Paramus Slugger Henriquez Headed to St. Peter's

After a to St. Joseph Regional (Montvale) on May 8, recently retired Paramus High School baseball coach paid his third baseman Nick Henriquez a huge compliment.

“He’s probably the second best player after [Mike] Bassett that I’ve coached,” said Cervino, who was at the helm for 30 years.  

On what the compliment meant to him, Henriquez, 18, said, “It feels great because I know how good he [Bassett] was and I know no one can be as good as he was. But to know I’m up there with him is a great accomplishment.”

Henriquez left his mark in the Paramus High School record book.

“It feels great because the program’s been going on 51 years,” he said. “To know that I’m one of the best players to play at Paramus High School means a lot to me.”

The third baseman recorded the highest single season batting average (.593) in school history—besting Erik Lang’s .534 in 2000.

The 2011 graduate also had a school-record 54 hits—15 of them doubles, also a school record for a single season.

Henriquez, a 2011 first team All-Bergen County selection, clubbed seven home runs and drove in 46 RBI (good for second all time).

His 125 career hits are second all time to Bassett’s 139. His 13 career home runs tie him with Kevin Moran for second all time behind, of course, Bassett.

Henriquez also took the mound for Paramus, going 5-1 with a 2.51 ERA. He racked up 35 strikeouts and also

After having such a tremendous season, in which his team won the as well as the North 1, Group 3 state sectional title, Henriquez was “pretty surprised” it took colleges a while to give him a good look—especially since Henriquez helped lead the Spartans to those feats.

Paramus (25-5) also advanced to the for the first time since 1989.

“I got a real good offer [from St. Peter’s],” said Henriquez, who will play third, first and possibly left field for the Peacocks.

During his time at PHS, Henriquez, a four-year varsity player, was a part of two league champion teams (2009, 2011).

“It was intimidating playing for Cervino as a freshman,” Henriquez recalled of the senior-laden 2007 squad.

Henriquez, who admires St. Louis Cardinals slugging first baseman Albert Pujols, has been playing baseball for 14 years and played third base up until his sophomore year, when he switched to first base before returning to third his final two seasons. He also pitched all four years, mostly in relief.

Henriquez started one game as a freshman.

“I was originally called up to varsity as a pitcher,” he said. But after getting shelled, “[The coaches] realized I’m a hitter, not a pitcher.”

Henriquez had a rough sophomore campaign.

“At the beginning of the year, I hurt my back, slipped a disk. I fell off a quad,” he recalled. “I finally came back strong, but I ended up dislocating my kneecap.”

Henriquez was only able to log roughly 60 at-bats.

His junior year, the Spartans lost to Northern Highlands in first round of the state tournament. There were high hopes for the team, which finished 22-6.

“We were fired up throughout the whole season,” Henriquez said, “and once it came down to the games that were very important, we didn’t get the job done, pretty much.

“We had a great year overall and then we ended up losing the games that really mattered.

To prep for his final year, “I trained really hard in the offseason working out and playing baseball all year long in camps and stuff,” Henriquez said. “I guess being a leader, being a captain of the team I  had to set the table for the other kids.

His magical senior season will always stick out to him.

“I know we lost , but other than that I know we had a great season.”

Henriquez even proclaimed the 2011 season was “the best ever.”

“We might have had three or four more wins but we had some rainouts,” he said. “We would have had the best record overall.”

The 2011 Spartans tied the 1964 and 2006 teams with a school record 25 wins.

Henriquez has played alongside teammates , , Brian Criscione (SS), Chris Rigoliosi (LF), and Joe Szorentini (P/2B) since he was younger.

“I knew how great we were our whole lives,” said Henriquez, an avid New York Yankees fan. “Once we got to high school, we turned around and we kept getting better and better every year. It feels great to know all these guys I’ve been playing with for 14 years always have each other’s backs.”

Besides reaching Toms River, Henriquez will remember the bus rides with the always energetic Tyler Garguilo (RF) and .

“Even the kids on the bench contributed to every single win we had,” Henriquez added.

“Bench captain” Mike Woods—he of the .667 batting average—kept a lucky stick given to him by Cervino’s granddaughter.

Woods brought the stick to every game and would perform a ritual of sorts “like he was knighting” each of the Spartans.

“He’d tap us on the stomach and say a little saying to us every day,” Henriquez said.

Looking ahead, Henriquez is “very excited” to play collegiately.

“I made the right decision,” he said. “I love everything about baseball. It’s the greatest game ever.”