Sussex County Miners

The Sussex County Miners are a professional independent league baseball team based in the Augusta section of Frankford Township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States.[2] The Miners are currently a member of the Can-Am Division of the Frontier League, an independent baseball league which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. They were originally members of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball (Can-Am League) and joined for the 2015 season. They joined the Frontier League for the 2020 season when it absorbed the Can-Am League.

Sussex County Miners
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
LeagueFrontier League
LocationAugusta, New Jersey
BallparkSkylands Stadium
Year founded2015
League championships1: (2018)
Division championships2: (2018, 2019)
ColorsBlack, gold, white
              
MascotHerbie the Miner
Playoff berths
3
2017
2018
2019
OwnershipAl Dorso
ManagerBobby Jones
General ManagerJustin Ferrarella[1]
MediaNew Jersey Herald
WebsiteOfficial Website

The Miners' home stadium is Skylands Stadium, located at 94 Championship Place in Augusta near the Sussex County Fairgrounds.

The team is owned by Sussex Professional Baseball, LLC. The Miners mascot is Herbie the Miner.

History of professional baseball in Sussex County

Skylands Stadium, originally called Skylands Park, opened in 1994. The stadium was built for the relocating Glens Falls Redbirds, who at the time were the St. Louis Cardinals' New York–Penn League affiliate and were playing in Glens Falls, New York at East Field. The team was relocating for the second time in as many years after playing in Hamilton, Ontario in 1992.

The team became known as the New Jersey Cardinals after moving to Sussex County and played there until 2005. Following the season, the Cardinals announced they were relocating their New York–Penn League affiliate to University Park, Pennsylvania, where it became known as the State College Spikes.[3]

Skylands Stadium

The Can-Am League announced shortly after the Cardinals' move was made official that they would be expanding for the 2006 season and adding a team in Sussex County. Owned by the same ownership group that held the New Jersey Jackals, the new team was named the Sussex Skyhawks after a contest where fans submitted names. The Skyhawks won the league championship in 2008,[4] but folded in 2010.[5]

Skylands Park was also a temporary home for the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in their inaugural season; the Bears played their first 20 home games there while Riverfront Stadium in Newark was being built.

In the 2017 season, the Miners qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. However, they got swept 3-0 in the opening round by the eventual champions, the Quebec Capitales. The following season, the Miners won their first division title, placing first in the league. On September 9, 2018, the Miners defeated the Trois-Rivières Aigles 3-2 in the game and won the opening round series 3-2 to advance to their first championship round in franchise history. In addition, they defeated the Quebec Capitales 3-1 in the championship series to earn their first league championship.

Season-by-season records
Sussex County Miners (2015–present)
Season Total Finished Playoffs
2015 (6 Teams)38-59 (6).392Did not qualify
2016 (6 Teams)39-61 (7).390Did not qualify
2017 (6 Teams)45-54 (4).455Lost Opening Round to Quebec Capitales 0-3
2018 (6 Teams)63-38 (1).624Won Opening Round vs. Trois-Rivières Aigles 3-2
Won Championship over Quebec Capitales 3-1
2019 (6 Teams)61-33 (1).649Won Opening Round vs. Rockland Boulders 3-1
Lost Championship to New Jersey Jackals 1-3
2020 (14 Teams)--Season cancelled due to COVID-19
Totals246-245.502Totals

Current roster
Sussex County Miners roster
Active (24-man) roster Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • -- Mike Appel
  • -- Joe Baran
  • 21 Tom Burns
  • -- Mike Castellani
  • -- Tyler Danish
  • -- Kida De La Cruz
  • 13 Christopher DeLeon
  • -- Felix Dieguez
  • -- Tyler Falwell
  • -- Aaron Ford
  • 12 Andrew Gist
  • 19 Kevin Grendell
  • -- Cam Hatch
  • -- Michael Hope
  • 24 Cory Jones
  • 32 Lars Liguori
  • 29 David Palladino
  

Catchers

  • -- Austin Biggar
  • -- Daniel Herrera
  • 20 Gavin Stupienski

Infielders

  • 28 Audy Ciriaco
  • 30 Nate Coronado
  • -- Manny Jefferson
  • -- Jett Manning
  • -- Sean Phalen
  • -- Derwin Pomare
  • 15 C. J. Retherford
  • -- Adam Sasser
  • -- Jake Vieth

Outfielders

  • -- Blake Adams
  • 11 Breland Almadova
  • -- Isaac Benard
  • -- Omar Carrizales
  • -- Brandon Downes ‡
  • -- Aaron Knapp
  • -- Danny Mars
  • -- Tristan Rojas
  • -- Jiandido Tromp
  • 25 Nick Zaharion
  

Manager

Coaches

  • 26 Vladimir Fontalvo Jr. (Bench Coach)
  •  5 Simon Walters (Hitting Coach)

Disabled list
‡ Inactive list
§ Suspended list

Roster updated June 24, 2020
Transactions

References
  1. "Sussex County Miners Front Office". Sussex County Miners. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  2. "The Sussex County MINERS to Play at – Skylands Stadium". SkylandsStadium.
  3. "Introducing the Sussex County Miners, N.J.'s newest pro baseball team". NJ.com.
  4. "CanAmLeague.com – Official Website of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball". canamleague.com.
  5. "CanAmLeague.com – Official Website of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball". canamleague.com.
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