Sussex County Miners start new season

Play ball!

Another baseball season has arrived for the Sussex County Miners, who will begin their 2023 campaign Friday, May 12 with a three-game series against the Joliet Slammers in Joliet, Ill.

The home opener for the Miners is slated for Tuesday, May 16, when they host the Tri-City ValleyCats at Skylands Stadium in Augusta at 7:05 p.m.

A year ago, Sussex County finished 54-41 in a tie for fourth place in the East Division of the Frontier League.

This year will see a new era of sorts for the Miners as the club not only has a new general manager in Vinnie Sangemino but also a new field manager in Chris Widger.

“I’m extremely excited to be part of this team,” said Sangemino, 37. “I know I’ve got a lot to learn, but I’m not afraid of that. I’m jumping right into this.”

Sangemino, who grew up in Nutley, is a lifelong New York Yankees fan.

Widger, 51, played 10 years in Major League Baseball, including a stint with the Yankees in 2002. He also was a member of the Chicago White Sox team that won a World Series in 2005.

One of Sangemino’s goals this season is to make the Miners games at Skylands Stadium more community-oriented events.

“I’ve found that people in Sussex County value relationships,” he said. “I want people to feel a relationship to this team. Not just come to games and then go home but an ongoing relationship. I’d like them to feel like this really and truly is their team.”

The 2023 version of the Miners sports a 53-man roster, including two players just selected in the Frontier League Tryout Camp and Draft, held April 25.

Those players are right-handed pitcher Noah Robinson (11th pick) and local product, catcher Nick Grifone (26th pick) (round 2, pick 10).

Robinson played two years at Rowan College-Cumberland, where he appeared out of the bullpen 10 times, posting a 4.38 ERA. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound native of Vineland also pitched in eight games in the collegiate Appalachian League.

Grifone is familiar with Skylands Stadium, having played two seasons with Sussex County Community College.

As a Skylander, he hit .235 with a .369 on-base percentage and one home run. He then moved on to Centenary University, where he hit .291 with two homers and 30 RBI in 50 games with the Cyclones.

The Sussex native also was a captain on the Vernon Township High School baseball team and an assistant coach with the Skylanders baseball team.

Another player on the roster this season is a familiar face: catcher/first baseman Gavin Stupienski, who will don a Miners uniform for the first time since 2020.

Depends on personnel

“You can’t believe there’s just one way to play the game,” Widger said. “It all depends on your personnel. You’ve got to use what you have and get the most out of what you have. If you’ve got guys who can run, then you run. If not, then you don’t.

“Not everybody’s going to hit a lot of home runs. Not everybody’s going to throw a hundred miles an hour. As a manager, you use players for a lot of different roles,” he added. “I believe there’s a place for a guy who throws 88 to 91 and a place for a guy who’s a pretty good hitter who can slap the ball around.”

Because the Miners are not affiliated with a major league club, the onus on Widger will be strictly winning games, not necessarily getting the players ready to move to the next level.

“I’m into all the new analytics and technology and all of that stuff, but I’m also old-school in another way,” he said. “I want to see guys play hard, play the right way. I want to put guys into the lineup who want to win, who are going to play hard on every play.”

The Miners, who were founded in 2015, joined the Frontier League in 2020. The 2020 regular season was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the Frontier League said the Miners would play in the local All-American Baseball Challenge, a six-team league introduced to entertain fans during the pandemic.

Skylands Stadium hosted the Miners and the Skylands Cardinals, a team introduced for the challenge that referenced the area’s baseball history. The Miners had a stellar regular season in the Challenge, finishing first in the league’s standings, but fell to the New York Brave in the opening round. The Miners then defeated the Jersey Wise Guys in the third-place game.

The Miners went 49-46 in 2021, finishing second in the Northeast division, but did not qualify for the post-season

This season will see the Miners in the East Division along with the Empire State Greys, New Jersey Jackals, New York Boulders, Ottawa Titans, Tri-City ValleyCats, Trois-Rivieres Aigles and Quebec Capitales, the defending league champion.

The season runs from May 12 through Sept. 3, with the playoffs scheduled Sept. 4-16. The All-Star Break is July 10-13.

The Miners will have 48 home games and 47 road contests to make up the 95-game schedule.

Tickets for all Miners games may be purchased at the box office or online at sussexcountyminers.com

All games will be streamed live on frontierleaguetv.com