Raptors ready to play ball
By Jim Miranda

The Newark Baseball Raptors baseball club plans to make its inaugural season a memorable one.

"The mission of the Newark Raptors baseball club is to provide a growth experience for College players, their families, host families and Coaches," said Ken Gardner, Director of Baseball Operations. He was the head coach of the Newark Barge Bandits a few years ago.

"The Newark baseball club will be run as a business but it is not our intent to make money on our baseball activities", said Gardner. "It is our business goal to generate enough income to run a first class operation."

The General Manager of the Club will be former Barge Bandits assistant manager Jon Blumenthal, who is pictured here with Gardner.

The club was awarded a franchise in the Northeastern Collegiate Baseball League. It is a wooden-bat league and is sponsored by Major League Baseball and the National Collegiate Athletic Association the NCAA. The league has been in place for 15 years and is comprised of Schenectady, Little Falls, Rome, Cortland, Ithaca, two-time defending champion Hornell, Wellsville and, locally, the Geneva Knights.

The Raptors will have a 24-man roster of college students. "Many of these young men were drafted by Major League teams only to go to college instead of playing minor league ball," said Gardner.

Many of these players come to Wayne County from top college programs nationwide. Once they enter a four-year college they are not eligible for the Major League draft until after their junior year.

Gardner said the Raptors are looking for support from the people of Newark and Wayne County. First they need the help and support of local businesses. Secondly, they are asking that fans come to the park and support the players. There will be free tickets made available all over Wayne County.

The Raptors, owned by Al and Nancy Visingard of Newark, will play a 42-game schedule. Home games will be played at Colburn Park and begin on June 5 at 7 p.m with a home game against Geneva. They will then play Cortland and Rome on June 6 and 7 at Colburn Park, game time 7 p.m. Sunday games will be played at 3 p.m.

Ithaca College assistant coach Fritz Hamburg will be the head coach. Newark resident Andy Brown Bartucca will be his assistant. Once the Newark operation is running smoothly, Gardner will move to Geneva to run the Knights operation. He was their head coach last year.

The club is looking for housing for the ballplayers. If you have any information contact Jeanette Albright Housing director at 331-8793 or the Newark Raptors office at 331-0888.

"We are also looking for part-time jobs for the players since they cannot be paid by the club or they would be in jeapordy of losing their college eligibility," Blumenthal explained.

The club has signed a one-year lease with the village with the option for a second year. If the Barge Bandits decide to come back to Newark, they would have to negotiate with the Raptors management.

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