NEWARK, NJ—Left-handed pitcher Matt Melody, who completed his college playing career with NJIT last month, has signed with the professional Newark Bears and is listed as the probable starting pitcher on Sunday for the Bears against the Bridgeport Bluefish in an Atlantic League game with a 4:05 pm start at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
Melody, who took part in a Bears' tryout session earlier in June, signed a contract with the team this week.
His manager with the Bears is Tim Raines, who played 23 seasons in the major leagues and played in seven straight Major League All-Star games during the 1980s. Melody’s pitching coach with the Bears is Mike Torrez, whose major league career spanned parts of three decades with 185 wins, including 20 for the 1975 Baltimore Orioles.
The current Bears’ playing roster features more than a dozen players with major league experience, including former MLB all-stars Carl Everett, Keith Foulke, and Armando Benitez.
As a four-year member of the NJIT baseball team, Melody played all of his college home games on the field at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, the $30 million, 6,200-seat home of both the Highlanders and the Bears, who have been in the independent professional Atlantic League since 1998.
A graduate of Union (NJ) High School, where he was an all-county football quarterback in addition to being a star baseball pitcher, Melody has excellent size at 6-3, 210 and is a hard-throwing lefty.
Pitching mostly as a reliever in 2008, he struck out better than a batter an inning (62 strikeouts in 52 innings) and posted nine strikeouts in a game against Saint Peter’s. This year, his offseason was plagued by a back injury that caused him to miss preparation time. But he persevered to return as one of NJIT’s top two starting pitchers, making 10 starts. His season highlight was school Division I-record 12 strikeouts in seven innings against UMBC in Florida on March 19.
“This is a great thing for Matt and for our program,” said NJIT coach Brian Callahan. “It is a tribute to all the hard work he did in his four years with us for him to reach this point.”
(Photo courtesy Newark Bears)