Holmdel Varsity Baseball Coach Quits, Athletic Director Confirms

Holmdel, NJ - The varsity baseball coach at Holmdel High School, Gene Crimoli, has handed in his resignation, effective immediately, Athletic Director Shane Fallon confirmed to Patch Thursday.

The surprise resignation comes just at the start of the spring baseball season. Fallon would not comment on the circumstances surrounding Crimoli's quitting.

Crimoli told Patch that he resigned over a personal matter.

"My leave of absence has to do with a personal matter. I actually [tendered] my resignation to our Athletic Director this morning citing these personal reasons," he told Patch Thursday afternoon.

Mother voiced concerns

At last week's April 13 Holmdel Board of Education meeting, the mother of a player on the team voiced concerns about Crimoli. This is not the first time Crimoli has been criticized by parents.

"I'm a little frustrated here because I just came from a meeting with the baseball team," parent Colleen Fischer testified on April 13. "I'm not exactly sure how to best say this, but I wanted to at least get it out there that I wanted to express my concern about whether Coach Crimoli is suitable to continue on as a baseball coach."

Fisher's son, Tyler, is a senior captain on the baseball team. He was also the starting quarterback of the Holmdel football team.

However, Colleen was cut off by Board of Education president Joseph Hammer, who told her it was inappropriate to discuss personnel matters in a public forum. Hammer directed her to speak to Holmdel schools Superintendent Barbara Duncan about the problem.

Fischer said she already spoke to Athletic Director Fallon about the matter. Fischer did not return Patch's attempts to interview her about the topic.

"As far as Mrs. Fischer's comments, I really have no comment on them," Crimoli said.

Not the first time Crimoli has come under fire

In 2012, Todd Sackawitch, a parent of two Holmdel baseball players who have since graduated, testified that Crimoli bullied players and mistreated them. Patch covered an intense and emotional Board of Ed. meeting on March 29, 2012, where Sackawitch said he was speaking on behalf of "15 parents" who felt their sons were mistreated by Crimoli.

The meeting was held to determine if the school district should bring Crimoli on full time as a volunteer assistant baseball coach. He had already been volunteering his time to coach the team.

This week, Sackawitch said he testified at that meeting because Crimoli played "mental mind games" with the players, and used intimidation and bullying tactics. Like Fischer, one of his sons was a varsity captain on the team. He said other parents were too afraid to come forward in 2012.

However, dozens of baseball players and their families turned up to the meeting to show their support for Crimoli. At the end of that meeting, the board voted to reinstate Crimoli as coach, in a 7-2 vote.

In the time since, he was promoted to head varsity coach, a paid position with the Holmdel school district.

One of the two board members who voted against hiring Crimoli, Dennis Pavlik, said he voted "no" because he had heard from at least a dozen parents who said Crimoli mistreated their sons. He also said he received anonymous letters stuffed in his home mailbox alleging mistreatment by Crimoli.

On Thursday, Crimoli declined to comment on what either Sackawitch or Pavlik said.

Assistant coaches Dan DeStefano and Darren Sailer will coach the Holmdel Hornets baseball team for the remainder of the season, Fallon said.

Photo of Gene Crimoli taken by Patch at the March 29, 2012 Board of Education meeting, where he was reinstated as coach.