MONTVALE—According to head coach Mark Cieslak, the “concept of together” was one element that led to the remarkable success of St. Joseph Regional High School’s 2021 baseball season.
The Green Knights defeated Delbarton, 17-2, to win the NJSIAA North Non-Public A sectional title on June 10. They went on to win, 4-1, against St. Augustine at the state Non-Public A championship on June 16, cementing their status as New Jersey’s top team.
And they went out in regular-season glory, finishing the year with a 27-2 record. (The losses were to Don Bosco Prep and Bergen Tech.)
The Green Knights went into this year’s championship with eight sectional titles and were shooting for a fourth Non-Public A crown title. The team also claimed state titles in 1993, 1998, and 2004.
“They had no problem passing the torch to the next guy,” Cieslak said of this year’s senior players, who missed out on their junior season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As a result, many of the seniors did not have any varsity experience going into this year, but they still managed to help mold their younger teammates into better players.
And the pandemic denied 2020’s seniors a chance to prove their mettle in a championship.
This year’s seniors Sean Hard and Ellis Garcia were the only two players who had experienced hitting on varsity before this season. Each helped defeat Delbarton, along with teammates like Jeremy Acosta, who “got a big hit or scored a run in just about every big game we had” according to Cieslak.
“It’s unbelievable how there were no ‘me kids,’” added the head coach, who said everyone was focused on bettering the team as a whole rather than just themselves. While many of the seniors were drafted or awarded scholarships, they remained set on helping –– and trusting –– the younger players.
Another factor was the public conversation surrounding St. Joe’s baseball. At one point, the Green Knights were ranked far behind Don Bosco, a key rival with Division 1 commits in its program. St. Joe’s was then ranked second instead of first in the county tournament.
“I think that really fired them up,” Cieslak said of the team. “I think that really motivated them.”
Players decided to set a tone that was concentrated on each individual game rather than the triple crown they eventually achieved.
At the end of the day, Cieslak said, he is most proud of the players not getting caught up “in all the hype” and instead playing for each other. While St. Joe’s beat Pope John at the start of the season “by the skin of our teeth,” in June they were able to defeat Delbarton –– which also beat Pope John –– and scored 17 runs.
“We were a totally different team swinging our bats at the end of the year,” the head coach explained. To improve their hitting, the Green Knights made use of the simulators at Northeast Supreme, a baseball and softball training facility in Spring Valley, N.Y.
“The older players bought into the concept of going the other way and keeping your front side in,” said Cieslak, who has been head coach since 2015. “Everybody picked up on that, and then we were a tough team to get out.”
At that point, younger players like sophomore pitcher Stanley Morano stepped up and threw good games –– a testament to their own training and their older role models.
As for the 2022 season, the team has work to do –– Cieslak noted that “there’s not a lot of varsity experience in terms of hitting a bat with the kids that are coming back.” To Cieslak, success depends on players putting in the work over the summer like their predecessors did.
“We’ll put our work in,” he pledged.