By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
NORTHFIELD — The first pitch will be tossed out May 24 at five of 10 diamonds around the area in the South Jersey South Shore Baseball League, a new organization for players 16 and older.
Joe Bunting, a Linwood resident who owns Bunting Family Pharmacy on Route 9 in Northfield, created the league over the winter following a dispute during the Atlantic County Baseball League playoffs last August.
Bunting said he withdrew the Northfield Cardinals from the double-elimination tournament after he learned that as many as six players had traveled out of state for a separate tournament and did not self-quarantine when they returned, as per state and league regulations.
He said ACBL president Yogi Hiltner, coach of the Margate Hurricanes, told him the players would have their temperatures taken before games and could play if cleared.
Bunting said the league agreed before the season to follow guidance from the governor and state Department of Health when dealing with COVID concerns, and that would require the players to self-quarantine for 14 days at the time.
Bunting, 44, who played in the ACBL from age 16 to 24, began coaching eight years ago after the former coach quit and Northfield had no team for a year — the first time in 30 years, Bunting said — winning the championship in 2018.
“Six of the former teams expressed my outrage of how things were handled and they no longer wanted to be a part of the former league,” Bunting told The Sentinel.
Teams from Absecon, Egg Harbor City, Margate, Northfield, Ocean City and Ventnor joined the new league, which saw the addition of four teams — Somers Point, Buena, Egg Harbor Township and Galloway Township.
The Margate team, the Green Wave, now will be known as the South Jersey Surf. Bunting said the team’s manager, Jeff Ball, was manager of the Atlantic City Surf and wanted to allude to that experience with the new name.
Margate’s other team, the Hurricanes coached by Hiltner, and Hammonton are the only teams not to switch to the new league. Bunting said Hammonton expressed interest in joining next season.
Bunting said he created a six-member board to oversee the league, seeking to create “a total democracy.”
Bunting said the league also plans to give back to the communities where the teams are based.
“I require each of my teams to hold at least two clinics to support the local cities’ baseball and/or softball leagues,” Bunting said, adding that the nonprofit has a goal of donating $500 annually to each city to support other youth organizations.
He said he personally invested $22,000 in the league to keep the cost per player to $40.
Bunting said he also plans to livestream select games and keep the videos archived on the league website, southjerseyssbl.com, where players can currently sign up to play.
He said that would benefit players, area coaches, recruiters and even those who want to watch but can’t get out to the field.
Players will be able to watch their swing or placement on the field to help improve their game, while coaches will be able to scout their opponents and recruiters will be able to watch old games to see how players have progressed.
Bunting said some of the teams have long been established while others are just starting out, so the board decided to be free and easy with the age limit so that every team could hopefully field a full roster of 25 players.
He thinks the bulk of the players will be high school players, college players and former players.
As a small-business owner, he hopes the travel will boost businesses in the host towns.
“I am hoping that local businesses might get a shot in the arm from this as more people go to the games and get involved — maybe they go out after and support their local businesses (restaurants and eateries that have been so severely impacted by COVID),” Bunting said. “My goal is to create the best baseball experience for everyone while at the same time giving back to each city and controlling the costs for families that have been so impacted not just this past year but the last several years with the decline of Atlantic City.”
Bunting said the website is going to be an asset to the league, containing schedules, standing and statistics as well as the game livestreams.
He said the site has a section for interested players where they can be matched up with the teams closest to where they live, recommending people sign up sooner rather than later.
Bunting said the season is slated to begin May 24 and end July 16 with three weeks of playoffs starting July 19.
One monkey wrench in the works is the delayed high school baseball season, which won’t be over until after the league begins play. Bunting said games would be scheduled for 7 or 7:30 p.m. to help accommodate those players until their season ends.
Half of the stuff in this article is full of crap. It was voted on to not let Hammonton or Margate in the new league. bunters real reason for starting the league was because him and his north field cardinals couldn’t win anything so they tried to start their own league and now half the teams in that league don’t have a roster. Tim bunteng will never be half the commissioner Yogi Hiltner was
Will these players be getting Covid tested ? Seems like all he wanted to do was start his own league. Regardless of where people go the virus is prevalent. If players are not getting tested it’s the same thing as just letting them play after getting their temperature taken .Eyewash article, Issue is still not fixed . Shame
This league, the basis on how and why it was formed, and how they are currently conducting the structure is an utter JOKE! Dismantling a hundred year old league instead of bringing up concerns and working with other team managers during the off-season to reach agreements all teams can be happy with, is really childish. This article also doesn’t mention the real reasoning as to why the Margate Hurricanes and Hammonton are not in the league– they were not allowed. Whereas EVERY OTHER TEAM in the ACBL was allowed to join this new league with their full roster intact, it was voted on by “the board” that the two mentioned teams were only allowed to play in this league if split amongst the other teams. “No more than 3 to 4 Margate or Hammonton players allowed on each team.” Really?!? Way to pretend to promote a league that is for the players and the area, while purposefully excluding a very exact grouping of players. It also makes it seem as if Ocean City excitedly joined this league, rather than the stiff arm they were given and just tried to look out for their players to make sure they still get to play summer ball. As he was quoted above: “Six of the former teams expressed my outrage of how things were handled and they no longer wanted to be a part of the former league,” Bunting told The Sentinel…well, that is most definitely not true! Ocean City won the league! haha do you think they cared?? At most, we can pretend 4…Also saying that is purely based around Covid and not quarantining players…umm are we actually believing that his entire roster (and most of the teams), filled with young 20 year olds weren’t going out to bars last summer? Because I’m telling you for a fact they went out, and played in whatever games they had that upcoming week following weekend partying.
The real reason this article was written was to announce the website so to get anyone that knows how to throw a baseball to sign up to play because they have 4 teams with no actual roster. Get ready for some good competition boys! haha JOKE!