Team Honored For Clinching 'Unforgettable' State Championship

After a year of hard work and dedication, the two dozen students on the varsity baseball team, and their coach, have achieved something  unprecedented in Mahwah history. Last week, the , clinching the 2012 NJSIAA Group 2 State Championship. It is the first time Mahwah has won a state championship in 53 years of Mahwah baseball.

Since the win, the boys on the team have been taking it all in. They have an awards dinner Monday night, had breakfast with the HS principal, watched a sign about the accomplishment go up at school, and the mayor is planning to issue a  proclamation recognizing the team’s accomplishment next month.

The Bergen Record named the team the North Jersey Team of the Year, and Coach Jeff Remo has been named the 2012 Big North Conference - Patriot Division Coach of the Year for Baseball. According to Remo, a physical education and health teacher who has been coaching Mahwah football for 16 years and Mahwah baseball for 5, he received the award thanks to a vote by other coaches in the division.

“It is a big honor,” Remo said. “All of this just keeps getting better and better.”

For the students on the team, Remo called the experience “unforgettable. During the playoffs, I told them this would be something they’ll remember and take with them for the rest of their lives, and they really will."

At last week's board of education meeting, district Superintendent Dr. Karen Lake offered her congratulations to the team as well. "I am so proud, and [the state championship] is such an honor for the students, and the school district," she said.

The members of the Boys' Varsity Baseball Team are seniors Adam Hanig, David Gagliardotto, Andrew Shuart, Kyle Morgan, Ian Curry, Bobby Wright and Brendan Brown; Juniors Cole Fabio, Eric Kaplan, Chris Baldi, CJ Musemeci, John Pantano, Greg Rozar, Mike Altamuro and Liam Kantanas; Sophomores Matt Krupa, Shane Woelfel, Jason Stepp, David Carrillo and Zack Fregueletti; and Freshmen Ryan Remo and Ben Hartwick. Our team manager is senior Logan Thoelen.

Congratulations, T-Birds!