UNION, NJ — More often than not, when Gordon LeMatty and then Chet Czaplinski Jr. gave Mike Liloia the ball, he was going to come through on the mound big-time for the Union Farmers.
The 1992 Union High School graduate was a top-notch pitcher for the Union baseball team, playing for both LeMatty and Czaplinski, who succeeded LeMatty in 1992, Liloia’s senior year.
Liloia was also one of the best quarterbacks in Union County, helping lead the Farmers to a perfect 11-0 record and the North 2, Group 4 sectional state championship his senior season in the fall of 1991.
On Saturday, Dec. 7, 1991, at a packed Cooke Memorial Field at Union High School, Liloia was a big part of Union’s team that ended Randolph High School’s then-state record 59-game (58-0-1) unbeaten streak, when the Farmers came back from a two-touchdown halftime deficit to down the visiting Rams 24-14. It was the first time Randolph lost in more than five years, since a 14-13 setback at Seton Hall Prep on Saturday, Oct. 25, 1986.
As a result, Union finished No. 1 at season’s end in the state of New Jersey, which would be for the first of three consecutive years, the other two in 1992 and 1993, also concluding with North 2, Group 4 final wins against Randolph.
Liloia played for LeMatty and football legend Lou Rettino, two of the most successful coaches in state history.
Liloia is one of five former Union County standout athletes who will be honored when the Union County Baseball Association inducts new members into the Union County Baseball Hall of Fame at the organization’s 88th annual Hot Stove awards dinner, scheduled to take place Sunday, Feb. 2, beginning at 1 p.m., at The Gran Centurions in Clark. That is a week before Super Bowl LIX will kick off in New Orleans on Sunday, Feb. 9.
The other four Union County Baseball Hall of Fame inductees include Mike Chalenski of Kenilworth’s David Brearley Regional High School and Westfield High School grads Phil Orsini, Clint Factor and Brian Ciemniecki.
Factor, Chalenski and Ciemniecki all won Union County Tournament championship baseball games. Factor won his junior and senior seasons of 1986 and 1987, Chalenski the next year as a senior in 1988 and Ciemniecki as a senior in 1996.
Factor is one of only four pitchers to have won at least two UCT championship games and was the second after Union’s Al Santorini did so in 1964 and 1965 to win back-to-back.
Cranford High School’s Tom Polito won three straight UCT title games in 1999, 2000 and 2001, which were Cranford’s first three UCT crowns.
Cranford’s Ryan Williamson did not win consecutive UCT finals, but was the winning pitcher his freshman season in 2010 and his senior year in 2013.
Factor was the winning pitcher when Westfield beat Linden High School, 9-6, in the 1986 final and the winning pitcher again when Westfield edged Elizabeth High School, 13-12, in the 1987 title game. Those were the first two of head coach Bob Brewster’s record 11 UCT titles. He shares the mark of 11 with Cranford’s Dennis McCaffery.
The next year, in 1988, Chalenski pitched David Brearley to its only UCT title. Chalenski won at Union in the semifinals and then beat Rahway, 8-1, at Linden High School in the final.
Chalenski also pitched for David Brearley in the 1988 North 2, Group 1 final at Parsippany High School, a game that eventual Group 1 state champion Glen Ridge High School won. The Ridgers protested too much pine tar on the bat of one of David Brearley’s players in that game, negating a David Brearley hit.
After beating Union and Union standout right-handed pitcher Pat Collins, 4-2, in the 1996 semifinals at Rahway High School, with scouts behind home plate timing pitches, Ciemniecki blanked Governor Livingston High School, 7-0, in the final at Linden’s Memorial Field.
In Liloia’s senior season in 1992, the Farmers went 20-9. They fell to Linden, 5-2, in the UCT semifinals as the top seed. Summit High School, behind winning pitcher Garth Ballantyne, then defeated Linden, 10-4, in the championship game.
Union won the UCT the very next year in 1993, beating top-seeded Westfield, 5-3, in the final behind the pitching of senior Eric Shaw. That was the first time Union won the UCT since 1975. The Farmers have not won it since.
The dinner will begin with this year’s featured guest speaker, former Major League Baseball player Steve Balboni. In 1985, in his second year with the Kansas City Royals, after being traded from the New York Yankees, Balboni slugged a then-team record 36 home runs en route to Kansas City winning the World Series that year for the first time.
Balboni also was an assistant coach at Governor Livingston High School, when his son played there for head coach Chris Roof.
Here’s a look at the Union County Baseball Hall of Fame inductees:
Brian Ciemniecki was an All-State baseball player at Westfield High School where he also excelled in basketball and football. On graduating from Westfield, he attended Colgate University, but after one year he transferred to Rutgers University, where he continued his outstanding baseball career.
Mike Chalenski was an outstanding athlete at David Brearley High School in Kenilworth playing both football and baseball. In baseball he played first base and pitcher. He was named to the All-Mountain, All-Metro, All County and All-State teams. Despite his stellar baseball career, Chalenski opted to play football in college, starting at the University of Pittsburgh and then transferring to UCLA, where he was a three-year starter at defensive end.
Mike Liloia was a three-year starter for Union High School. As a pitcher for the Farmers, he was their No. 1 pitcher for the legendary Gordon LeMatty and he garnered All-County honors during his junior and senior years. He later excelled at Monmouth University and had 16 wins, with 219 strikeouts in 258 innings.
Clint Factor was an outstanding player for the Westfield Blue Devils, where he gained All-County honors during his junior and senior years. He was named to the Second Team All-State team during his junior year and he was honored as a First Teamer during his senior year. He continued his baseball career at the University of Tennessee and Seton Hall University.
Phil Orsini was an outstanding outfielder for Westfield High School. He continued his education and baseball career at the University of Rhode Island. After graduating from URI, he became a math teacher at Elizabeth High School. Phil was instrumental in the growth and development of the Scotch Plains Police Athletic League and the youth softball league. In 2023, Orsini was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and he lost the fight in 2024.
Other awards being given out at this year’s dinner include:
• Joseph R. Lombardi Memorial Award for Outstanding Female Athlete of Union County
• Chris Zusi Memorial Award for Outstanding Male Athlete of Union County
• Chris Zusi Memorial Award for Outstanding Male Athlete of Union County
• Union County Baseball Association Academic Scholarship
• John Langan Memorial Award
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.
Tickets are available, and can be purchased by clicking the attached link.
Website Link: www.ucba-nj.org.