CRANFORD, NJ — A positive first week of the season, including in the wins and losses columns, was somewhat imperative for a Cranford High School baseball team void of a great deal of seniors and returning varsity experience this season.
Cranford opened with Union County Conference-crossover triumphs at Oratory Preparatory School, 8-3, on Tuesday, April 1, and in its home-opener vs. Jonathan Dayton High School, 5-2, on Thursday, April 3.
The Cougars then fell at Watchung Division newcomer Union Catholic High School, 6-3, on Friday, April 4, for a solid 2-1 start to their season. Union Catholic, which began the week 3-0 overall and leading the Watchung Division at 1-0, won the Mountain Division last year and moved up.
“We could have been 3-0 or 0-3,” first-year head coach Ryan Matlosz said. “We have a young team with a lot of sophomores and juniors who are learning how to win. Every game was a close one.”
A bit more challenging week began Tuesday, April 8, with a game at defending Watchung Division champion Scotch Plains–Fanwood High School. The Raiders also have a new head coach, J.R. Luccarelli. In the same manner as Matlosz, Luccarelli was hired from within after serving as a longtime assistant.
Cranford’s week doesn’t get any easier, as the Cougars are scheduled to play at defending Union County Tournament and Group 2 state champion Governor Livingston High School on Thursday, April 10, at 4 p.m., and then host Westfield High School on Saturday, April 12, at 10 a.m.
Three games this week, all Watchung Division clashes, against Scotch Plains–Fanwood, which began the week 3-1, and Governor Livingston and Westfield, which both started 2-0.
In the season-opener at Oratory Prep, junior Christian Pereira started and pitched six innings to earn the mound victory. Pereira yielded just two runs, one earned, on five hits while striking out two and walking only one.
“He had great command,” Matlosz, 46, said. “He had three pitches working for him and kept Oratory off balance.”
Cranford took the lead for good in the top of the third with two runs to make it 2-1 and then scored its final five runs in the sixth to go up 8-1. Michael Tripodi, also a junior, went 3-for-4 with a run and four RBI. He banged out two singles and a double and also stole three bases.
The Cougars also took the lead for good in the third inning vs. Jonathan Dayton, scoring three runs in the bottom of the frame after Jonathan Dayton took a 2-0 lead with two runs in the top of the third. Cranford added two insurance runs in the sixth.
Pitching for the Cougars were sophomore Owen Kwiatkowski, junior Tyler Muccigrosso and sophomore Patrick Bendert. Kwiatkowski and Muccigrosso both issued five walks, but Kwiatkowski performed well enough to get the win. In four and two-thirds innings, Kwiatkowski allowed two runs on three hits while also striking out four and hitting one batter.
“The walks put us in a bad spot,” Matlosz said. “Owen was able to spread his out and for only his second varsity game did a great job.”
Jesse Weaver, a junior, was 3-for-3 at the plate for the Cougars, connecting on two singles and one double. He also stole two bases. Tripodi drove in two runs.
Cranford led Union Catholic 2-0 going into the bottom of the third after plating single runs in the top of the first and third. The host Vikings came back to score single runs in the third and fourth innings to tie the game, however, and then pushed two more across home plate in the fifth to take the lead for good at 4-2. Cranford made it a 4-3 game in the sixth before Union Catholic answered with its final two runs in the bottom of the frame.
“Union Catholic is a solid team,” Matlosz said. “They got more hits than us and, ultimately, were able to get more hits to drive in runs than we did.”
Gabe Arato and Cooper Falk, both juniors, combined to give up nine hits. Weaver banged out Cranford’s lone hit, which was a single. Weaver also drove in a run and scored a run.
The Watchung Division this year consists of Cranford, Governor Livingston, New Providence, Scotch Plains–Fanwood, Summit, Union Catholic and Westfield.
Cranford was 0-3 against Westfield last year, swept in Watchung Division play and also beaten by the top-seeded Blue Devils in the UCT semifinals at Arthur L. Johnson High School by the score of 8-7 in nine innings. Westfield scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 5-5 and send it to extra innings. Then, in the top of the ninth, Cranford scored twice to take a 7-5 lead before Westfield came back again with three runs in the bottom of the ninth to advance to the final.
Matlosz, a 1997 Cranford graduate who played his varsity ball for head coaches Nick Brown and James Shriner, has been coaching in Cranford since 2002. He became a varsity assistant in 2012.
Assisting Matlosz this year are Carl Lorelli and Cranford graduates Jason Ingram and Michael Smith.
“The biggest difference is communicating with everyone,” Matlosz said. “Having to check in with everyone and making sure we all see where we’re at.”
The expectations remain the same every year for the Cougars. The goals are always to try to win the division, the county, the section and the states.
“Most of our team is young and there are many obstacles,” Matlosz said. “They’re going to figure it out.”
One junior with returning varsity experience is Brayden Fry, who produced the game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh in Cranford’s 2023 UCT championship 1-0 win against Governor Livingston at Kean University.
“Brayden has been in our system for two years now,” Matlosz said. “He has an understanding of what it takes. He’s become a great leader.”