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Bill Schroeder Fall Baseball League kicks off 3rd season

The third season of the Bill Schroeder Fall Baseball League kicked off Sunday morning at Al Stuhlmiller Field at Dunkirk High School, with Fredonia dropping its opener, 7-2, to Falconer, before beating Dunkirk, 5-2, in the afternoon contest.

“We have five teams this year and it’s a great opportunity for these kids to develop their baseball skills and to keep active,” Fredonia coach Vince Gullo said.

When Schroeder, a member of Fredonia’s Class of 1965 and longtime supporter of local athletics, passed away in July or 2014, Gullo and Dunkirk coach Frank Jagoda worked together to come up with a way to honor their friend. The fall baseball league was it.

“Bill would be sitting in his chair and saying, ‘we’ve got a lot of work to do,'” Gullo said when asked what he thought Schroeder’s reaction to the league would have been. “But he would have loved it.”

“I know Bill would’ve loved to have seen this,” Jagoda added. “So that’s why we went with calling it the Bill Schroeder Fall Baseball League.”

The league, which besides Dunkirk, Fredonia and Falconer, includes Eden and Jamestown, as well.

“We’ve had Eden for two years and Jamestown has been in (the league) since its inception,” Jagoda said. “And this is Falconer’s second year. It’s not really that hard (to get teams to come play), but quite honestly we’d like to get a sixth team, or maybe even get it up to eight teams, because we have two fields we can use now, so that would be really nice.”

With a two-hour time limit set for each game, a speed-up rule was implemented. The rule sees both teams bat two-innings at a time, much the same way some slowpitch softball leagues and tournaments play their games.

“It’s a great opportunity on a Sunday, when no other sports in high school playing anything, so we’re not interfering with anyone,” Jagoda said. “So why not play a ball game on a Sunday. Especially for the kids who aren’t playing a fall sport, this gets them out there playing a sport.

“I appreciate everyone of them that was here,” Jagoda added. “I used to coach in the summer, but I didn’t this year, so I appreciate them taking their time out and their families coming out on a Sunday to watch them continue to try and hone their skills.”

The games are about more than wins and losses, however.

“It’s great to be able to give the kids an opportunity in a low-pressure setting,” Gullo said. “We faced really good pitching (Sunday), but there was no pressure on us. We expect mistakes, but we just want to see them make an effort, hustle and show a love for the game.

“This is absolutely a developmental league,” Gullo continued. “And I think Bill Schroeder would be very proud of us. I wouldn’t say we’re playing only for fun; we’re playing to improve. It’s competition, but friendly competition.”

The league has games scheduled from Aug. 20 through Oct. 1, with more possibly being played depending on how well Mother Nature treats Western New York this autumn.

“It’s to get a good eye on some of the kids to see how they have done over the summer, and to see if any of them have improved or still need to improve and what they need to improve on,” Jagoda said. “We’ve got from eighth grade to seniors here, so we will figure out where we need to go.”

Next week’s games are as follows:

Fredonia vs. Jamestown, 10 a.m.

Dunkirk vs. Eden, 12:15 p.m.

Dunkirk vs. Falconer, 2:30 p.m.

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