ELIZABETH, NJ — In the mid 1990s, Elizabeth High School and St. Patrick High School & Academy were beginning to build quite a rivalry on the basketball court. When 1995 arrived, at the Union County Tournament championship game at the Dunn Center, the upstart Celtics were seeking a three-peat with up-and-coming head coach Kevin Boyle, a 1981 Arthur L. Johnson Regional High School graduate, leading the way.
Elizabeth, after losing to St. Pat’s in the 1993 final, which was St. Pat’s first UCT title since 1967, was upset at home by Hillside High School in the 1994 UCT semifinals. The Minutemen were back in the final in 1995 and going up against Boyle and his Celtics once more.
A nip-and-tuck game all the way through came down to which team wanted it just a bit more in the final minute. There, junior forward Al Hawkins produced the winning basket, a short jumper, that enabled the host Minutemen to prevail at the Dunn Center by the smallest of margins, 50-49.
It was the first time Elizabeth defeated St. Patrick in the UCT final and it was the ninth and final time head coach Ben Candelino guided the Minutemen to a UCT crown.
That was just one of many highlights Hawkins created at Elizabeth as a four-year varsity letterman in football, basketball and baseball.
Hawkins led Elizabeth football to three playoff berths, the basketball team to a county championship and a Group 4 final appearance that same 1994-1995 season and the baseball team to the 1994 Group 4 state championship. Hawkins was also Ray Korn’s choice to start for the Minutemen on the mound in the 1994 and 1995 UCT finals against eventual winner Westfield High School.
Few athletes in Union County, before and since, put together such a successful three-sport resume as Hawkins did 30 years ago at Elizabeth High School.
Hawkins will now officially be recognized for all his on-the-field accomplishments.
The Union County Baseball Association will induct new members into the Union County Baseball Hall of Fame at the organization’s 89th annual Hot Stove awards dinner on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 1 p.m., at The Gran Centurions in Clark.
The Union County baseball Hall of Fame inductees include Hawkins, fellow Elizabeth High School alums Michael Cowen and Frank Malta Jr. and Jack Smolyn of Linden High School.
The guest speaker is former Major League Baseball player Todd Zeile. During a 16-season career that began with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1989 and concluded with the New York Mets in 2004, Zeile played for 11 teams, including the New York Yankees. Zeile played on the 2000 Mets squad that faced the Yankees in that season’s Subway World Series.
In addition, the 2025 Governor Livingston High School baseball team, guided by head coach Chris Roof, will be honored. The Highlanders repeated as Union County Tournament, Central Jersey, Group 2 and Group 2 state champions for the first time en route to finishing undefeated for the first time at 28-0. Governor Livingston was the first team in New Jersey to finish the season ranked No. 1 undefeated since Don Bosco Preparatory High School went 33-0 in 2008.
Cowen was a four-year left-handed varsity pitcher and first baseman at Elizabeth High School, where he played for Hall of Fame coaches Ray Korn and Tom Urban. After high school, Cowen became a certified NJ State Baseball umpire and also became the baseball announcer for the Elizabeth High School Minutemen from 2005 to 2012. Cowen was also the recipient of the UCBA’s Banyasz Brother’s Memorial Award for Outstanding Service to Union County.
Malta Jr. was a standout, two-year varsity third baseman for Elizabeth High School, where he led EHS to a sectional title, county championship and conference championship. In his senior year Malta Jr. had 33 hits and 33 walks and an on-base percentage of better than .700. Malta Jr. later attended Kean University, where he was a two-year starter in his junior and senior years, batting better than .300 and .375 with more than 70 hits. Malta Jr. was named the UCBA’s Chris Zusi Memorial Award winner and the Outstanding Male Athlete of Union County.
Smolyn was a three-year starter at Linden High School as a pitcher and outfielder. Smolyn hit better than .300 each year and emerged as the No.1 pitcher in his senior year, pitching to a 2.33 ERA. Smolyn was later recruited to attend the newly formed Kansas City Royals Baseball Academy but ultimately declined, in order to play baseball at Livingston University in Alabama. Smolyn was the starting center fielder his sophomore and junior years, batting better than .300 each year. After college, Smolyn returned home and played for Linden Recreation in the Union County League and the Twilight League where he hit .380 with 16 home runs during a four-year career.
On the baseball diamond, Hawkins really excelled from 1993 to 1996 as a pitcher and third baseman for Ray Korn’s Minutemen. Hawkins led the state in strikeouts during his junior and senior years while maintaining a 0.64 ERA. Hawkins also batted a robust .567. Hawkins won conference and state titles and was named All-County, All-State and All-America. Hawkins was later drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers and enjoyed a six-year professional baseball career. Hawkins also played quarterback at Montclair State University in 2004.
Other awards being given out include the annual Banyasz Brother’s Outstanding High School Baseball Player award.
Since the first Union County “Hot Stove” event in 1937, the Union County Baseball Association has aimed to provide an outstanding program for the many baseball enthusiasts who attend the awards dinner each year.
Sponsored by the Union County Baseball Association, in cooperation with the Union County Department of Parks and Recreation and the Union County Board of Commissioners, the Hot Stove League awards dinner is the primary annual fund-raising effort for the Union County Youth Baseball Leagues. The summer and fall leagues have given more than 50,000 boys and girls an opportunity to participate in an organized baseball program for the past 80 years.
For more information, visit www.UCBA-NJ.org; write to the Union County Baseball Association, PO Box 176, Fanwood 07023; email: info@ucba-nj.org; or call Jim Iozzi, UCBA president, at 908-917-2523.
