Following rough freshman season, Edmeads is on road to the pros

During last summer's trip to a baseball tournament in Fall River, Mass., a manufacturing town 50 miles south of Boston, Tim Edmeads found something peculiar about the three- and four-story row houses lining the streets.

He wondered why they were built in such close proximity to the baseball diamond.

The scene in New England was slightly reminiscent to one Edmeads had seen on television: the Waveland Avenue rooftops peering over the outfield walls at historic Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Marc Franks, Edmeads' friend and teammate on the South Jersey Seminoles' Under-16 baseball team, remembered something about those houses, too. During one of the tournament games, Franks recalled watching one unlucky baseball fly through an alley between two of the homes, the red-trimmed sphere bouncing between buildings and into a parking lot some immeasurable distance away.

Tim Edmeads hit said baseball.

"That was the longest home run I've ever seen hit," said Franks, a junior third baseman at St. Augustine. "The fence had to be at least 400 feet. It went over that, across the street and into those houses. ... I don't think it broke a window, though."

If so, it wouldn't have been the first time.

Edmeads, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior who starts in left field for the unbeaten Buena Regional baseball team, first developed a penchant for breaking glass -- namely car windows along Hunter Drive in Newfield -- with baseballs more than 10 years ago. In a way, it was a rallying cry for Edmeads, then a shy, reserved youngster with a sweet swing.

The neighbors noticed, and noticed often. So did his mother, Joyce.

"The siding of my house is all dented," she said. "What else? Oh yeah, the air-conditioner cover. I have dents everywhere."

Household inconvenience notwithstanding, the repair bills ($200-plus per car window) started to annoy Edmeads' father, Butch. He wisely forced his 8-year-old to begin hitting tennis balls for curbside batting practice.

The adjustment worked. Edmeads stopped smashing windows. Instead, he started to develop a powerful, smooth, confident swing. By the time he reached his 13th birthday, Tim Edmeads had established himself as a bona fide home-run hitter. He even switched his right-handed stance to the other side of the plate.

Just as important, Edmeads was emerging as a quality defender. His arm was, at least.

In last season' opener against Vineland, Edmeads nailed speedy seKhris Phillips at the plate to preserve a 1-0 Chiefs win. Edmeads recorded five outfield assists in all.

"He's got a Major League-caliber arm right now," Buena coach Charlie Arena said.

Years after attracting the ire of neighbors, Edmeads, 17, is garnering the attention of several pro scouts. Cleveland has been in contact; the White Sox reportedly are interested, too.

Edmeads' progress as a big-time talent doesn't surprise Craig Franks, Marc's father who coaches the Seminoles. Edmeads led the Seminoles, who won 30-of-37 games last summer, in home runs (11), RBI (45) and slugging percentage (1.033). The rest of the Seminoles hit 17 home runs, combined.

"All the kids that I've coached, he's got the most tools out of anybody that I've ever seen," Craig Franks said of Edmeads. "When you watch this kid play, he's impressive. If you're a scout out there, and you see him play, you're going to be impressed. He's going to catch your eye."

It took a while for the Chiefs to notice, however, largely due to Edmeads' quiet demeanor and matter-of-fact work ethic. If anything, Edmeads often effused arrogance.

But he wasn't arrogant, at least not intentionally. He simply had a goal, and the unwavering focus to back it up.

"At first, we thought Tim was a little weird," Buena pitcher Kevin Gunter said. "He didn't have much personality. He did what he was told, not much talking.

"We picked on him a little bit. Like, 'C'mon Tim ... are you deaf?'"

The teasing, while likely intended as a way to shed Edmeads' cloak of shyness, backfired. It had the opposite effect on him. He remembered the teasing not as an icebreaker, but rather as a divider -- in both the literal and figurative sense.

Edmeads had struggled in the classroom his freshman year and was academically ineligible in the spring. He watched Chiefs home games from the other side of the fence and found himself ostracized, not only by his teammates, but of the game itself.

It was, he said, a "humbling experience."

"I used to get done with school and I'd have to go out and look at it," Edmeads said. "It's something I couldn't do."

To make matters worse, Edmeads injured his right shoulder the summer after his freshman year. He was forced to spend the summer season throwing with his left hand.

He succeeded. He has always thought himself ambidextrous.

When autumn came around, Edmeads succeeded on a more important front, too. As a sophomore he boosted his grades and re-entered the Chiefs starting lineup. He hit .402 with five home runs and 29 RBI, helping Buena to a 19-8 record.

When Edmeads launched the first pitch he saw this season over the center-field wall, it didn't surprise anyone.

"He's been doing that for two years," Arena said. "I don't even coach him. I just ... let him play."

Edmeads was hitting .375 with two home runs and eight RBI through the first two weeks of the season. He's a significant reason the Chiefs have yet to lose a game.

"Tim Edmeads," Gunter said. "I just shake my head when he comes to play."

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Meeting to look at school budget in Buena Vista

BUENA VISTA -- Mayor Chuck Chiarello said Monday he will meet to discuss the recent defeat of the Buena Regional school district budget with Buena Borough mayor Joseph Baruffi.

The informal meeting -- open to all township committee members and borough officials -- is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. Thursday in the mayor's conference room at Township Hall.

"It is now the responsibility of the township and the borough to get together to talk about what direction we need to be headed in, where we are with the budget right now, and what impact this will have," said Chiarello.

Residents voted 348 to 241 against the proposed $7.1 million tax levy during last week's school board elections. The plan would have cost owners of a $100,000 home in the township about $176 a year. That same homeowner in the borough would have paid an extra $161 if residents had approved the tax levy.

The Thursday meeting will be followed by a meeting 7 p.m. Monday at Township Hall. School board officials will be invited.

The school board, Borough Council and Township Committee will meet May 7 to decide the appropriate measures to take with the school budget.

In other news:

·  Township Committee recognized the volunteer efforts of EMTs stationed at the East Vineland fire and Collings Lakes.

"Our community is almost 100 percent volunteers," said Chiarello. "We are very proud of the brave people doing their best for the township, just as they always have."

·  Buena Vista public works drop-off center will be open from 8 a.m. to noon May 4.

·  There will be an artist's reception May 5 at the township cultural arts commission.

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