Cranford Won Baseball Arms Race During Outstanding 2010 Season

The recently concluded baseball season was one of the best in Cougar history.

The 2010 team captured the Union County Tournament, won the North Jersey Section 2, Group 3 Championship and won the North Jersey Group 3 Championship, and then capped the season with the Group 3 State Championship with a 15-3 demolition of Ocean City.

Besides a number of timely hits and stellar defense, the game often comes down to pitching, and this past season, it was the combination of seniors and underclassmen, and a masterful job of managing those arms, that helped the Cougars reach each and every goal.

While head coach Dennis McCaffery does a terrific job calling the shots, he would be the first to credit former star player and current pitching coach Kevin Feeley with having the pitching staff ready at all times.  

"I work with the pitchers every day. We work on little things, fielding bunts, pickoff moves, covering first base. We go into the bullpen and work on actual pitching, which you have to do to keep loose and keep fresh as the season goes on," Feeley said.

The alumnus instructor added that he had the thrill of having won the state championship as a player and now as a coach.

"It's a great feeling," Feeley said. "We did it in 1997, with Coach Mac as an assistant, now I was able to do it as a coach and it's just as satisfying in two different ways. You work just as hard. As a coach, it's tough, because you don't have to go out there and do it...It's always our goal, it's always to do this. I don't know if it's really sunk in yet. Maybe at some point when I sit back and reflect on it, it's gonna be like, wow, we actually did it." 

One of the feel-good stories of the year was the development of a pair of young hurlers, sophomore Kurt Rutmayer and freshman Ryan Williamson. Both played a major role in the Cougars success, especially late in the season.

"Kurt's a great story," Feeley said. "It just shows what type of program this is, that nobody's overlooked...The more success you have, the more you're going to pitch. He did a phenomenal job for us. When we asked, he'd throw strikes."

Williamson, meanwhile, powered his way past a number of good teams, while mixing in a nice breaking ball and changeup to keep the batters off-guard.

"It's always tough as a freshman...when you get to the varsity level, it's a little different. You have a lot better hitters, but basically what we tried to tell him, was that his talent was good enough to pitch at this level, and he just had to believe it, and he started believing in himself and believing in his ability, trusting his God-given ability to be able to throw a fastball and a pretty good curveball."

Not to be forgotten were the seniors, whose experience and leadership abilities helped the younger players grow at their own pace.

"They were the cornerstones of the team," Feeley said. "Pat Gilstrap was phenomenal at the beginning of the season. He struggled through an injury which was unfortunate, but he was probably the best pitcher in the county for the first five weeks of the season which was enormous for us. That allowed the young guys to grow. It was great to see him get in the last game (the state final vs. Ocean City) and get the last out. He was a very important part of the staff for his time here."

And imposing lefthander Nick Cook was also an important cog in the wheel.

"What can you say about the kid? He literally saved three or four games for us this year. He pitched phenomenal in every game. Even in his one loss against Jackson, he pitched really well. Anytime we needed somebody, he was there."

The future now lies in the hands of Rutmeyer, Williamson and Vinnie Colaneri.

"Colaneri is only a sophomore who did a great job for us this year. He's only going to get better. We have Chris Folinusz, who's a freshman also, very talented. We have a couple of guys on JV who are just sophomores as well. The 8^th-grade class and the freshmen class were really good this year. As long as I keep letting them do their thing, work their stuff, get a little better, we'll be fine. This could be one of the best pitching groups that we've ever had here.  And that's saying a lot, because we've had pretty good staffs in the past."

As a stamp of approval for their mound success, Cook, Rutmayer and Williamson were named to All-County teams at seasons' end. A fitting tribute to wrap up a season to remember.

CHS individual baseball honors:

Nick Cook, First Team All State Group 3, First Team Union County

Eric Walano, First Team All State Group 3, First Team Union County

Greg Matlosz, Second Team All State Group 3, First Team Union County

Nick Pace, Third Team All State Group 3, First Team Union County

Kurt Rutmayer, Second Team Union County

Mark Osofsky, Second Team Union County

Rob Ghiretti, Third Team Union County

Ryan Williamson, Third Team Union County.

Cranford Team Members:

Mark Linger

Sean Trotter

Chris Nicastro

Sean Feeney

Justin Van Osterbridge

Keith Powell

Pat Gilstrap

Nathan Verrilli

Vincent Colaneri

Head Coach Dennis McCaffery

Asst. Coaches: Brian Chapman, Kevin Feeney