South Orange-Maplewood Baseball Makes Sat. Finals

Forget the heat wave: for the 11-year-old South Orange-Maplewood summer team, the word is winning streak. The local boys are hosting the U11 (for kids who have not turned 12 before May 1) tournament in 2010. The home team will appear in the finals against Cranford. The game is scheduled for this Sat., July 10, at 10 a.m. at Meadowlands field.  (In the case of inclement weather, the finals will be played instead on Sun., July 11, at 10 a.m.)

The roster includes Hunter Reynolds, Billy Stein, Quinn Krais, Marcellus Livingston, Michael Burke, Jack Niggli, Seth Brand, Thomas O'Connor, Owen Gall, Chase Bradley, Sam Berkley, Thomas Fetner, and Phil Major.  The local heroes are coached by Bill Krais, assisted by three other parent coaches, Gerry O'Connor, Phil Major, and Cornelius Bradley.

On a sweltering evening, as he warmed up a pitcher, Krais gave the full story to Patch.

"Summer teams are part of the South Orange - Maplewood Baseball Program, run jointly by a volunteer board and the South Orange recreation department.  I serve on the board.  The league president is Kate Schmidt.  The board secretary is Craig Gruber of South Orange, who has been involved since the Maplewood program merged with the South Orange program," explained Krais. (More information about the baseball program can be found at www.sombaseball.com.)

Krais further explained that the program coordinates an extensive rec-based spring baseball program.  "In the summer, the games and teams become generally more competitive.  These teams travel - usually locally - to play teams from other towns.  There is one 8-year-old team, two 9-year-old teams, three 10-year-old teams, three 11-year-old teams, two 12-year-old teams, two 13-year-old teams, and two 15 and under teams," he added.

"The top team in each age group plays a summer season (usually from 12-16 games) in the Cedar Grove Baseball League," said Krais.  "The rest of the teams play in the New Providence 'Green' League.  The top teams also represent the town in the Cal Ripken Tournament.  Cal Ripken baseball, a rival to Little League, is a nationwide baseball program.  Usually the top teams at each age group will play 25-30 games from Memorial Day to the end of July."

The state is divided into a number of districts of Cal Ripken teams.  Each district holds a tournament and the district tournament winners compete in a state tournament.  The state winner competes in a regional tournament.  Regional winners compete in the national tournament.

"We are hosting the 11U tournament for our district this season," noted Krais.  The tournament began on June 27, and will conclude this weekend.  This season, the local district includes Cranford, Scotch Plains Fanwood, Summit, two teams from Westfield and South Orange-Maplewood. 

"Each team played three preliminary games and then competed in a playoff.  Our team has played five games in the tournament, going four wins and one loss, and advancing to the district tournament finals against Cranford," said Krais.

The local team looks forward to the weekend competition, cheered on by hometown fans. The field is located at the intersection of Clark St. and Meadowbrook Rd., alongside the brook. There is ample parking on side streets.