The Pitch - Batting Cage in Sosua

Dear Friends and Supporters,

It is with a tremendous sense of honor and thankfulness for the good timing of this report that I bring to you this latest news and upcoming planned developments at “The Pitch”  batting cage project here in Sosua.

After 3 months of complete inactivity at the field due to the unanticipated onset of the Coronavirus and mandatory closure of the field by Dominican Government regulation now we can begin to look forward to re-opening this beneficial community resource again to the young aspiring players 

Never before in the history of the Dominican Republic has baseball ever been shut down before so there is an overwhelming urge to get back onto the field where many area youth players call their home.

The 4 pillars of the program are:  

1. Baseball Training and Skill Development 
2. Distribution of used baseball equipment from Northeastern US communities 
3. Personal & Professional Vocational Mentorship 
4. Education, specifically teaching English as a 2nd language 

Notable recent developments: 

1. Per the attached official letter, the newly elected mayor of Sosua has given his 100% approval supporting this facility and its present and future value to the community 
2. We are planning a grand reopening ceremony at the Sosua municipal baseball field where the new Mayor of Sosua along with other high ranking Dominican dignitaries and Ambassadors will speak 
3. The great Dominican and recently deceased MLB All star and World Series Champion Tony Fernandez will be honored and the Pitch batting cage facility will be dedicated in his memory. Far more than a great baseball player Tony was an upstanding example of his good deeds off the field and after his retirement which will serve as a wonderful motivation to many young players 
4. I’m working hard to find new collaborative partners and underwriting sponsors who reflect the same values and can help provide financial assistance to upgrade the conditions of the Pitch within the next month to make for a facility the whole community can be proud of and one which is deserving of Tony Fernandez and all which he represented.

This will spur new tourism related to baseball prospect and overall economic recovery to the area helping to transform the region into one which is known to be a regional major baseball prospect training area vs. current reputation for more undesirable activities 

Please help in any way you can as every $ will go directly towards field infrastructural improvements, new baseball equipment such as netting, pitching machine baseballs, promotional banners, and supplies needed to sustain this valuable community resource

Don’t hesitate to contact me directly via email with any specific questions or ways you can get more closely involved in this success story

Thank you for your help with Health and Strength to All,

Hugh Baver

Director of the Pitch

edb1260@gmail.com

Links:

• Recent Dominican Today Feature Article
• The Pitch Returns Short Video Trailer
• Supportive video message from Director of DR Red Sox Academy

Dear Friends and Project Supporters,

It is with high optimism and great enthusiasm that I submit this first GlobalGiving project report for “The Pitch” since I have taken over active management of the facility within the past month. 

Due credit needs to go to “The Pitch” Founder Russ Wieser whose original vision back in 2017 created the foundation of this program and whose indefatigable efforts sustained it until a recent career move necessitated his moving out of the country. 

“The Pitch” facility is located on a sliver of land beyond the right field outfield wall at the municipal field in the historic city of Sosua on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic. This ballfield is the proud home of the 2019 Little League Dominican championship team. 

When I asked their coach what he attributed his team’s success to his response was “getting the extra batting practice at “The Pitch”. This proof point is a major one in the fact that the total number of youth baseball teams in this country who eat sleep and breath baseball and compete for this coveted honor is vast. 

So many young boys here have aspirations of making it to the professional level but do not have even the most basic of suitable equipment to play. Addressing this need another vital aspect of this program involves my sourcing inventories of used baseball equipment from Boston and other Northeastern communities and having it shipped down to the Dominican Republic. I then collect it up from the Dominican customs division and present them to the many underprivileged youth players here.

We also welcome women softball players to come and practice to hone their hitting skills as the pitching machine can also accommodate softballs. 

The monthly operating expenses of this facility are very low yet the overall benefit to the local community is tremendous as this keeps the young players here, aged 7-17, off the street and away from other negative influences. 

Part of the future plans here are to expand the capabilities of this training center by purchasing a radar gun to also measure the skills of the pitching prospects who come to this field which would truly make this a comprehensive training facility. As a former professional level player I will personally lend my expertise to train and supervise their development as both promising ball players and well rounded men. 

For so little per month, your contribution, in any increment, will go so far towards the realization of these goals.

Please consider “helping me help them” to make this facility a role model for others throughout this country.

Thank you,

Hugh Baver, Program Director 

603-502-7711 Email: edb1260@gmail.com

Links:

• Red Sox Academy with Javier and Punga
• Springfield MA News Story Appeal

We have had a great fall season with a lot of kids using the facilities at the batting cage

 I am pleased to announce that the local league that we are able to work with the most ,won the Dominican Little League Championship at the end of the last quarter. We are extremely happy  with that result, and are pleased that we were able to help the kids with their training and provide plenty of pitches and additional time in the batters box as they prepared for their winning series.    Fall in The Dominican Republic brings the start of the new season, while American baseball is in the off season the Dominican leagues are just getting started and practice is in full swing for the 2020 season The kids are putting in as much time in the cage / batting practice as possible and we are hopeful for another successful season.    We have also had the pleasure of working with several kids/young adults that are taking their game to the next level by  attending university " One of our young playes has received a full ride scholorship {athletic}  in the United States and we said goodbye and good luck to him this past quarter as he prepares for his new life in the United States 

We have been working hard on our League/to Liga adoption program where Little League organizations in the United States and Canada can Adopt or Sponsor a Little Liga organization within the Dominican Republic. Our direct contacts  assist with the logistics and then distribute the equipment to a Dominican league in need.  With our direct intervention we are able to confirm that the equipment is distributed directly to the children that need it  and we are able to avoid the equipment being resold on the street for profit.  The next shipment contains about 50 bats, helmets, shoes, and gloves that we hope to be able to distribute during the 2019 Christmas season to help a few of the kids. Customs currently has this shipment on hold while we gather the funds requested to relaese the shipment. The shipment was not supposed to be taxed or even delivered to Santo Domingo but that is just how the system works and we are hoping for a positive outcome.    If your interested in participating in this program please use the contact us within the Global Giving site and we will return the email or you gan email us direct at  ThePitchSosua@gmail.com 

Our equipment donations are up this year but our cash donations, the life sustaining element of or organization has severly diminished.  Lower tourism numbers due to several factors has decreased our visability as well as recent changes taking place here in the local community of Sosua.  These changes are an attempt to make Sosua and the surrounding area more "Family Friendly"  While we are all supportive of this new look and feel for the community, It has put yet another major strain on the local economy with higher unemployment and a lack of available resources for our families & friends to work with.   Our cash donations year to date are down 85%  as compared to last year during the same time period.  The lack of cash donations has severly slowed down our growth and has prohibited needed facilities maintenance and has prohibited us from putting together our mobile unit so that we can take The Pitch Batting cages out into the community to assist the majority kids that do not have access to our stationary facility 

We have recently updated the donation portal to include a couple of really easy monthly single donation options as well as our recurring options which will let us actually plan for our future by allowing some donations to repeat monthly.   

The Pitch/ Maquina de Bateo Sosua Dominican Republic

We have had a great summer season with plenty of kids using the facilities at the batting cage

Currently we are providing about 600 free sessions to the kids each month. I am also pleased to announce that the local league that we are able to work with the most has won the Dominican Little Championship. This has never happened for this area before so we are very pleased with this years result, We can not accept all of the credit because it is after all the kids and the league who trains and works on their skills daily but we believe that having access to the batting cage for daily batting practice with consistant pitching in the zone has remarkedly improved their game  Having decent shoes and gloves donated by The Pitch helps as well. 

Since April 2019 we have given away about 40 pairs of athletic shoes, mostly baseball cleats and about 30 leather baseball gloves, as well as assorted other equipment articles. We are pleased to say that we have made significant progress in our equipment collection progress and have a major donation of equipment processing thru customs and immigration control in Santo Domingo. We are working hard to establish a league/to Liga addoption program where Little League organizations in the United States and Canada can Addopt or Sponsor a Little Liga organization within the Dominican Republic. Our direct contacts will assist with the logistics and then distribute the equipment to a Liga in need.  With out direct intervention we can assure that the equipment is distributed directly to the children in need, and we are able to avoid the equipment being resold on the street for profit.  This current shipment contains about 40 Bats, Helmets, Shoes, Gloves.  If your interested in participating in this program please use the contact us within the Global Giving site and we will return the email or you gan email us direct at  ThePitchSosua@gmail.com 

Our equipment donations are up this year but our cash donations, the life sustaining element of or organization has severly diminished. The Dominican Republic has received a lot of negative press this year due to some incidents at mostly All Inclusive resorts and this has trickled down into our program donations. Lower tourism numbers decrease our visability and the kids suffer the most. Our Cash donations year to date are down 85%  as compared to last year during the same time period.  The lack of cash donations has severly slowed down our growth and has prohibited us from putting together or mobile unit so that we can take The Pitch Batting cages out into the community to assist the majority kids that do not have access to our stationary facility 

We have recently updated the donation portal to include a couple of really easy monthly single donation options as well as our recurring options which will let us actually plan for our future by allowing some donations to repeat monthly.