Baseball Team Receives Championship Rings

The excitement has been building since the Cranford varsity baseball team captured the 2010 state championship.

Friday night, the wait was over – as members of one of the greatest teams in Cranford High School sports history – stepped onto Memorial field at halftime of the football game to receive their state championship rings.

"It was a really exciting experience," said Eric Walano, who played rightfield for the Cougars. "It was a great experience just to see everybody again, to see all the coaches, the players that just went off to college this year. It was just a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Athletic Director Marc Taglieri was on-hand as well as other members of the administration to once again congratulate a team which finished as Union County and state champions with a 22-5 overall record under head coach Dennis McCaffery. 

"The suspense leading up to it made it a lot greater because we had to wait a little bit to get them" said outfielder Mark Osofsky. "They're beautiful rings. It was an amazing feeling, and just really capped off the wonderful season that we had."  

Cranford captured the Group 3 state final with a convincing 15-3 victory over Ocean City. They defeated Westfield 6-5 for the county crown.

The varsity baseball team owns a rich tradition over the years, and the 2009 version will go down as one of the best teams in school history.