BELLEVILLE, NJ – The Belleville High School varsity baseball team is getting ready for the season, looking to improve from last year’s three-win campaign.
The Bucs, under 11th-year head coach Joe Sorce, will begin the season Saturday, April 1, at home against Caldwell.
This season, the Bucs have moved down from the American Divsion to the Liberty Division of the Super Essex Conference-American. The American Division is the top division in the SEC.
This past weekend, the Bucs scrimmaged the two teams which played in last year’s Union County final – Scotch Plains and Governor Livingston.
On Friday at Scotch Plains, BHS received solid pitching from sophomore Sebastian Alverio and senior Anthony Roman.
On Saturday, the Bucs played Governor Livingston at Diamond Nation in Flemington. “We were very pleased again with the efforts we received on the mound from sophomore Josh Rodriguez and seniors Brayan Villar and Mark Cruz,” Sorce said.
BHS was outscored 7-4 on Friday and 7-2 on Saturday. However, to the Bucs, the final scores in scrimmages aren’t important.
“We never concern ourselves with the score in scrimmages,” Sorce said. “We try to focus on our strengths and weaknesses and use that information to determine what we need to be stressing in the upcoming practices. We also try to scrimmage teams that are talented to challenge our players and to see how we stack up.
“I thought our guys did a good job against two very good teams, considering Thursday’s practice on the turf football field was our first day outside in two weeks.”
This week, the Bucs are scheduled to scrimmage at Verona on Monday, March 27, and at Livingston on Wednesday, March 29. “My coaches and I should have a better read on where we are after these two scrimmages,” said Sorce. “The opener is Saturday, April 1, versus Caldwell. We’re hopeful that our field will be ready so we get to open at home.”
Villar, who also is a senior captain, will get the start on the mound. The rest of the rotation will be determined after Opening Day.
ROSTER
Seniors
Sam Abreu
Chandler Apple
Mark Cruz
Alex Luna
Anthony Roman
Brayan Villar
Juniors
Dominick Borowski
Justin Klus
Dan Pinedo
Sophomores
Sebastian Alverio
Chris Amparo
Brian Defreites
Derek Lombardi
Joe Monroig
Josh Rodriguez
Brandon Sagrista
Angel Rivera
Evan Torres
Senior managers
Naomi Hiraldo
Samantha Mannuzza
Katherine Vieira
Schedule
April 1, Caldwell, 11 a.m.
April 3, at Montclair Kimberley Academy, 4 p.m.
April 5, Newark East Side, 4 p.m.
April 7, at Cedar Grove, 4 p.m.
April 8, at Glen Ridge, 11 a.m.
April 10, West Essex, 4 p.m.
April 12, Science Park, 4:15 p.m.
April 13, at West Orange, 7 p.m.
April 15, at Bloomfield Tech, 11 a.m.
April 17, Bloomfield, 7 p.m.
April 19, at Caldwell, 4 p.m.
April 21, Montclair Kimberley Academy, 4 p.m.
April 22, Kennedy, 11 a.m.
April 24, at Newark East Side, 4 p.m.
April 26, Cedar Grove, 4 p.m.
April 28, Glen Ridge, 4 p.m.
May 1, at West Essex, 4 p.m.
May 3, New Providence, 4 p.m.
May 5, at North Arlington, 4 p.m.
May 8, West Orange, 7 p.m.
May 10, at Orange, 4 p.m.
May 15, Bloomfield Tech, 4 p.m.
May 18, at Lodi, 4:15 p.m.
May 19, Iselin Kennedy, 7 p.m.
Pitch count rule instituted
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has instituted a pitch count rule. Here are the guidelines:
Pitch Limit
1-30 pitches, 0 day rest
31-50: 1 day rest
51-70, 2 days rest
71-90, 3 days rest
91-110, 4 days rest
• A pitcher who reaches the max while facing a batter may continue to pitch until the batter reaches base, the batter is put out, or the third out is made to complete the half-inning.
• A pitcher cannot throw 3 calendar days in a row.
• A pitcher cannot throw more than 50 pitches in consecutive calendar games.
• For State Tournament games that may be suspended and resumed at the point of interruption, if a pitcher has thrown 1-50 pitches before the game was suspended, that pitcher’s pitch count shall carry over to the next day.
About the Author
