BELLEVILLE - If you want to see some quality baseball, check out the Belleville Rays at Belleville High School.
The Rays are part of the nine-team Metropolitan League or the Met League that has had a long history in the North Jersey area, dating back decades, such as when the league had players like former Yankees hurler Jim Bouton.
The Rays share the Belleville High School field with the other Met team in the Belleville area, the New Jersey Spartans. The Rays will play a minimum of 24 games in the regular season and could get more if they are one of the top six teams that qualify for the playoffs.
Teams in the Met League crisscross the area and have in the past dipped into New York state with teams that previously were based in Upstate New York like Suffern. For the 2011 season the league cut some teams that could not guarantee home fields, but the league is expected to add a few more teams for the 2012 season.
Games are played from the start of June to as late as August with players 18-years-old and over, with many on the roster playing baseball for the fun of it after their playing days are over or those looking to go further in the baseball landscape.
For players it is a great place to be seen be it colleges or even Major League Baseball scouts. To illustrate that, one of the Rays, Mike Vitale, last season was signed to a minor league contract by the Seattle Mariners.
And there are colleges that make a point to stop by Rays and Met League games.
"There are scouts that come out and I have the contacts for people who want to transfer to schools in the NJAC," said Rays manager David Caruso.
And the Rays make a point to stock their roster with Belleville High School graduates. BHS graduates fill the roster of the 2011 Rays including Joe O'Donnell, Angel Gaud, Eric Meloch, Chris Judge, Dylan Seitz and Phil Svehla.
In comparison to other Met teams, the Rays are young and it has showed as they are struggling with a 3-11 record with the latest loss coming Friday against the Ramapo Valley Giants, 8-6.
Both Judge, who was a sophomore pitching for Kean University this past spring, and Svehla, had been on the mound to pick up a victory each. Judge collected two saves for Kean and pitched 23 innings for the Cougars, a team that made the NCAA Division III World Series.
In addition to most of the roster coming from Belleville, the Rays manager, David Caruso is a Belleville High School graduate, 2006. "It’s a way to help improve their college game," said Caruso, who also has contacts with New Jersey Athletic Conference schools like Montclair State, Kean and William Paterson universities. "We have a lot of college freshmen and others who have red shirted."
One of those players who are transferring back to the area is Svehla, who is moving from Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire to Montclair State. "It is to keep them in shape with a lot of colleges holding tryouts in the fall," said Caruso.
Another player looking to be seen is Gaud who attended Bergen Community College and is looking to go to a four-year college to play ball.
O'Donnell plays at Caldwell College, a Division 2 school that uses wood bats. "He can continue to play with a wood bat" in the Met league, said Caruso.
O'Donnell was one of the top hitters in the early going of the season. He was hitting .382 Caruso and collected five doubles in the last seven games. "Joe is very hardnosed and plays second, third and short," said Caruso. "He is very coachable and willing to do what he can to get better. He gives 100 percent effort."
A couple of other Rays players were King’s College Wilkes-Barre, Penns, freshmen who graduated from Queen of Peace High School in North Arlington. Rays catcher Chris DeCarlo is a Belleville native and Anthony Re is a Bloomfield native.
DeCarlo has been a stalwart behind the dish for the Rays and Re has been one of the team’s best hitters along with O’Donnell. Re was hitting .353 as of last week and led the team in doubles with six.
After a break for the July 4th holiday the Rays will try to get back on the winning track on Wednesday (July 6) against the South Bergen Bullets at Belleville High School at 8:15 p.m.
Belleville Rays 2011 schedule
(Games at 8:15 p.m. and home games are at Belleville High School)
July 6 South Bergen Bullets
July 10 Teaneck Bruins, doubleheader, 4:30 p.m.
July 11 at South Bergen Bullets
July 12 New Jersey Spartans
July 15 Meadowland A’s
July 17 North Haledon Reds
July 19 at Hackensack Troasts, 8 p.m.
July 20 Wayne Wolfpack
July 22 Meadowlands A’s, 8 p.m.
