Russians pay visit
FREEPORT — Speaking to each other may have been a challenge Thursday afternoon at Freeport Community Park, but the language of softball was heard loud and clear.
A Freeport 12-under team faced a 13-under squad from Russia as part of the Freeport International Baseball Invitational's first venture into the girls' sport.
Russia will be represented in the event by two squads over the next two weeks. The other team is made up of 17-under players. Both teams will face competition from Saxonburg, Natrona Heights, Ford City, Pittsburgh, Burrell and Freedom at numerous parks in the area.
The Russian teams include girls from Tuchkovo and Zvenigorod, cities near Moscow.
“Softball is not very popular where we are from,” said Mikhail Ilykhin, the coach of the 17-under team, which was scheduled to play in Lower Burrell Thursday evening. His words were translated by Natasha McCalmont. “But there are several clubs in our area that have teams. The two teams we brought to the United States include players from those clubs.
“The girls were waiting a while for this trip,” he added. “I'm just looking for them to get experience in playing the game.”
Sonny Westerman is on the Board of Directors of the Freeport International Baseball Invitational.
“We started to set this up last fall,” he said. “It took a while to get everything lined up.”
When it came time to look for local teams to take part, Freeport coach Ron DeJidas was very receptive.
“I knew they had been throwing this idea around for a while,” he said. “We met about it last winter and jumped right on board.”
The Russian teams' players and coaches arrived Monday and are staying with host families in the Freeport area as well as Biblical Life Institute, a few miles north of town.
“I've met a lot of people so far and they have been really nice,” said Lera Peoskneyakova, the first baseman for the 13-under team. “It's a little colder where I'm from, but I like playing in warmer weather.”
Peoskneyakova and her teammates defeated Freeport in a seven-inning game.
“We tried hard and I think we played well,” she said.
Ashleigh Schmidt pitched the last few innings for Freeport.
“The Russian team seemed to be very competitive,” she said. “They knew what they were doing. This wasn't just another game for us. We were really looking forward to playing.”
Peoskneyakova was the only member of her team, including the coaches, who knew a decent amount of English, but this fact caused little trouble in the flow of the game.
“It wasn't that difficult to umpire the game,” said Don Noullet, of Cabot. “Everybody understood the universal signs from the Amateur Softball Association. It was a treat to work with both teams.”
Aside from their upcoming games, the Russian teams are planning trips to Kennywood and PNC Park for a Pirates game.
The Freeport 12-under and Russian 13-under teams will face off again at 3:30 p.m. Monday at the same venue.
“It's a tremendous opportunity, not just to play softball, but also to grow as people,” said DeJidas. “It's pretty neat to be able to say you played a team from so far away.”
