2006 Scotch Plains Softball

Scotch Plains Fanwood Girls Softball Coach Kelli Covert doesn’t want to get too giddy over her teams’ 7-0 start because she realizes that championships are not won in early April. With eight returning veterans from a 16-10 season, she figured her team would start quickly anyway and the Raiders have been as good as advertised.

“I am not surprised as much as nervous. I don’t want the girls to get over confident, but I want them to realize what we have in our team. I knew we were going to do well, but you still never know what will happen,” said Covert.

Nevertheless the third year Raider mentor has seen traits and characteristics usually possessed by teams that play deep into the state and county tournaments.

The Raiders have strength up the middle, play airtight defense and can manufacture runs by using their speed and bunting skills.

Senior pitcher Elaine Piniat, a tri-captain, and her battery mate junior catcher Lauren Mains give Covert a great combination that provide on field coaching.

“Elaine is amazing. She simply loves the sport! I have never seen anyone work so hard and enjoy every minute of it,” said Covert.

“Lauren is a great catcher. I don’t worry about anything getting through. She has been calling the pitches with Elaine, and between the two of them they have been calling great games,” added Covert.

Last year Piniat finished with a 12-8 record and a 1.04 Earned Run Average with 122 strikeouts. Piniat does not have the gaudy totals of some of the other top high school pitchers but she issues few bases on balls and allows her strong defense to make plays behind her. Piniat went 28 innings this year before yielding an earned run.

Shortstop Melissa Sette, another tri-captain, is a strong number two batter in the Raiders’ potent lineup. Sette is almost impossible to strikeout, but it is her defense that wins raves from teammates and opponents. . Sette uses great lateral movement to get to almost anything hit to her side of the field.

“Very few balls get past her. When she gets the ball she is quick to get rid of it. She has a quick throw to second or first. If she gets the ball we have a pretty good chance of turning a double play,” said Covert.

Sette has helped first year starter, sophomore Stephanie Goines move into the second base slot where she has fit into the team with her aggressiveness.

“Steph is doing an outstanding job,” said Covert.

“She also pitches, but we need her more in the field right now.”

Completing the Raiders’ up the middle defensive brilliance is senior centerfielder Kelli Kaskiw, the third tri-captain.

“She is one of the best centerfielders I have ever seen,” said Covert.

“She will do whatever it takes every time to get to a ball. The few times she has not made the catch she has gotten to it quickly, and has made the out at a base.”

Kaskiw bats third in the lineup where she uses her unique combination of speed and power. She currently leads the team with a .462 average.

Senior Lauren Benovengo, a first baseman last year, has successfully made the switch to right field and sees a new confidence this year.

“This year everything is clicking. Everyone seems to be in the right position,” said Benovengo who added that an early season victory over perennial power Cranford was “good for the teams’ confidence”.

Benovengo, a starter for the basketball team the past two years, moved from first base, where she started last year to make room for junior Jillian Lusk.

Lusk and sophomore third baseman Nicole Colineri give the Raiders solid offense and defense at the corner infield positions.

“They are fast and are not afraid to dive for a ball. Both Jillian and Nicole are very determined and have a fire to play. Nicole is very fast and I do like to run her as much as possible,” said Covert.

After going to 7-0 with a 6-0 victory over Elizabeth, Monday, the Raiders enter a busy and difficult period today with a game against Roselle Catholic. Tomorrow they will face Montclair and Nutley at the Linden Classic. Montclair handed the Raiders a loss in a mid March scrimmage and Covert noted the players are looking for revenge even though the first game didn’t count.

As the wins continue to accumulate, Covert notes a sense of urgency among her seniors.
“This is our year to make something happen. These are great girls; I want them to get what they deserve. If they work hard, it will pay off.

Dec 2002 SPF-Cranford Girls B Ball

Before Friday’s season opener at Cranford, ScotchPlains Girls’ coach Brian Homm worried about histalented teams’ one potential achilles heal, depth. “Our bench is thin and inexperienced. We will need tofind out about some people”, said Homm. As it turned out, Homm’s bench almost logged as muchtime as his starters when the Raiders rode a 30-2 runin the second and third quarters to turn a tight gameinto an easy 63-39 victory.

The game was not as closeas the final score with Homm liberally substitutingthroughout the second half. The Raiders’ super freshman trio of a year ago,center Hillary Klimowicz, point guard Jenny Burke andforward Maura Gillooley picked up where they left offcombining for 35 points, 17 by Klimowicz.

The trio had13 first quarter points as the Raiders cruised to a17-8 lead but Cranford’s Lauren O’Donnell hit a threepointer early in the second quarter to cut the lead to17-11. It was at that point that the play of two of those“people” Homm was referring to, substitutes ElizabethDeCataldo ,a sophomore guard and Chanelle Freeman, a6’2 junior forward combined with much improved 5’11junior forward Jen Russell and Klimowicz to break thegame open.

After Klimowicz hit two foul shots to make it 19-11,Russell converted an offensive rebound and a fastbreak layup to open the lead to 12. Cranford’s AmandaMitchell hit a jumper to make it 23-13 with 5 minutesleft in the half but that was the Cougar’s lastpoints for more than a quarter.DeCataldo scored five quick points on a three pointerand layup off a feed from Russell,then Klimowicz addeda three point play and Freeman took a nice pass fromKlimowicz to make it 35-13 at the half.

“It was close for a while but we really stepped it upon defense in the second quarter”, said Homm.The Lady Cougars with only one player over 5 ’10 haddifficulty competing with the Lady Raiders’ hugeheight advantage.

“They are not only tall but they are very talented”,said Cranford coach Brian Chapman.The Raiders’ ended any hopes of a Cranford comeback byrunning 12 more points to start the third quarter.Lindsay Pennella, the team’s only senior sandwichedtwo jumpers around baskets by Klimowicz and Burke andthen the two supsersubs DeCataldo and Freeman addedbaskets for a 47-13 advantage before Homm cleared hisbench.Homm was clearly pleased with the play of his three“new” players.

“Elizabeth is a player that has to come in and give usa lift”, said Homm. “Freeman and Russell are key players to help us withour inside game”,said Homm.

“With all the double teams that Hillary is going tosee this year, they need to step up” said Homm ofRussell,who was little used a year ago and Freeman whodid not play at all. Russell wound up with 10 points, Freeman had 5 and 10rebounds and DeCataldo had seven points.

“I’m looking to pass the ball when they double me”,said Klimowicz who had five assists. Almost lost inthe inside barrage was a flawless performace by Burkewho had six assists and several steals to go alongwith 11 points.O’Donnell led Cranford with 11 points, including threefrom behind the arc.

“I was so nervous all day,” admitted Burke.“There has been so much hype about us. We’ve beenpracticing very hard together and are happy to play agame that counts”.

Chapman,who played three freshmen in his 10 playerrotation was not surprised with the result.,“This is a young team and I think we should be a muchbetter team later in the year. I just hope that everyopponent isn’t as good as Scotch Plains”.

Nick Giannaci SPF Wrestling 2005

For Scotch Plains Fanwood senior Nick Giannaci less meant more in the football season
as a slimmed down physique gave him the increased speed to lead the Raiders in tackles and Giannaci is hoping to use the same formula for the upcoming wrestling season.

Being lighter in wrestling has an immediate benefit, as Giannaci will no longer be giving away ten or fifteen pounds per match as were the case last year when he wrestled at 215. Instead, he will wrestle in the 189-pound class when he and teammates Pat Mineo and Sal Gano will be competing in the prestigious “Beast of the East” tournament at the University of Delaware beginning tomorrow.

Giannaci was no slouch last year, placing third in the UCT, second in the district tournament and finished with a 23-10 record but his coach is expecting much bigger things from his “smaller” wrestler.

“He’s trimmed down. to 189 which is a great weight for him,” said Wrestling Coach John Scholz.

“Last year was a little tough giving up weights for a lot of matches,” added Giannaci.

“Also I feel I could have been in better shape and a bit quicker. In August this year coming into football camp I was lighter and I saw a noticeable difference in the way I moved and reacted. I hope that the differences that I saw in football will carry on into the wrestling season as far as speed goes.”

Although he weighs less, Giannaci has increased his strength considerably.

“Some people including myself thought that losing the weight would be detrimental to my strength but it has proven to be the opposite thanks to a great weight-training program at the school. “

The Raider wrestling team will need a big year from Giannaci, Mineo, Gano, a number of other returnees as the schedule has been upgraded this year with Delaware Valley, Seton Hall Prep, Hanover Park, Randolph, and Toms River North added.

Giannaci was one of the standouts in a disappointing 3-7 season for the football team, saving his best performances for some of the toughest opposition. Giannaci had an astounding 19 tackles in a two-point loss to Irvington and on a cold gloomy Thanksgiving loss to Elizabeth, he recorded 14 tackles from his linebacker position. Giannaci was also an outstanding blocker at fullback for leading rusher and wrestling teammate Rashawn Strong.

“His motor never stopped running. Nick does not know the meaning of the word quit. He was a great leader and role model for the rest of the team,” said Raider Coach Steve Ciccotelli, who also coached Nick’s older brother Mark, a 2004 graduate.

The younger Giannaci credits much of his toughness from his older brother and friends.


“Mark could not have executed his job as an older brother better. His job like most other older brothers’ jobs was to make me tough and teach me pretty much how to take a beating,” said Giannaci with a chuckle.

“Of course he took full advantage of this right along with two of his friends who deserve some credit, Andrew Silber and Chuck Bachi. When I got into high school with Mark I could tell that he started to see me in a different way, he started seeing me for the athlete that I am rather than just the annoying little brother that I always was.

“Mark and I always competed when we were younger and to this day, but the most important thing is that we never compare each other and accept that we play different positions or on a larger scale, we are two totally different people just with common interests.”

Marc, 2005 graduate Marc Fabiano, also a star football player and wrestler also get major kudos from Giannaci.

“Wrestling practices with Fabiano last year were the most intense workout I have ever been through in my life,” said Giannaci.

“There isn’t any meaning to the word stop in his head and his motor is always running. Watching Fabs wrestle in Atlantic City (state finals) last year was great because I got to see everything that he does in practice come to life and he did really well. I looked up to him a lot last year in both football and wrestling and he was a great teacher and mentor for me over the past few years. “

Giannaci finds it hard to choose which sport he likes more.

“I love certain things about each sport and the funny thing is that what I love about one is the opposite of what I love in the other. With football I love the teamwork aspect,” said Giannaci.

“In wrestling I love the fact that although it is a team sport, you are out there on your own and the spotlight is on you to do your job for the team. I guess I like the change from the football teamwork attitude to the wrestling individual attitude.”

Giannaci prefers to throw away the 2005 football team’s record and look at the intangibles.
“I am very proud of the heart of our team as a whole and we were in some games and just couldn’t pull it off, but that’s just how it goes.”

2005 Boys Union County Tennis Preview

Having equaled the all time school record for total coaching wins with 739 last Friday, Westfield Tennis coach George Kapner is looking for a victory this weekend at the Union County Tournament that will not enhance his individual total but would be the most significant triumph of the year.

Until the early 1990s, Westfield dominated the Union County Boys Tennis Tournament, but Summit has won the past four years and Kapner hopes this is the season that the Blue Devils reclaim what used to be theirs.

"It has historically been a Westfield tournament," said Kapner. "The last few years it's been Summit's tournament. We want to bring the crown back to Westfield."

Dethroning the Hilltoppers will not be easy, especially with a young squad featuring freshmen at two of three single slots but Kapner believes his newcomers, Kevin Shallcross at second singles, and third singles player Ravi Netravali can combine with strong veteran doubles teams to win what should be a close team battle with New Providence(NP), Governor Livingston (GL) and Scotch Plains-Fanwood(SPF) also in the hunt.

“Kevin Shallcross and Ravi Netravali have both played exceedingly well at 2nd and 3rd singles. If they can continue to win as their experience and maturity grow, we only need to
find one more point, probably at doubles, and there is no telling how far we can go in the county and state tournaments ,” said Kapner.

Shallcross was impressive in outlasting another talented freshman, Ryan Krueger of SPF in three sets as the Blue Devils rolled to a 4-1 victory over the Raiders earlier this year. The only win for SPF was by Ryan’s older brother, senior Jason Krueger, who figures to be a top contender at first singles.
Krueger, New Providence’s Kevin Chen, the second singles champion last season and Adam Geiger of Governor Livingston head up a wide open field at first singles.

“ It should be an interesting competition. The only one of the top players I have faced was Alec Wasserman (of Westfield)” said Krueger.

“I think I have a good chance to win, as long as I play my best game.”

The Raiders also have a contender at first doubles with Billy Albizati and Jeremy Sanders, who made the semi finals last year.

The Blue Devils are strong at both doubles with Brian Kender and junior Lee Bernstein at first doubles and Andrew Levy and sophomore Jack Trimble at second doubles.

When the Blue Devils improved to 10-4 by defeating Bayonne 4-1 Friday it finally brought the veteran coach level with the legendary Gary Kehler, who gained fame for coaching football and wrestling teams during the 1960s and '70s and was also a golf coach before becoming athletic director.

Kapner has had most of his success in his 25 years at the school coaching soccer. He was the first girls coach, winning over 80 percent of his games in eleven years and has mentored the boys the past thirteen.

Kapner is pleased with the season thus far.
“Our losses have been to the top programs in the state,” said Kapner
“ Of course, our goal is to re-join those programs and be counted among the elite high school tennis teams in the state. The
only way to do that is to beat those quality programs.”

2005 Boys Union County Tennis Review

There was drama until the final match at the Union County Tennis Tournament as Westfield and record-breaking coach George Kapner wrested the title back from Summit for the first time since 1998 Friday at Donald Van Blake Courts in Plainfield. The Blue Devils, who earlier in the week had made Kapner the winningest coach in Westfield history, pulled out an 81-76 squeaker over the Hilltoppers on a victory by the second-doubles team of Andrew Levy and Jack Trimble. 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, over Summit's Vir Singh and Ben Sangree.

Westfield also got victories from freshman second singles
Kevin Shallcross and the first doubles team of Brian Kender and Lee Bernstein. as well as a second from freshman third singles Ravi Netravali. Both doubles teams defeated a Summit pair as the Blue Devils won two of the three head to head matches in the finals against their rivals to give Kapner his eighth and perhaps most gratifying Union County Tennis title.

“It’s extremely satisfying ,” said Kapner.
“Summit and Scotch Plains-Fanwood were very worthy adversaries so it certainly was not an easy task. More important to me, however, was that the team, all five positions, has been getting stronger and more confident in the last two weeks. It is very gratifying to see all their hard work come to fruition.”

Kapner was effusive in his praise for his doubles teams.
“As a high school tennis coach, there is only so much you can do with singles players in the short high school season,” said Kapner.

“But your doubles teams have to be put together from scratch and taught how to play doubles when their training heretofore has been almost exclusively in singles. I have to give most of the credit
to two seniors, Brian Kender and Andrew Levy, who took two underclassmen, Lee Bernstein and Jack Trimble, under their wings and made them top notch doubles players.”

Scotch Plains-Fanwood also had an excellent tournament finishing third with sixty points but the Raiders may have hoped for more after joining Summit as the only two teams to advance everybody to the semi finals. It set up a quasi-dual meet with the six time defending champions, which Summit took 3-1. The only SPF player to advance to the finals was freshman second singles player Ryan Krueger, who would lose in the finals to Shallcross for the second time this year but Raider coach Mark Cunnington was pleased with his effort.

“Ryan has definitely turned the corner ,” said Cunnington.
“The semi final match is a match he doesn’t win earlier in the year, but Ryan has toughened up and learned how to win the big points.”

After going 10-0 on Thursday, the Raiders appeared to be off to a great start Friday as both their double teams took early leads in their matches with Summit only to fall in close matches.

Seniors Billy Albizati and Jeremy Sanders would recover to finish third on first doubles, while senior Greg Leischner and freshman Scott Leyden would do likewise on second doubles.

Seniors Jason Kruger and John Altman finished fourth on first and third singles respectively.

The Blue Devils had started the week by upsetting eleventh ranked Bergen Catholic 3-2 to give Kapner his 740th victory, spanning six sports one more than legendary Westfield Coach Gary Kehler.

“It is certainly a milestone ,” said Kapner.
“ I have spent a great deal of time recently thinking back over all the wonderful and talented young people, many of whom are now
well past being called young, who I have had the honor of coaching over the last three decades at WHS. “

Kapner grasped the irony of breaking the record of another man with the initials “GK”.

“I am humbled by the thought that my name will forever be linked with the name Gary Kehler. He was a mentor to me in the late
1970's and 1980's as I was developing my coaching career and he is, without a doubt, not only the greatest coach in the history of WHS, but one of a handful of the greatest coaches in New Jersey history”

2005 Union county Girls Swimming Preview

Although there will be over a dozen teams at the Union County Girls Swimming Championships Saturday at Dunn Center Elizabeth, the focus will clearly be on rivals Westfield and Scotch Plains which have separated themselves from the other county teams and currently rank in the top ten teams in the state. The Blue Devils seeking their thirteenth straight championship have won two close head to head battles with the Raiders this year and Westfield Coach Jaime Ruszala, while wary of the other county teams knows how the Raiders have closed the gap.

“Scotch Plains is a really awesome team as they have shown at both the Pirate and our dual meet. We need to be 100 percent,” said Ruszala.

In December Westfield prevailed 87-83 and two weeks ago at the prestigious Pirate Invitational at West Windsor, Westfield used its superior depth to outscore the Raiders 204-177 for second place.

Scotch Plains Coach Jessica Hulnik is convinced her team is peaking at the right time and just wants them to focus on swimming well and not about their neighbors to the north.

“It’s not so much about trying to beat any one team in particular It’s about swimming well during the post season. Like all of the other teams at this meet, we are trying to win it,” said Hulnik.

Senior Amanda Cameron, the defending champion in the 100 and 200-yard freestyle shares her coach’s attitude.

“It is not so important for Scotch Plains to beat Westfield as so much it is
important for our team to do our best. We have proved to ourselves and other teams that we are strong and we are one of the top teams this year. We are a very strong and young team and we are going to do our best whether it be beating Westfield or each of the swimmers doing our best,” said Cameron.

By any measure this has been a groundbreaking season for the Raiders.
Their finish at the Pirate Invitational was the school’s highest ever and was augmented by two first place efforts, including a triumph by freshman Melissa Helock in the 200-yard freestyle, the first individual Pirate championship since Dana Berkowitz in 2001. Helock also joined fellow freshman Mary Henkels, sophomore Jillian Murphy and Cameron to win the 400-yard freestyle relay and was second in the 100-yard butterfly.

“All of our freshmen have done extremely well so far this year. Melissa,
and Mary have had great seasons,” said Hulnik.

Hulnik is also counting on the versatility of Murphy. “I've really been pleased with the way Jillian has been swimming this year. She is swimming with a lot of confidence and focus this year. She has been very versatile and I love the way that she has been attacking her races this season ,” said Hulnik.

Hulnik is hoping that the big four of Murphy, Cameron, Helock and Henkels can win or place high in enough events to counteract Westfield’s phalanx of swimmers which is led by free style specialist Amanda Dickson, breaststroke favorite Jackie Delafuente, and butterfly specialists Brittany Reyes and Kylie Fraser. Like Cameron, Delafuente is the defending champion in her best event, the 100-yard breaststroke.

Ruszala thinks the meet may come to the short freestyle races and the relays where the teams should dominate but must also be wary of other teams.

“There are many talented swimmers in Union County who could very well challenge both our swimmers for places. In this meet every point we can get will be necessary.”

2005 Scotch Plains Girls Swimming Preview

It is easy for Scotch Plains Fanwood Girls Swimming coach Jessica Hulnik to be optimistic when Amanda Cameron is the cornerstone of her team. As a junior last year Cameron was not only the most improved swimmer in Union County, but also the county’s top all-around swimmer and should be better than ever this year according to Hulnik.

“Amanda is wonderful. She can literally do any event on the meet sheet and do it well. She is the person, in a clutch situation that I want on the end of a relay team. She is also very consistent with her times regardless of how broken down she may be from practices.,” said Hulnik.

Cameron leads a strong and experienced Raider team into an excellent early season test when they make the short ride to Westfield to face the always-talented Blue Devils, Wednesday at the Westfield YMCA. Led by Cameron, the Raiders finished twentieth ranked in the state last year, while Westfield was sixth overall and captured its twelfth consecutive Union County championship

At the Union County Championships, Cameron won the 100 freestyle in 56.10, the 200 freestyle in 2:01.90, and anchored the 200 freestyle relay to victory in 1:46.09, pacing the Raiders to a third place finish , and she also sparked her team to the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Public B final, where it lost to the eventual state champion, Montgomery. At the Meet of Champions, Cameron swam a season-best 2:00.77 in the preliminary heats of the 200-yard freestyle. She wound up placing 14th in the final in 2:01.09.

“Over the past few years, she has been someone who can always be counted on to turn in a good performance just about every time. I am really looking forward to watching her swim this year. I think she will do some great things in the pool ,” said Hulnik.

As great as Cameron is, Hulnik is counting on a mix of experienced swimmers plus a highly touted group of freshmen
to help the team withstand the loss of such talented graduates as Morgan Larkin., Allyson Salisbury, Meryl Akyuz Judy Brown and Jessica Cavanagh.

“The outlook is very good. We have reloaded our roster quite nicely after last year's large graduating class,” said Hulnik.

In addition to Cameron, senior tri-captains Rachel Dolgin (sprinter) and Jamie Quale (distance) are also four-year varsity swimmers. Other top seniors include Brittany Adisano, Rachel Goor, and Rebecca Koransky. Junior. sprinter Kristen Henkels, backstroker Kate Kosenick and. sophomores Brittany Larkin, Jillian Murphy, and Jen Gaglioti should again play key roles on the team.

Hulnik is excited about the freshmen and realizes they begin their careers with some high expectations.
“Word gets around. I am very excited about this year’s freshman class. They are fast, versatile, and really a nice bunch of girls. They will make an immediate impact on the success of this program.”

Among the freshmen, Hulnik lists Katelyn Cavanagh, Rebecca Fox, Catherine Harley, Melissa Helock, Mary Henkels, Kate Johnson, and Erin Rossi as those ready to make immediate contributions.

“On paper our girls look very strong this year. While we graduated 11 seniors last year, we have 15 freshmen who made the team this year,” said Hulnik.

“ Combined with all of our returning swimmers we have the potential to do even better than we did last year. The meet versus Westfield is a chance to swim a very strong team at the beginning of the season which will better prepare us for the big meets at the end of the season.”

Beating Westfield would be a first for the seniors and a great benchmark of how far the program has progressed according to Dolgin.

“To beat such a good team would be enormous for our team spirit and self esteem ,” said Dolgin.
“It would give us a big push for the rest of the year.”

When asked to name the teams’ strengths, Hulnik says “Our versatility without a doubt, and our depth. We have many girls who are skilled at several strokes and distances. I am looking forward to all of the combinations that we will be able to use this year. “

SPF stuns Elizabeth 13-12

It was a game that was even stranger than the weather and that was saying something
because the crowd experienced everything from warm sixty-degree sunshine at the start to funnel clouds, which eventually led to bright blue skies, followed by a cold windy rain neat the finish but nobody on the Scotch Plains side left unhappy.

The Scotch Plains Fanwood football team, looking dead and buried for 43 minutes arose like the 2004 Boston Red Sox to score two touchdowns in two minutes to stun eleventh ranked Elizabeth 13-12 before a delirious and rain soaked homecoming crowd at Scotch Plains Thanksgiving Day. Elizabeth, which was ranked in the top ten in the state all year before losing their first game the previous Friday night in the state sectional semi finals at Phillipsburg, had parlayed two long first quarter running touchdowns and stout defense into what seemed like a comfortable 12-0 lead before the Raiders’ passing game came alive.

Senior quarterback Dan LaForge made his final game a memorable one by twice connecting with fellow senior Sean Smith, the second one a 65-yard hookup with 3:06 to go. After recovering a botched snap to the punter on the Elizabeth 20, LaForge hit Smith for a 20 yard touchdown in the right corner of the end zone with 5;46 to go. After the touchdown, the Raider defense stiffened and stopped Elizabeth on three straight plays to get the ball back on their own 39. On the third play after two incompletions, LaForge hit
a wide-open Smith on the left sideline and the track star ran untouched the final 45 yards.

“It’s called a rim. We bring two receivers into the middle of the field and put one on the left side,” said LaForge.

“We had run the play a few times during the game and it hadn’t been successful ,” said Smith.

“The difference this time was that the safety went into the middle of the field and left me wide open ,”.

After the touchdown Mike Baumwoll connected on the decisive extra point and for the third time hit a very effective squib kick on the muddy field that Elizabeth’s Gary Warren had trouble holding on to eventually downing the ball on the Elizabeth 15.

“We squibbed on all our kickoffs and it worked out great ,” said Ciccotelli.
“The idea was to keep the ball out of Warren’s hands on kickoffs. We had been hurt by kickoff returns this year and he was one of the best in the state so we did real well on that.”

On the following play, Elizabeth fumbled and the Raiders recovered. They were able to run out the clock by converting a fourth and three. On the next play Lakiem Lockery ran a sweep to the left side and abruptly fell down.

“It was a designed play by the coach. He told me to waste some time running wide and fall down ,” said Lockery. After LaForge took a knee on two successive plays the Raiders had achieved one of their most improbable victories and had defeated one of the state’s top football programs for a third straight year on Thanksgiving, coming on the heels of a 34-7 win in 2002, and a 6-0 triumph in 2003.

“If you look at the two teams you would have to say there was more talent on their side of the field but sometimes other things decide football games ,” said Raider Coach Steve Ciccotelli, who still had a look of disbelief ion his face.

“In all honesty they looked a little disinterested in the second half and we never lost our intensity ,” added Ciccotelli.

“Our defense was tremendous in the second half. We made some adjustments at halftime and stopped their running game ,”

The Raiders had been making a habit of second half comebacks in three of their last four games but only Linden had been successful. Like he had in losses to Union and West Morris, LaForge spread the ball around the field but mostly relied on the fleet footed Smith.

“This team never stopped playing in any game this year ,” said Ciccotelli.
“Sometimes we just ran out of time when the other team had more points but the kids never felt they were out of any game and it paid off today.”

Gymnastics 2004 Midseason

As anyone who watched the gymnastics competition at the Athens Summer Olympics well knows, the difference between success and failure can be tantalizingly minute and is often decided on the opinion of a judge who may score two nearly identical routines very differently.

First year Scotch Plains Fanwood gymnastics coach Lisa Cerchio and her star performer, senior Katie Zaleski are all too aware of the precision needed for the Raiders to defend their title as the Union County Gymnastics championships begin tonight at Cranford.

On October 8 at the same site, the Raiders edged Dayton-Brearly100.4 to 100 to win the Cougar Invitational. Zaleski paced the Raiders with a fifth place overall finish as the team avenged a second place finish a year ago where they finished a razor thin .85 behind Cranford. The Raiders would come back to edge Cranford by an even closer 103.1 to 102.85 the difference of the smallest imperfection on either the floor exercises, balance beam, vault or uneven bars, the four disciplines that each gymnast must complete.

“Placing for each event including all around comes down to a tenth or so. That means that one balance check on beam or one form break on bars can make the difference between first and second place “ said Cerchio.


Westfield sophomore Claire Macdonald took first in the all around at the Cougar and is a slight favorite in a packed field that in addition to Zaleski includes Jessica Greenwald of Union, Alyssa Lewandowski of Union Catholic and Andi Soblosky and Jessica Zalutko both of Dayton-Brearley, a combined team of David brearly and Jonathan Dayton High Schools.


Cerchio’s interest in gymnastics began when she was five years old. When Mary Lou Retton won the gold in the Olympics, her grandfather and mother signed her up for lessons. Soon after she joined the team at Surgent’s inGarwood and continued to compete through high school. As a four year member of the gymnastics team at Roselle Catholic, Cerchio qualified for the sectionals on individual events. While in college, she became head coach at Roselle Catholic for three years. Currently she teaches kindergarten at Woodrow Wilson School #19 in Elizabeth.

Cerchio considers herself fortunate to have inherited Zaleski.

“Katie is a wonderful team leader and all around competitor. She is very dedicated to improving her routines at each competition and balancing her responsibilities as captain. Katie has been a true asset this year. She has all the qualities that you would want your captain to have ,” said Cerchio.

1) She excels on all four events, but especially on bars.

The team score consists of the top three individual scores on vault, bars, beam, and floor. In dual meets, each team is allowed to compete five individuals on each event. The top three scores are added together to make the team score. Hypothetically if each team member can compete all-around (all four events), a team could be made up of as little as three team members.

Most tournaments only allow four individuals to compete on each event, but the top three scores are still compiled together for the team score. Team scores are always compiled by the highest three scores on each event.

2) The competition that we face in Group 3 is tremendous. If you look at the scores from the Cougar Invitational alone, you can see that
3) The County Tournament is being hosted by Cranford this year, although we did win counties last year. All of the teams that competed in the Cougar Invitational have had a chance to compete on the equipment that will be used for the County Tournament. I don’t feel as though any one team will have a true advantage over another team based on the location of the meet.

4) Kate Breuninger is a senior this year. She has been a strong competitor in all four events this year. She has qualified to compete in Sectionals on three events- we are just waiting for one more beam score (which we expect this week). Laurel Devlin in a sophomore this year. She also has been competing in all four events. To date, she has qualified to compete in Sectionals on vault, bars, and floor. Natalie Capoccia is also a sophomore who competes on bars and beam. She has qualified to compete in Sectionals on both of these events. *** I know that you did not ask about Jackie DeJohn, but she is a senior whose individual scores have contributed to our team scores. She has qualified for sectionals on beam and floor. (Her scores have contributed to our team sores along with the other three gymnasts that you mentioned.)

5) Gymnastics is the type of sport that you dedicate your life to. You need to start gymnastics at a young age and continue training hard throughout your career. (You are right that many of the Olympic gymnasts are very young. That is because once puberty begins, the body has changed too drastically to train and compete at that level.)

6) Judging at the High School level is fair. The judges score based on what they see to the best of their ability. Of course nobody is perfect including judges- you need to keep that in mind. As long as they continue to score the routines to the best of their ability that is all we can ask.

7) As I said, gymnastics is a sport that athletes need to start training for early on in their life. High School gymnastics relies completely on a feeder system. We are very fortunate to have gymnasts from the Fanwood-Scotch Plains YMCA and Surgent’s Elite. These independent schools are where the girls continue to train when our season is over.

8) The Union County Tournament will take place at Cranford High School on Friday, October 22nd. Warm-ups begin around 4:00 and the actual meet begins at 6:00.


1) First of all tell us a little bit about yourself. How long you've been
doing gymnastics. What school you have practiced at.
I have been doing gymnastics since the age of three. I now practice at the
Fanwood-Scotch Plains YMCA.

2) Did you watch the olympics? What do you think of the judging system in
general? Do you think high school judging is generally fair?
Absolutely! In regards to Paul Hamm’s gold medal, the judges made a mistake
in scoring his routine, but also in scoring South Korea’s Yang Tae Young
routine. If both errors are taken into account, Paul Hamm’s All Around score
is still higher than Young’s. Judges make mistakes; but, once a medal is
awarded, it cannot be rescinded. For the most part, high school judging has
been fair.

3) What is your best event? Your worst?
My best event is bars. Vault is my worst event.

4) what is your favorite event? Least favorite?
Bars is my favorite event. Vault is my least favorite because practicing
vault is repetitious and is not quite as exciting as practicing the other
events.

5) How about being a pole vaulter and its interaction with gymnastics?
Doing gymnastics has given me strength, which you need in order to
pole-vault. Pole-vaulting is a little like vault in that I have to
concentrate on getting my body in the correct positions. I am able to
visually break down each part of the jump so that I know where I have to be
and when I have to be there. Turning my body upside down with my feet in the
air is something that I am accustomed to doing! But of course there are some
things I had to get used to: like training with a group of boys!

6) Who are some of the other gymnasts in the county that will contend?
Tiffany Lewis of Elizabeth High School is probably the best in the county
right now. At the Cougar Invitational, there was not a huge difference in
all around scores between first place and sixth place. Claire Macdonald,
Jessica Greenwald, Alyssa Lewandowski, Andi Soblosky, myself, and Jessica
Zalutko all had all-around scores in the 34 range. So, all of these girls
are in the running to medal at counties.

7) Is there a closeness with gymnasts that you might not find on other
sports since you all watch each other perform?
Definitely. We encourage and cheer for our own team as well as other teams.
A lot of us know each other from club gymnastics, and if not, we get to know
each other at our dual meets. So, at big meets, you’ll see girls from one
team yelling across the gym and cheering for girls on other teams.

8) do you enjoy watching other gymnasts perform?
I love to watch all levels of gymnastic competition. It is exciting to
watch Olympic gymnasts perform such high levels of difficulty. At the same
time, I love to see young gymnasts accomplish a skill they’ve been working
on.

9) You're a very good student. Have you decided on a field of study for
college? Are you planning to compete in college?
I plan to major in biology and go on to medical school to become a sports
doctor. If the college I go to has gymnastics, then I would like to compete.


Jessica Greenwald - Union
Alyssa Lewandowski - Union Catholic
Andi Soblosky - Dayton-Brearley
Jessica Zalutko - Dayton-Brearley

I'm 5'4". Not under 100 pounds.
Yes I am in the National Honor Society.

What are your interests outside of the sports you compete in?
I take voice lessons and participate in all of the select choirs in the high
school as well as Rep Theatre. I don't know if I mentioned this in my other
e-mail, but I'm president of the Spanish National Honor Society and I plan
to minor in Spanish in college.

Katie is the first full-time female pole vaulter we have ever had. I had Katie
in class when she was a sophomore (and again now in AP Calculus). I asked her
to come out and give it a try, as it would seem that good gymnasts would make
good pole vaulters. She has a phenomenal work ethic, she's very athletic, and
she gets good guidance from our pole vault coach, Pete Kane, who was a 15'
pole-vaulter himself. She made tremendous strides this past spring, and I think
she'll break through this year. There are a lot of girls who are clearing about
the same height as she is, but I think she has the potential to go 10', which
would really set her apart. Katie's just a great kid, and if I had a daughter,
I'd want her to be just like Katie.

I got a chance last fall to go to the county gymnastics meet as a spectator to
watch Katie compete and the team win the championship. It was a great moment
for them, and Katie was a big part of it. I'm not sure Katie gets all the
credit she deserves as an honor roll student and a top athlete, but that might come
from her being quiet and humble about her accomplishments and not drawing
attention to herself.

Lakiem Lockery

When the Scotch Plains football team visits the Irvington Blue Knights today there will more than enough incentive to go around for any member of the Raiders who remember the bitter taste of last years’ 18-9 defeat, which cost the team the Watchung Conference title and was their only regular season loss. But a player who wasn’t even on the field that day, senior running back Lakiem Lockery, may have more motivation than anyone else.

Lockery was born in Irvington and after moving to Scotch Plains at the age of two, moved back to Irvington and lived there until he was a seventh grader. Needless to say, there will be a number of familiar faces on the other side of the ball and in the stands that will wish Lockery good luck but will be hoping for a different result.

Lockery missed last years’ game with an injured ankle that forced halfback Kyle Baker to carry the ball 27 times, far more than normal. The Raiders were clearly not as effective on offensive without Lockery’s outside explosiveness, which re-emerged in a scintillating playoff performance at Sayreville when he gained 172 yards to pace an upset victory.

“It was frustrating to not be able to play against so many people I knew. I wanted to be out there helping us win,” recalled Lockery.
“It doesn’t matter how many yards I gain as long as we win.”

“Every team has to find its identity. We haven’t found ours yet, but its games like this that help you find out how good you are,” said Scotch Plains Coach Steve Ciccotelli.

“We have a lot of new people this year but there are also a lot of returning players that want to avenge the loss last year.”

With Baker and blocking fullback Travis Boff graduating, Lockery has taken on a larger role in the first two games. He relies on fullback Tony Curry to provide the blocks he needs to get outside and take advantage of his blazing speed. As any wise back will do, Lockery is quick to compliment the men in the trenches, Center Kevin Urban, tackles Marc Fabiano and Leroy Anglin and guards Justice Evans and Ted Acosta.

“Without those guys it’s hard to gain much yardage,” said Lockery.

Coach Steve Ciccotelli notes an improvement in Lockery this fall. “He’s running much tougher this year. He’s willing to take the punishment to get the tough yards inside,” said Ciccotelli.

Although his 77-yard scamper in the second period was the headline grabber another run later in the quarter may have been his most impressive. Lockery took a handoff to the right side and slithered through the smallest of holes bouncing off several Westfield tacklers before gaining 34 yards to set up the final touchdown.

Lockery smiled when recalling the run.” I don’t know how I kept going. I was just looking for running room ,” said Lockery.

Overall, Lockery wound up with a career high 196 yards in only 16 carries against Westfield. He realizes the increased role he plays on the team. and what’s at stake on Friday.

Despite his competitiveness and his desire to avenge last year, Lockery will renew acquaintances when the game ends. “It’s always good to go back home,” said Lockery. “I ‘ve been waiting for this game for a long time.”

He won’t be alone.

SPF 27 Westfield 0

Showing what a difference a year can make, Sean Smith of Scotch Plains Fanwood High School, turned a close game against Westfield into a one sided 27-0 Raider victory Sunday at Gary Kehler Field in Westfield. With the Blue Devils threatening to score a touchdown that would cut into a 13-0 Raider lead, Smith, who suffered through an injury filled season on the cross country team last fall, intercepted a Mike Patella pass in the flat and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown that made the score 20-0 and all but ended Blue Devil resistance. The victory improves the Raiders to 2-0 with both victories on the road and drops the Blue Devils to 0-2 with both losses at home.

On a sun baked windy afternoon, a day after the remnants of Hurricane Ivan had postponed the game, the teams battled through a scoreless, evenly played first sixteen minutes before the Raiders exploded with all 27 of their points in the final eight minutes of the half.

Lakeem Lockery, who rumbled for 186 yards against Westfield in last year’s 27-7 Raider win, stunned the Blue Devils when he took a handoff from quarterback Dan LaForge to the right, got a great block from fullback Tony Curry and easily outran the Westfield secondary for a 77 yard score.

“ It was power sweep,” said Lockery. “The line did a great job opening up a hole and Tony (Curry) took out the linebacker. The line did everything for me. I just had to run.”

After a Westfield punt, the Raiders were back to their big play antics again. LaForge hit LaMont Hunt over the middle for a 46-yard gain to the Westfield 18. On a third down from the two, LaForge called his own number and pushed his six-foot three inch body over the goal line to make it 13-0.

Westfield came back strong, with Patella connecting with Bryan Power for 30 yards and Marc Dowling gaining another 11 to the Raider 19. That’s when Smith cinched the result by stepping in front of Power and using his superb speed to race down the left sideline untouched. There was 3:46 left in the first half but the game for all intents and purposes was over.

“We’ve run that play a million times in practice,” said Smith.
“It’s a play action with a pass to the split end. I recognized what they were doing and guessed right.”

“That was the game right there,” said Westfield Coach Ed Tranchina.
“We were going in to make it 13-7 and instead they made it 20-0. It was very hard for us to recover from something like that.”

“Sean’s a diamond in the rough for us, a real great addition to the team,” said Raider’s coach Steve Ciccotelli. “I’m glad he made the right choice this fall to play football.”

Smith had played football his first two years, but his success in numerous events in track convinced him that he needed to improve his endurance and that cross country would better complement his track skills. Smith won four events in the Union County championships last spring and appears headed to greatness in track.

“Football is a different kind of pain,” said Smith. “I really love the sport and am happy to make a contribution. The guys have made me feel a part of the team.”

Ahead 20-0 the Raiders were still not done, forcing a demoralized Blue Devil squad to punt again. Taking over the ball with less than two minutes left, the Raiders still had time for more explosions. Lockery slipped through the smallest of holes, juked a couple of Blue Devil defenders and carried a few more on a wondrous 34 yard run that put his team in range again. Curry, known more for his blocking and defensive efforts, added an exclamation point to the incredible second quarter when he took a handoff at the two, seemed to be initially stopped but through second and third effort was able to get into the end zone.

The second half allowed Ciccotelli to substitute liberally as his defense led by Mike DiNizio, Curry, Mark Fabiano, Kevin Urban and LeRoy Anglin among others gave Westfield some yardage but was able to hold when needed. The offense was unspectacular but was able to chew up valuable clock time. Westfield wound up with 150 yards of total offense, 46 less than Lockery would gain.

In addition to Smith and Lockery, Ciccotelli had high praise for his offensive line, especially Anglin and Justis Evans, both in their first year starting on the offensive line.
“We played a great game today,” said Ciccotelli. “They played a full 48 minutes and that’s what we need each week.”


The Raiders face their toughest test to date today when they travel to Irvington for a 3 pm. game. The Campers handed the Raiders their only regular season defeat last year, 18-9.

Lance Thomas transfers

After a year in the stratosphere of big time high school basketball replete, with out of state tournaments, packed arenas, televised games, shoe contracts and nonstop hype basketball will return to normal at Scotch Plains Fanwood High School this winter. Whether that’s a good thing or not depends on one’s perspective but when 6-foot-8 junior Lance Thomas announced his intentions last Wednesday to transfer to Prep power St. Benedicts few were surprised, least of all his coach Dan Doherty.

“It just the way things are going. High school basketball has become big business,” deadpanned Doherty.
“Lance has become one of the top ten or fifteen juniors in the country and he thought he needed to be in a program with greater national exposure.”

A number of events made Thomas’ decision inevitable. In June, a St. Benedict’s player from last year’s team JR Smith jumped straight from high school to become a first round NBA pick. Some scouts have compared the two and Thomas figures to take over Smith’s position.

“Lance is looking at the National Basketball Association(NBA) but he’s a good student and college is a definite possibility for him,” said Doherty.

Another highly touted Scotch Plains player, freshman Ashton Gibbs bypassed the high school entirely and will play this year at Seton Hall Prep. And most importantly,
Thomas’ friend and high school teammate last year 6-foot-9 260 pound Derrick Caracter
decided to transfer back to St. Patrick’s of Elizabeth, where he had begun his high school career.

The two, nicknamed “The Twin Towers” led the Raiders to a 16-9 season their first winning season in four years. Included in that record was an impressive showing in the Slam Dunk To the Beach tournament in Delaware and a close loss to Camden in the Prime Time Shootout in 14,000 seat Soveirn Arena in Trenton.. With Caracter and Thomas, the Raiders were an extremely hot ticket. Nearly every game was standing room only. This year was looked to be even better but now Doherty will make do without his marquee duo and junior point guard Mike Johnson, the teams’ third leading scorer a year ago, who is also joining Thomas at St. Benedicts.

Doherty, while disappointed at the loss of the three players fully understands the obstacles public schools face to compete against the recruiting machines of St. Anthony’s, Seton Hall, St Benedicts and St. Patrick’s among others.

“I don’t think you’ll ever see a big time player in the north jersey area ever play at a public school again ,” said Doherty.

One of the positive results from the Caracter-Thomas era is that Scotch Plains Fanwood was able to get a three-year contract for free shoes from Nike. That will continue.

The departures of Thomas and Caracter create a huge void on Scotch
Plains-Fanwood's roster, but Doherty is confident that returnees like juniors Sean Young and Gavin Ford will keep the Raiders competitive.

“We’re back to where we were. It was an interesting year,” said Doherty.

"It's obviously going to have a major effect on our program, but it basically
just makes us go back to what we were," Doherty said. "We still have some good,
young players, but it's going to be a challenge without them for the rest of
the kids."

2004 Scotch Plains Boys Tennis Review

The average New Jersey high school tennis coach would be lucky to win a couple
of games against his first singles player,. but first year Scotch Plains
Fanwood High School tennis coach Mark Cunnington is anything but average. In
fact, Cunnington, a former collegiate star and nationally ranked player is
hoping his top player, junior Jason Krueger can improve enough to defeat him
next year. Krueger, along with third singles county runner-up Adam Corbin
(11-1 overall) helped the Raiders to a 12-6 record and fourth place finish in
the Union County Tournament.

In an end of the year match to help prepare him for the state individual
tournament, Krueger won the first set against Cunnington before losing the next
two. Krueger would go on to lose his state match to highly regarded Sean Hanley
of Point Pleasant Beach 6-4, 6-0. Hanley lost in the third round of the
tournament, which was won by Vivek Subramanian of East Brunswick

”Jason actually played his finest match against a very good player. It was 4-3
1st set and Jason broke his serve to go 4-4. The games went to a lot of deuces
and basically the kid had more answers and game than Jason did. The talent of
these kids is simply amazing ,” said Krueger’s father Mitch.

“I think that Jason has made a lot of progress this year ,” added Cunnington
who
thought a winning match against J.P.. Stevens was the turning point of
Krueger’s season. Krueger came back from a 5-2 deficit in the first set, to
win 7-5,6-1.

“I just told him to settle down and play his game and that I was going to
leave him to fight this match out, I needed him to know that he could do it on
his own and 45 minutes later he came off the court a winner ,” said Cunnington.

“ I think that Jason just needs to understand his game, he played a great first
set this year in the state tournament and he will build from that I expect
Jason to challenge at the county tournament next year and win a few rounds at
state.,” added Cunnington.

Although hired only two weeks before practice started., Cunnington credited the
seniors Mike Thompson and Corbin along with Krueger for smoothing the
transition.

“ I don't think the short notice of my appointment hurt the team, the
weather was more hurtful, we didn't get to practice as much as I hoped
because of the rain, and then we had matches almost everyday for the rest of
the season ,” said Cunnington. After a slow start, the Raiders ran off eight
consecutive wins.

“It was quite an easy transition with the players, I think that I
could relate well to them because of my age, and I was very impressed with
how quickly they adapted to my teaching and coaching style.

“ I think the outlook is good for next year. It will be hard to replace Mike
Thompson, who had a winning record and was a great leader, and
Adam Corbin who had a great season., “ said Cunnington.
“You can't replace experience like that over night but we have everyone else
back and some freshmen coming up that should make an immediate impact like
Ryan Krueger our number ones brother.”

Cunnington said he would like to set up some summer hitting sessions and
possibly do
a mini camp over the summer for some of the younger players.

“I have a pretty unique team in the fact that quite a few of my players play
soccer
and other sports so I'm not concerned about them staying in shape over the
summer.,” said Cunnington.

One of those soccer players, Billy Albizati teamed with Jeremy Sanders to
finish 12-5 at first doubles and was third in the county . Another soccer
player, Steve Leischner held down second doubles.

Although very upbeat, one thing Cunnington wished would improve is the practice
facilities at LaGrande Park.
”The courts we play at are not good at all, they are cracked and have weeds
growing on them, I hope that we can do something about this because it would
be nice to play on nicer facilities ,” said Cunnington. He would also like to
have more than five courts to practice on

“I would like to coach for a while here at Scotch Plains, however I'm 27
and my business can go anywhere, I'm hopeful that I will be asked back for
next season because I have a nice core of players coming back and some good
freshman coming up, and I will be interested to see how the team handles
losing their two key senior leaders ,” said Cunnington.

Jason Krueger- SPF Tennis Preview 2004

New Scotch Plains Fanwood High School tennis coach Mark Cunnington will have
his hands full trying to learn the names and playing strengths of his team. But
Cunnington,once a nationally ranked junior player, will have much fewer
equipment problems than other tennis coaches thanks to the resourcefulness of
his top player junior Jason Krueger. Not only will Krueger play first singles
for the Raiders but he will fix the broken racquet strings of his teammates.

Broken racquet strings are a way of life for top tennis players but instead of
living with the frustration of not having the racquet for a week while it was
sent out Krueger decided to learn how to restring racquets himself.

“As a competitive tennis player, I break my tennis racquet strings often. It is
quite costly to get racquets restrung, about 25 dollars each at a tennis shop.
One problem, however, is it takes about a week (sometimes more) to get the
racquet back, and as a tennis player, I need my racquets back the next day,”
said Krueger.

In an effort to reduce the cost of restringing, Krueger’s father purchased a
stringing machine. It took Krueger a few weeks to get the hang of stringing a
racquet, but eventually he figured out how to string his racquets quickly and
efficiently. Krueger decided that it would be a good idea to start a small
business stringing racquets for friends and for the tennis team. Krueger
discounts his rate for tennis team members and gives them
the luxury of having the racquets back the next day. Krueger made business
cards and handed them out to local tennis players resulting in a steady
business of a few racquets a week during the spring and summer. The cost of a
racquet varies on the type of string used.

Cunnington was quick to benefit from his star player’s off court skill.
Krueger restrung one of Cunnington’s broken racquets. and had it back the next
day. Krueger and his teammates should benefit from Cunnington’s playing and
teaching skills. Cunnington established numerous school records while playing
collegiate tennis at tiny Millikin University in Illinois. He began playing as
a high school junior in Michigan and quickly ascended to national
tournaments and has been coaching for six years first as a club pro in Hinsdale
Illinios
and then in Michigan where he mentored some very high level national players
of both sexes.

Krueger started playing tennis much earlier than his coach, beginning at the
age of 8 but didn't really begin taking it seriously until 7th grade, when he
started taking lessons at the Westfield indoor tennis center. Since then, he
has participated in 3 other clinics and has 2 instructors. Currently, he
participates in a clinic at West Orange Tennis Center and receives private
lessons with a coach. As a freshman, he started at first doubles, teaming with
Adam Corbin, to reach the round of 16 at the State Tournament. Last year he
played first singles. He also played in United States
Tennis Association(USTA) tournaments around New Jersey, winning two titles and
making the finals in another. Krueger takes tennis lessons with his younger
brother Ryan, a talented eighth grader at Terrill Middle School. “He will be on
the high school tennis team next year and will help make the team stronger, “
said Jason Krueger

With 30 players trying out for the team and only a week into practice,
Cunnington is still trying to sort out his top players. Besides Krueger,
Cunnington expects senior co-captains Corbin and Mike Thompson to play major
roles but the rest of the lineup is wide open and will be decided by challenge
matches. From there it is a scramble with 5-7 players having a chance to grab
one of the top seven spots.

“ I am very excited and want the season to start. I myself have some high
expectations and hopefully we can reach all our desired goals.,” said
Cunnington.

“It is a great asset to the team to have someone that can string racquets
because during the course of the year will everyone will break string ,” said
Cunnington,

” I do not plan on making a living from stringing, “ said Krueger. “ I plan to
continue stringing as long as I play tennis, for my own racquets. But I am
unsure if I will continue it as a business after high school,” said Krueger.
Now if he could only cure tennis elbow as easily.

Jeffrey Hammonds

He returned to town as a conquering hero, flying in from balmy Phoenix to winter’s chill
for the purpose of inducting his older brother into the Union County Baseball Hall of
Fame, a club he is certain to join in the future. It was clearly not the correct environment
to ask Jeffrey Hammonds any of the tough questions he is sure to face later this spring
and summer, but the writer tried a seemingly innocuous one anyway:

“If the season started tomorrow, would you be ready to go?”. Hammonds rolled his eyes,
smiled and with the quickness in which he attacks a Randy Johnson fastball answered in
a way that quickly moved the conversation onto gentler topics.

“The shoulder feels great I may not be ready to play yet, but the season doesn’t start
tomorrow, so I’m not worried. I will be ready to go April 3(opening day)”. While the
questions from a small group of reporters in the interview room before the dinner went
back to the “What does it mean to induct Reggie” genre the subject of Jeffrey’s health
will encircle him until the season starts.

The Brewers, clearly one of baseball’s low budget teams, broke the bank for Hammonds
after his breakthrough 2000 season with the Colorado Rockies when he hit .335 finishing
fourth in the league in batting. In the surrealistic world of baseball, $21.75 million for
three years barely registers on the Richter scale but Milwaukee should not be confused
with the TV revenue rich Yankees or Mets. The contract included a $1.5 million signing
bonus and salaries of $6 million in 2001, $7 million in 2002 and $7.25 million in 2003
making him the highest paid player in team history.

There was a cacophony of criticism for the signing taking into account the facts that
Hammonds had never played more than 123 games in a season and he had hit 126 points
higher at hitter friendly Coors Field in his great 2000 season. In 2001 Hammonds did
nothing to satisfy his critics, actually emboldening them when his season ended on June 6
with a torn carilage in his right shoulder against one of his former teams, Cincinnati. His final totals of
49 games played ,6 home runs , 21 RBI’s and a .247 batting average clearly were not
what either the Brewers or Hammonds had in mind. His 174 at bats were far short of even
the minimum in incentive bonuses in the contract.

Hammonds could have earned an additional $750,000 in performance bonuses, $150,000
each for 400, 450, 500, 550 and 600 plate appearances, and any bonuses earned also
would be added to the base salaries in the remaining years of the contract. Each bonus
could be earned only once. That meant if he had 600 plate appearances in each season,
he would earn $24 million over three years. So the injury has already cost him at least
$750,000 in incentives.

The unpredictability of injuries that resulted in Reggie’s premature exit from the pros and
has also plagued Jeffrey colored the younger Hammonds’ decision to postpone
professional opportunities to play three years at Stanford.

“I never looked at professional baseball as an option out of high school”, said
Hammonds.
“I knew Reggie had built himself a safety net. Stanford was a great experience but after
three years it was time to move on”.

The experience included playing in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and playing for the
1991 Pan American team as well as making the College All American team three times
which resulted in the Baltimore Orioles making him their top pick in the 1992 draft.

During his nascent professional baseball career Jeffrey Hammonds was fortunate in
playing with baseball’s “Iron Man” Cal Ripken, who mentored him during those first
few years.

He credited Ripken with helping him come back from his first major injury, a torn
Anterior Cruciate Ligament in 1996. “Rip told me you got to get better. Injuries are part
of the game”, said Hammonds.

He was also a teammate of Eric Davis who overcame colon cancer to hit .320 the year
after. Eric said “Don’t feel sorry for me,I’ll be back and he was”.

As he concluded his keynote speech which covered his entire life from the little boy on
the bicycle riding to the high school to watch his big brother play to the rich successful
pro athlete who enters the season with a lot to prove, Hammonds appears poised to
silence his critics.