In his senior year, Chris Vasami ’03 led the MHS Varsity Baseball Team to a top-50 national ranking and its first section championship in 39 years. Vasami’s blistering fastball and sensational hitting gave the pitcher/ first baseman celebrity status across the county, and the University of Notre Dame recruited him to pitch for its baseball team.             However, Vasami’s stay in South Bend did not go as planned due to the fact that the Fighting Irish could not find a spot for him in their pitching rotation. After the 2004 season in which he pitched just five games as a freshman, Vasami transferred to Elon University.

            In his three years at Elon, Vasami slugged 20 home runs and had a batting average over .300 while playing both first and third base. The Colorado Rockies drafted Vasami in the 39th round of the 2007 Amateur Entry Draft before shipping him off to Casper, Wyoming to play Rookie League Baseball.

            Following his stay in Casper, the Rockies promoted Vasami to Short-Season A baseball in which Vasami played for the Tri-City Dust Devils. Vasami had a solid season with the Dust Devils in 2008, prompting an invite to extend Rockies spring training in 2009.

            Unfortunately, in just his second game of the 2009 season for Tri-City after spring training, Vasami was hit by a pitch and broke his hand. The Rockies invited Vasami back to spring training for the 2010 season, but he was subsequently cut at the start of the MLB season.

            While it may have seemed like Vasami’s baseball career was nearing its end, Vasami received a call on the night of April 18 from the Newark Bears, a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The following day, the Bears invited Vasami to their Newark complex for his “tryout,” a pre-season game against the Long Island Ducks.

            “They told me to go out and play, and if they liked what they saw, they said they’d sign me,” Vasami said. “So I went out and played three innings, and the next thing I knew, they offered me a contract.”

            As a Newark Bear, Vasami will be coached by seven-time MLB all-star Tim Raines and will play alongside former MLB players such as Edgardo Alfonso, Scott Spezio, Daryle Ward and Armado Benitez.

            “It’s such a good time playing will these major leaguers,” Vasami said. “I’ve learned so much about every possible game situation from their experiences. It’s priceless.”

            As for those Mets fans wondering about Vasami’s relationship with Benitez, Ol’ reliable himself, Vasami said, “Armando and I talked for awhile in the bullpen the other day and it’s amazing how much experience the guy has.”

            Vasami will be slotted in Newark as the back-up catcher to J.R. House, a former fifth round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves. In his last season of minor league ball, the Rockies had turned Vasami into a catcher, where he now feels relatively comfortable. Vasami is also anxiously looking forward to his return to baseball in the tri-state area.

            “I haven’t played baseball around here since high school,” Vasami said. “Now I get to play in front of my family with former major leaguers on my team. It’ll be awesome.”

            Current MHS baseball players are also imagining playing for Newark. “It would be awesome to play for the Bears because those are all the guys that I idolized growing up, especially Chris” Scott Hagan ’11 said. “I remember watching him when I was little and thinking he was the best baseball player ever.”

            Vasami will play against local favorites like the Bridgeport Bluefish in a season for the Newark Bears that will be paid more attention to among the MHS community than usual.