BETHEL - The Bethel Admirals, who made local history in this summer's American Legion U17 season, will test their skills at the U18/U19 level this fall in the USSSA Hudson Valley New York Wood Bat League.
BETHEL â The Bethel Admirals, who made local history in this summerâs American Legion U17 season, will test their skills at the U18/U19 level this fall in the USSSA Hudson Valley New York Wood Bat League.
The Admirals, who began the summer campaign 5-6 before winning 13 straight games to capture the Zone 5 regular-season title, the Zone 5 tournament championship and advance to the semi-finals of the state championship, have 10 players returning from the summer squad.
Walter Murphy, Rob Blanc and Joe Fedak of Newtown all play for the Admirals.
Adam Geriak, who led the Admirals with a .414 average, .477 on-base percentage and a .724 slugging percentage will be back in the clean-up spot. Lead-off man Murphy (.333, 26 runs), is back to wreak havoc on the base paths. Centerfielder Ken Bardelli (.324, 21 runs, 13 RBI), and pitchers Clay Caron (.355, 13 RBI, .403 OBP) and Jamie Viscio (.311, 14 runs, .400 OBP), add pop to a lineup that hit .321 overall this summer.
Caron, (5-1, 1.80 ERA), and Viscio (5-2, 2.14 ERA), will anchor a pitching rotation that will also include Evan Vredenberg (2-0), and Seth Rosenberg from the summer rotation. Don Gehring, Rich Maimone and Kevin Mallozzi will also return for the Fall campaign.
Newcomers to the fall roster include Bethel High School varsity pitcher Sean Trafford, along with Lou Pepe and Andrew Musantry, also from Bethel. Blanc, Fedak and Jordie Scheiner (Redding), round out the 16-man roster managed by Bill Caron.
Ken Bardelli will be back to help with the coaching duties, along with Al Viscio and Bob Geriak.
Gone from the arsenal are the high-tech aluminum alloy bats so common in youth baseball today. Now the players will get to experience the feel and reaction of wood bats, albeit not the old northern ash bats that their dads used. Most of the wood bats being used today are made of hard maple and can cost over $100.
Todayâs wood-bat technology also includes wood composite bats constructed with bamboo, and metalwood bats featuring metal handles and wood barrels. Not exactly the old Louisville Sluggers that the old-timers used.
The USSSA Hudson Valley NY Wood Bat League is sanctioned by Elite Championship Tournament Baseball, Inc (ECTB), Bally, Pennsylvania. There are eight teams in the league and the Admirals begin an 18-game schedule with a doubleheader on Sunday, September 9, against the New York Cyclones at Highland Mills, New York.
The season ends with a playoff round November 3 and 4.
Although the roster does not contain a player who has yet reached his 18th birthday, the Admirals hope to maintain the standard of excellence established by the summer team that finished 18-7.