bowled next and delivered some quick ones, which wicketkeeper Nathan did well to hold on to. Joseph Zacharski and Donovan Brownlee kept the pressure on, and limited the big hitter Raghav and the patient Abhinav to singles. After 5 overs, Germantown were 12 runs for no wickets. The breakthrough for Bowie came in the sixth over with Fred Crenshaw getting Abhinav caught behind by wicketkeeper Nathan for 5 runs. In the same over, the ball got past the Nathan, and the batsmen decided to go for a run. Anthony Stills pounced on the ball and zipped it in to wicketkeeper Nathan to run out Raghav. In the very next over, Alyssa Logan had Germantown Shubh lobbing a high catch to Donovan Brownlee, who was more than eager to oblige and take a nice catch. Bowie’s Abhinav Samuel closed out the first half giving up only 1 run in his over. With Germantown losing their 3 best batsmen in the first 8 overs for a total of 21 runs, Bowie felt good about their performance.
Now it was Bowie’s turn to bat with Fred Crenshaw and Lee Reiter opening the batting. The diminutive pace bowler for Germantown, Santosh, opened the bowling and only gave up two runs in the first over. Santosh has proven to be one of the best bowlers in the league with his smooth long run-up and accurate, quick deliveries. Raghav followed and was also difficult to play giving up only 2 runs. Germantown’s Abhinav bowled the third over and also was stingy with the runs. Fred and Lee were retired for the stylish Abhinav Samuel and hard-hitting Anthony Stills. With Bowie chipping away at the runs, Germantown got the breakthrough they needed in the fifth over. Abhinav got Abhinav Samuel caught behind by wicketkeeper Shubh for 1 run and Anthony Stills caught by Nihkil for two runs. Germantown’s Ameya followed suit and got Lisa Ramjit for a duck (no runs) and Joshua Lesesne for 1 run both caught behind by wicketkeeper Shubh. Santosh was brought back into the attack to keep the pressure on. There was some concern for Germantown when Santosh appeared to have twisted his ankle after the first ball of the over. He then bowled 3 consecutive wides, but immediately made up for that by bowling Joseph Zacharski and Donovan Brownlee for ducks. Bowie’s Alyssa Logan appeared to have been settling in at the wicket getting a nice pull shot for two runs. But she fell victim to Ameya getting bowled for 4 runs. After 8 overs, Bowie had a total of 22 runs, one more than Germantown, but had 7 outs with 3 ducks to curry.
Germantown was up to bat again. Nathan struck immediately getting the edge of Karthik’s bat and wicketkeeper Alyssa jumping up in the air to make a brilliant, barehanded, one-hand catch. Lisa then got Ameya caught out by Donovan for 5 runs. Stevie was on the attack again and had Aryan bowled. But since the bails did not fall, Aryan was not out. In the same over, the Bowie fielders had Mihir run out for a duck. With Bowie unable to hold on to three more catches, Germantown slowly kept inching up the total score. An expensive 6-run over from Dononvan Brownlee took Germantown from 29 to 35. Alyssa bowled the 14th over and was unplayable, bowling the only maiden over (no runs given up) in the game. Bowie fielders were right on the money getting four run outs limiting Germantown to 39 runs in their 16 overs for 9 wickets (outs) with Aryan not out on 5 runs.
With their backs up against the wall having only 3 outs left to score 18 runs and key bowler Ameya raring to go, Bowie looked like they were headed for their third consecutive loss to Germantown in the MYCA finals. But no one told Stevie Fleshman that. Stevie had topped the elementary school cricket league batting in PG County, Maryland with a total of 150 runs, but he was struggling to make runs in the MYCA tournament. In the 9th over he hit Ameya for 2 sixes, which were the only two boundaries of the match. Nathan stayed with Stevie fending off a Yorker length ball from Raghav with a beautiful forward defensive stroke. With 1 run to go, Stevie pulled the ball to deep backward square leg for two runs winning the game for Bowie in fine style in the 11th over. Stevie was the top-scorer for the game with 17 runs not out.
The MVP for Germantown was Ameya for taking 3 wickets and scoring 5 runs.
For Bowie, MVP honors were shared by Alyssa Logan for her fine wicketkeeping, batting and bowling and by Stevie Fleshman for his excellent bowling and batting.
This was a total team effort for Bowie finishing the 2015 season undefeated. Bowie used 8 bowlers in the game, which was twice as many as Germantown. The team has shown that they can get the job done under pressure. Hats off to Coach Ren Logan and Coach Paul Zacharski for keeping the team focused and bringing out the best in the players to work as one unit. The Bowie 11U team comprised of the top players from the Bowie Elementary School Teams (BEST) Cricket League and the Washington Area Middle School (WAMS) Cricket League, which are the first elementary school and middles school cricket programs in the USA.
June 17th, 2015 marked the end of the inaugural season of the Washington Area Middle School Cricket League. Due to the huge success of the Bowie Elementary School Teams (BEST) Cricket League in 2014 and encouragement from parents, the Washington Area Middle School (WAMS) Cricket League was started in April 2015. Kids were taught the basics of cricket during PE at Buck Lodge, Kenmoor, and Samuel Ogle by the
Cricket Commissioner. Flyers were sent out to parents to inform them of
the league, and boys and girls were accepted on a ”first come, first serve basis”. There were 16 – 18 players on each team’s roster.
Players were recruited from Tulip Grove and Kenilworth Elementary School Cricket Teams and St Pius X School to complete Benjamin Tasker’s roster.
The 4 middle schools that participated in the inaugural cricket tournament were:
- Benjamin Tasker
- Buck Lodge
- Kenmoor
- Samuel Ogle
First there were two weeks of practices with two practices per week for 90 mins each. Next, each team played 3 first round matches followed by the playoffs. Kenmoor was undefeated and won the Championship Game against Samuel Ogle.
May 27th, 2015 marked the end of the second successful year of the Bowie Elementary School Teams Cricket League. Here are just a few highlights:
- In 2015, the BEST Cricket League expanded by 50% with a total of 185 kids participating in the tournament.
- The program is mainly for 4th and 5th graders, but there were some 2nd and 3rd graders.
- Last year we had 8 teams from Bowie. This year we had 8 teams from Bowie, and 4 teams from the College Park area.
- The cricket program is for both boys and girls. There were 60 girls participating this year.
For a full rundown of all the 2015 BEST Cricket League action, click here to download the full season summary.
Due to the resounding success of the BEST Cricket League last school year, we will be doing the elementary school league again this year from 16 March – 5 June. The format will be the same with two practices per week after school for the first few weeks. There will be no cricket during Spring Break. After Spring Break, we will do 4 first round matches with one match and one practice per week. Next we will have the playoffs with single elimination.
Last year we started with 7 schools in Bowie, and this year we more than double the number by introducing cricket to more schools in Bowie and to schools in the Greenbelt/College Park Area. The schools will be divided into two Conferences.
Bowie Conference: Heather Hills, Whitehall, Rockledge, Yorktown, Grace Christian, St Pius X, Kenilworth, High Bridge, Pointer Ridge, Tulip Grove, and Northview
College Park Conference: Berwyn Heights, Cherokee Lane, Springhill Lake, Paint Branch, Hollywood, University Park, Greenbelt, Adelphi
For the Championship Game, the Bowie Conference Champions will play against the College Park Conference Champions.
We will need about 13 players per team. A school can enter more than one team in the tournament. We already have parent volunteers, retired cricket players, a University of Maryland student, and a few PE teachers to be coaches for most of the schools, but we will still need a few more coaches.
In March, we plan to have a clinic to train volunteers the basics of coaching cricket and umpiring cricket matches. We will also have a clinic on how to keep score in cricket.
The cost will be $25 per player. This will include a cricket T-shirt and a participation medal. Trophies will be awarded to the best players on each team. All players that get to the championship game will get a trophy, and the winning school will get a trophy.
PE Teachers,
It will be great if you can do one or two sessions of cricket with the 4th and 5th graders to get them excited about cricket and encourage them to play for their school. Please let me know if you need my help to do so.
Registration Deadline: Friday 27 February 2015
After thinking about this further, the Bowie Cricket Board decided that it will be best to have the Washington Area Middle School Cricket League in the spring as well. We already have a core group of 6th graders at middle schools. We will have cricket practices and matches during the week. The nominal start will be in April. There will be two practices per week at first. Once the games start, there will be one practice and one match during the week. We will have 3 or 4 first round matches followed by the playoffs.
Heather Hills 1 Defeats Whitehall 1 in Best Game of Tournament
Heather Hills 1 won the toss and sent Whitehall 1 in to bat first. Jillian Hunter and Grant Heinicke opened the batting for Whitehall 1. Alyssa Logan opened the bowling for Heather Hills 1 and immediately got Jillian out on her second ball. Alyssa also got the wicket of the hard hitting Zachary Sava for 1 run. Grant was then joined by Julia Pierson, and they kept the total going with quick singles off Heather Hills’ Jeremiah Varkey and Sharon Jacob. Fred Crenshaw got the ball and bowled Julia in his first ball. Julia made a very useful 4 runs. Big hitter Khalil Greene came to the wicket to boost Whitehall’s score. But one ball from Fred straight down the middle had Khalil swinging too early and getting out for a duck. The twins, Nathan and Joseph Zacharski, were in to bat next and kept the scorers busy with singles. Heather Hills’ captain Chimwemwe Chinkuyu bowled the sixth over and had Joseph lobbing a high catch to Masai Wray, who made a good effort to position himself properly under the ball but just could not hold on to the catch. Nathan then mis-timed a shot and sent a high one back to Chimwemwe, who caught that hot potato ball after popping out a couple of times. On his very last ball of the sixth over, Chimwemwe bowled Joseph for 6 runs. Things were looking gloomy for Whitehall 1, but Lee Reiter was not discouraged at all. Alyssa was up to bowl her second over and was feeling very good after getting those two wickets in her first over. Alyssa bowled really good balls, but no one told Lee that. He hit a six, a four and 2 singles in the over and was supported well by Leah Arrieta. In the ninth over Leah was retired for 2 runs to bring in Ethan Hapeman-Farrell. On his very first ball Marcus McNaughton had Ethan sending a high spinning ball in the air to Benjamin Farney. Ben kept his cool and made an extremely difficult catch look easy. Lee kept on scoring runs, but in the tenth over Chimwemwe bowled him for a well-earned 22 runs. The very last ball of the inning Chimwemwe picked up his fourth wicket of the match by bowling the in-form Kaden Pirmohamed for 2 runs. Whitehall 1 ended their inning with a total of 46 runs for 10 wickets (outs) in 10 overs.
Benjamin Farney and Ryan Morales opened the batting for Heather Hills 1 and put on a partnership of 3 runs before Ryan was run out by Leah. Joshua Agomuoh bowled Masai for a duck. Aidan Shearin-Myers and Johnathan Simon stroked the ball well and picked up some ones and twos. But a lapse in communication caused both batsmen to be at the same wicket making an easy runout for Nathan Zacharski. Aidan was out for 4 runs. In the fourth over, Nathan bowled Johnathan, who scored 4 runs. Nathan also bowled Jeremiah Varkey for a duck. Joseph Zacharski bowled the next over and got the hard-hitting Fred Crenshaw caught out for a duck. Heather Hills’ top run-getters, Chimwemwe and Marcus, were batting together, and it started raining fours and sixes. With Marcus on 8 runs and Chimwemwe on 23 runs, they were both retired with the total on 42, 5 runs shy of victory for Heather Hills. Erin Farney and Sharon Jacob were put in to bat. Erin got a single to inch closer to the required runs. Two quick strikes from Nathan in the eight over saw Sharon caught out for a duck and Erin bowled for 1 run. Ethan Hapeman-Farell got Shannon Logan bowled for 1 run. Alyssa Logan batted next and scored one run to take the total to 45 runs with nine wickets down. With two runs to go and 1 out remaining, Chimwemwe was brought back in to bat. Chimwemwe scored 1 run to even the score. In the last ball of the ninth over, Alyssa hit the ball and took off for a run. Khalil Greene fielded the ball and made a direct hit with Alyssa 4 inches away from the crease and Alyssa was out for 1 run. Even though Heather Hills 1 still had 1 over left, they lost 10 wickets (outs) so their inning was complete. The game was tied at that point.
We had to do the first Super Over of the tournament for the tie-breaker. Each team would bat 1 over (or 6 pitches), and whoever has the most runs after that 1 over wins the game. Heather Hills batted first with Marcus and Chimwemwe. Joseph bowled for Whitehall. The first ball was going to be a wide ball, but Chimwemwe stepped across and hit it to score 1 run. The second ball was a wide. Marcus got a boundary off the third ball for 4 runs. The pressure was too much as Joseph bowled 3 more wides. With the total on 6 runs, and 1 ball remaining, Coach Ren bowled the last ball and Chimwemwe lobbed the ball in the air. Julia made a valiant effort to get her hands to the ball but was unable to hold on. So Heather Hills scored a total of 7 runs in their Super Over.
Lee Reiter and Joseph Zacharski got the nod from Coach Jones to bat for Whitehall 1. Coach Ren gave the ball to Marcus. First ball was a wide. Second ball, Lee blasted it pass Heather Hills’ Jeremiah Varkey and was headed to the “long on” boundary. But the tall grass prevented the ball from going all the way. Third ball, no run. Fourth ball, no-ball. Fifth ball, Marcus bowled out Lee for 2 runs. Three good balls left with 6 runs to win, and Khalil is in to bat. Marcus bowled three really good deliveries that Khalil could not hit and Heather Hills won the game.
The MVP for Heather Hills was Chimwemwe for his 24 runs and 4 wickets.
The MVP for Whitehall 1 was Lee Reiter for his 24 runs.
Heather Hills 2 vs Whitehall 2 – Heather Hills 2 loses a close one to Whitehall 2
It was a super day for cricket as the weather was sunny and cool. Heather Hills 2 batted first with Anthony Stills and Yazmin Wilson leading off. Kendall Humphries opened the bowling for Whitehall 2. Anthony was in his usual form hitting a six in his 12 runs before he was retired. After giving up 12 runs in the first over, Whitehall settled down with tight bowling from Vincent Floyd, Dalila Belkic, Tyler Forcey, Jabari Penn, Taylor Nichols, and Mercy Ogunmiloro. The Heather Hills 2 batsmen kept the scoreboard ticking with 3 runs from Yazmin, 5 from Iseah Feres, 9 from George Jamaldinian, and 5 from Ohana Jamaldinian. Heather Hills scored 10 runs in the eight over with Henry Renze hitting a four in his 9 runs. Ella Ziegler, Austin Calloway, and Paul Wampler chipped in with a few runs to take the total to 49. Dalila and Rhiley Jones got 1 wicket each and Kendall finished with 2 wickets.
The Heather Hills 2 cricketers were determined to defend their total. Charlie Renze was a boy on a mission bowling out Vincent for 3 and Mercy for a duck in the first over. George followed suited and took out the hard-hitting Kendall for a duck in the second over. Austin could not be left out as he took the wicket of Whitehall 2’s captain, Tyler, for 2 runs. The fourth over was a turning point in the game when Dalila and Raphael Cash took control of the batting hitting a six and 3 fours off the unlucky Meredith Pena. Dalila scored 17 runs and Raphael scored 16 runs before they were both retired. Iseah, Ohana, Anthony, Charlie, George and Austin tried their best to limit the scoring but the damage was already done. Adam Taifouri scored 3 runs, Zechariah McKinney scored 3 runs, Taylor 2, and Jabari 7 runs with a four. Rhiley, Michele Hare, and Zachary Schroder each got one run passing the required total in the seventh over. Charlie ended with 2 wickets, George got 1 wicket and Austin got 3 wickets.
Both teams showed a lot character during the game and fought hard to make it a close match. The fielding was well coordinated. Even after it was clear that Heather Hills 2’s opportunity to proceed to semi-finals was gone, the team still worked hard, they chased down every ball and remained positive. It was an exciting game!! It was exciting to see how much growth and improvement all the players displayed in the match.
The MVP for Whitehall 2 was Delila Belkic for her 17 runs and 1 wicket.
The MVP honors for Heather Hills 2 were shared by Anthony, George, Austin, and Charlie.
After 3 weeks of competition, Whitehall 1 and Rockledge remains undefeated with Whitehall 1 getting the edge on Net Run Rate. Heather Hills 1 and Whitehall 2 each have two wins to secure the third and fourth spots respectively. Whitehall 3 and Heather Hills 2 each have 1 win. With 3 losses each for Bulldogs and Kenilworth/Yorktown, the points table does not reflect the quality and character of these two teams.
The top batsman in the league so far is Heather Hills 1 Chimwemwe Chinkuyu with a total of 71 runs followed by Keniltown’s Benjamin Varghese and Rockledge’s Delonte Leary with 49 runs each. Bulldogs’ Hayden Roddy has 45 runs and Whitehall 3 Jakari Wright has 43 runs.
The top bowler is Whitehall 1’s Joseph Zacharski with 9 wickets followed by his brother Nathan with 7 wickets. Whitehall 1 Joshua Agomuoh and Rockledge’s Donovan Brownlee have 4 wickets each.
Whitehall 1 Wins A Close One Against Bulldogs
Whitehall 1 batted first, but tight bowling from the Bulldogs’ Tommy Reimer, Lisa Ramjit, Kylie Spath, and Siril Stephen restricted Whitehall’s top-order batting to 13 runs for 5 wickets after the first 4 overs. Kylie and Siril got two wickets each in their first over, and Lisa got 1 wicket. The twins, Nathan and Joseph Zacharski, then took control of the batting accelerating the run-rate with sixes and fours. They added 33 runs to the total. Lisa then ended the streak by getting Nathan out for 17 runs, and Joseph was retired with 16 runs. With more boundaries from Lee Reiter and Joshua Agomuoh the final score was 66 runs for 7 wickets in 10 overs.
Hayden Roddy and Siril Stephen opened the batting for the Bulldogs and immediately went on the offensive scoring 17 runs including 2 sixes and 1 four off the unlucky Julia Pierson. Nathan Zacharski struck back in the third over getting the prized wicket of the in-form Siril for 7 runs. Nathan also got the wicket of Matthew Miller for a duck in the same over. In the fourth over, Zachary Sava got the hard hitting Dominic Veri out on the first ball he faced, which was another key play in the game. Hayden Roddy kept hitting sixes and fours and was forced to retire on 30 runs. Will Allman and Tre Johnson each hit a six and a four with 10 runs each. However, tight bowling from Joseph Zacharski, Jillian Hunter, Joshua Agomuoh, Leah Arrieta, and Nathan stymied Bulldogs’ chase for the required runs. The Bulldogs ended with a total of 60 runs losing the game by 6 runs.
The MVP for Whitehall 1 was Nathan Zacharski for his 17 runs and 3 wickets.
The MVP for Bulldogs was Hayden Roddy for his tournament top-score of 30 runs.
Rockledge Makes It 3 Wins In A Row By Defeating Whitehall 3
Whitehall 3 started off with a disadvantage with only 10 players showing up to the game against Rockledge’s full-squad of 15 players for that day. Whitehall 3 batted first. Team Captain Jasmine Kargbo batted with patience and determination getting 10 singles and 1 four for her 14 runs. Good bowling and top-notched catching by Rockledge severely restricted the Whitehall batting. Whitehall’s Delonte Leary and Donovan Brownlee each got two wickets. Andrew Gale, Josue Guerra, Josue Ochaita, and Jonathan Hardy each got 1 wicket. Johnathan got the hard-hitting Jakari Wright out for only 1 run. Whitehall 3 could only muster a total of 28 runs before getting all out in 7 overs.
Rockledge opened the batting with the Hardy boys, Joshua and Johnathan. Jakari returned the favor and got Johnathan out for 5 runs. Ethan Stubbs then bowled Joshua for 3 runs. Rockledge’s top batsman, Delonte Leary, kept the score going with singles and fours. Yuwnas Muhammad picked up a quick wicket by dismissing Donovan Brownlee for 1 run. But Delonte stayed there and took the total past the required 29 runs to win the game.
The MVP for Rockledge was Delonte Leary for his 23 runs and 2 wickets.
The MVP for Whitehall 3 was Jasmine Kargbo for her 14 runs.
Whitehall 2 Defeats Heather Hills 2
Heather Hills 2 chose to bat first scored a total of 51 runs in their 10 overs. Yazmin Wilson top-scored with 12 runs followed by George Jamaldinian with 11 runs. Raphael Cash, Adam Taifouri, Zachary Schroder, and Tyler Forcey each got 1 wicket.
Whitehall 2 batted next scoring a total of 52 runs for 5 wickets in 9 overs to win the game. Mercy Ogunmiloro and Raphael Cash hit the only two sixes of the inning. Tyler Forcey top-scored with 21 runs hitting 4 fours. Charlie Renze, Phoenix Highsmith, Austin Calloway, Ohana Jamaldinian , and Iseah Feres each got 1 wicket. Interestingly enough, all five outs were “hit wicket”.
The MVP for Whitehall 2 was Tyler Forcey for this 21 runs and 1 wicket.
The MVP for Heather Hills 2 was George Jamaldinian for his 11 runs and 1 wicket.
Heather Hills 1 Defeats Kenilworth/Yorktown
Heather Hills 1 opted to field first. Tight bowling and good fielding by Heather Hills limited Keniltown to 10 runs for 5 wickets after 4 overs. Then in came Alex Lemire to bat at the start of the fifth over. Alex hit 4 superb fours in his total of 25 runs, and had to retire. Alex got good support from Benjamin Varghese, who scored 7 runs. Keniltown got to 42 runs at the end of their 10 overs. Jeremiah Varkey got 2 wickets, and Chimwemwe got 1 wicket.
Keniltown’s bowlers made it very difficult for Heather Hills 2 top-order batsmen to score. Nice fielding also earned them two run outs. By the end of the 6th over, the chances for winning looked dim for Heather Hills 1 as the team had scored 11 runs against the 42 for Kenilworth/Yorktown. The 7th and 8th over turned the tide for Heather Hills 1 with Marcus McNaughton and Chimwemwe Chinkuyu as the batsmen. Marcus took charge of the batting crease and boosted Heather Hills 1 with the first 6 of the game, eventually earning 11 runs for the team before being retired. Chimwemwe Chinkuyu hit 4 fours eventually scoring 23 runs for the team. With only 2 overs to go and a few runs to equalize, the win for Heather Hills 1 was possible. Fred Crenshaw and Erin Farney brought the game home to seal the victory for Heather Hills.
The MVP for Heather Hills 1 was Chimwemwe Chinkuyu for his 23 runs and 1 wicket.
The MVP for Kenilworth/Yorktown was Alex Lemire for his 25 runs.