Camden Riversharks

Mr. "Five-for-One" is coming back to the Delaware Valley. Von Hayes, acquired by the Phillies in 1982 from the Cleveland Indians for five players, has been named the manager of the Camden Riversharks, of the Atlantic League. "I'm coming home," Hayes said. "It's great to be back in the South Jersey and Philadelphia area, and I'm extremely excited about managing the Riversharks this upcoming season. I'm sure we're going to have a great year. " Hayes managed the Lancaster Barnstormers in the Atlantic League last season and also has managed minor league teams in South Bend, Ind.; Modesto, Calif.

Just hearing his voice on www.sportsjuice.com, you'd think the play-by-play announcer for the Camden Riversharks was in his 30s. With a deep, mature voice. Not an 18-year-old who just graduated from Lower Merion High School, stands 5-foot-8, weighs 150 pounds, and highlights his hair blond. Landon Sears might look like any teen, but he's way ahead of his peers career-wise. He is the youngest announcer in baseball's Atlantic League, and among the youngest sports announcers in the country.

There are the Phillies and the Eagles, the Flyers and the Phantoms. And, of course, the 76ers. Now, get ready for the Riversharks. That is the name Camden schoolchildren have chosen by an overwhelming margin for their city's new minor-league baseball team. "Now we have an identity," said John Brandt, general manager of what had been known only as Camden Baseball LLC, at a news conference held yesterday to introduce the team's name and logo. The announcement at the Camden Children's Garden at the New Jersey State Aquarium came a month after Gov. Whitman broke ground nearby for a $17.5 million, 6,425-seat stadium for the Camden Riversharks, part of the independent Atlantic League.

Jeremy Lewis allowed just four hits in six shutout innings as the Camden Riversharks defeated the Bridgeport Bluefish, 2-1, in an Atlantic League game last night at Campbell's Field in Camden. Riversharks designated hitter Vito Chiaravalloti led off the fourth with a home run to left, his 12th of the season. Bryant Nelson doubled in a run in the fifth. Bridgeport's Jonathan Plefka (5-4) allowed both runs and took the loss.

NASCAR stars Carl Edwards and Jeff Burton will captain opposing teams in a celebrity softball game at Campbell's Field in Camden on Tuesday. The game, pitting squads representing Pocono Raceway and Dover International Speedway, is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. Admission is free with the purchase of a ticket to that night's Camden Riversharks game against the Lancaster Barnstormers. Children under 16 wearing NASCAR gear or Little League uniforms will also be admitted free.

Chris Maples' two-run homer in the fourth snapped a 3-3 tie and sent the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs to a 6-4 Atlantic League win over the Camden Riversharks last night at Campbell's Field.

Gary Harris broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run triple in the top of the ninth, and the Lancaster Barnstormers went on to score seven more in an 11-2 rout of the Camden Riversharks last night at Campbell's Field. Lancaster won its fourth straight Atlantic League game.

Gabe Suarez homered and drove in two runs yesterday as the Camden Riversharks beat Long Island, 9-1, preventing the Ducks from clinching the Atlantic League's Liberty Division title at Campbell's Field. Ben Davis (1-1) got the win in relief.

Gary Cates drove home two runs with a double in the bottom of the sixth and Brett Bonvechio added an RBI-double last night to propel the Camden Riversharks to a 10-8 win over the Newark Bears in an Atlantic League game at Campbell's Field.

The Long Island Ducks won a 12-10 slugfest over the Camden Riversharks yesterday in the final game of the Atlantic League's regular season to win the second-half Liberty Division title. The Riversharks (29-41) finished last in the division as Kalen Gearhart took the loss, yielding eight hits and five runs.

NASCAR stars Carl Edwards and Jeff Burton will captain opposing teams in a celebrity softball game at Campbell's Field in Camden on Tuesday. The game, pitting squads representing Pocono Raceway and Dover International Speedway, is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. Admission is free with the purchase of a ticket to that night's Camden Riversharks game against the Lancaster Barnstormers. Children under 16 wearing NASCAR gear or Little League uniforms will also be admitted free.

The crack of wooden bats and the thwock of leather gloves sounded early on Saturday at Campbell's Field, home of the Camden Riversharks. The team's 12th annual open tryout brought more than 100 hopefuls to the diamond under the Ben Franklin Bridge before 8 a.m. Everyone was there to have a good time, but some took the event more seriously than others. Zeke Boren, 29, stood to the side of the infield and sized up his competition with quiet confidence. The Moorestown native has played the game nearly his entire life.

IT IS A MISTY Sunday morning at Campbell's Field, where the last hopes of professional baseball linger like the morning fog. Down the Delaware River, one bridge and two quick train stops away, Pedro Feliz was king. Just three seasons ago, his bat won the Phillies a World Series. It was Feliz who, in Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, delivered the game-winning, groundball single up the middle in the seventh inning off Chad Bradford. The hit scored Eric Bruntlett from third base and gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead, which, famously, the bullpen preserved.

ATLANTA - Pedro Feliz, whose most memorable moment with the Phillies was driving in the winning run in clinching Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, has been signed by the Camden Riversharks, of the independent Atlantic League. Feliz, 36, was a non-roster invitee to spring training with the Kansas City Royals this year, but was released March 28. After spending his entire big-league career with the Giants, Feliz signed a 2-year free agent contract with the Phillies before the 2008 season to upgrade the team's defense at third base.

Mark Ori and Val Majewski combined for seven RBIs to help the York Revolution pound the host Camden Riversharks, 12-6, Friday at Campbell's Field in the first game of a day-night doubleheader in the Atlantic League. In the second game, York's Shaun Garceau and four other pitchers held the Riversharks to two runs on six hits in topping Camden, 4-2. Reading 7, Harrisburg 4   HARRISBURG - Tuffy Gosewich's two-run double highlighted a five-run fifth and Austin Hyatt (4-1)

Jason Belcher blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning to lead the Somerset Patriots to a 13-1 rout of the Camden Riversharks in an Atlantic League game at Campbell's Field on Tuesday. Wayne Lydon had a triple among his two hits and drove in two runs. Former Malvern Prep star Ben Davis took the loss for Camden, giving up seven runs in 32/3 innings. W: Jones. L: Davis. HR: Belcher (3). A: 1 ,515  

ALLENTOWN - Nate Bump, a former major-leaguer, started the 2009 season with the Camden Riversharks. On Saturday, pitching for triple-A Lehigh Valley, he improved his mark to 4-1 as the IronPigs topped Columbus, 5-3, in an International League game. Scott Mathieson pitched a scoreless inning for his fifth save. His ERA is 0.61. Columbus assisted the IronPigs' cause by committing four errors. Akron 5, Reading 2 READING - Tagg Bozied and Kevin Mahar drove in first-inning runs, but the Phillies' offense dried up after that in an Eastern League loss to the Aeros in Reading.

JOHN BRANDT, the first general manager of the Camden Riversharks, remembers the moments more than the full process of launching the independent minor league franchise in 2001. By the time the May 11 home opener rolled around, everything had become a blur. "It was an amazing time," Brandt said. "I remember certain things from that day, but there was so much going on and so much to do that some things are a bit hazy. "Those last few weeks and days we were at [Campbell's Field]

Mr. "Five-for-One" is coming back to the Delaware Valley. Von Hayes, acquired by the Phillies in 1982 from the Cleveland Indians for five players, has been named the manager of the Camden Riversharks, of the Atlantic League. "I'm coming home," Hayes said. "It's great to be back in the South Jersey and Philadelphia area, and I'm extremely excited about managing the Riversharks this upcoming season. I'm sure we're going to have a great year. " Hayes managed the Lancaster Barnstormers in the Atlantic League last season and also has managed minor league teams in South Bend, Ind.; Modesto, Calif.