Hoboken Connie Mack team features county’s best
Unbeaten record at home, taking on the area’s elite
Derek England is a Hoboken boy through and through. Don’t dare try to change his mind. He’s a product of Hoboken, now a teacher at the high school. Even after coaching baseball at a prestigious stop such as Columbia University, England wants to come back and help the kids of the Mile Square City.
"I don’t know if there is anyone who has more pride in being from Hoboken," said England, who is also the head baseball coach at Hudson County Prep in Jersey City. "I want to coach kids who want to play baseball, who want to get better."
For the third straight year, England is coaching the Hoboken team in the Connie Mack baseball division (17 and 18-year-olds), a team that is playing in two highly competitive leagues at the same time.
One league is the Hudson-Essex Connie Mack League, a seven-team field that features three Jersey City teams, a team from Union City and a team from West New York. In that league, the Hoboken Mack (no nickname necessary) owns an 11-0 record and is headed toward a berth in the state tournament in Jersey City later this month.
The other league is the Atlantic Elite league, an organization that plays with strictly wooden bats, with and against some of the best talent in the New York metropolitan area, including the Brooklyn Youth Service, arguably the best youth baseball program in the country.
Others in the league include Flemington (coached by Jack Cust, Sr., the father of Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Jack Cust, Jr.), the Brooklyn Bonnies, the Bergen Saints and Woodbridge. In that league, Hoboken owns a 1-3 record, but the experience gained by playing in the league is simply priceless.
"I think we have a pretty good team," said England, who is assisted by Hudson Catholic assistant Brian Cardino, another Hoboken native. "Offensively and defensively, we’re pretty solid. We’re still trying to gel as a team. But the kids are loose and having a good time. I still think we’re trying to find ourselves a little."
The roster resembles the All-Hudson County team, with several members of The Hudson Reporter’s 2001 All-Area team spending the summer with the Hoboken Mack.
Leading the way is former St. Peter’s Prep slugger Fran Rotella, who is headed to play at Monmouth University in the fall. Rotella is spending the summer playing second base for the Hoboken Mack, which is probably the position that the highly promising Rotella will play on the collegiate level.
"His coach at Monmouth (Dean Eherhalt) came to see him play last week and liked what he saw with Fran at second base," England said. "He’s going to wind up playing there."
Some of Rotella’s teammates on the HCIAA champion Marauders are also spending their summer vacation with their former captain. Augie Gonzalez, Anthony Pastore and impressive lefty Jim Comprelli are also members of the Hoboken Mack.
Leading the pitching staff is the Hudson Reporter Pitcher of the Year Chris Paciga of Secaucus, who will fine tune his skills this summer before joining the staff at Montclair State in the fall. Paciga heads a deep pitching staff, which includes Tirrell Ortiz of Hoboken (definitely a pitcher to watch in 2002), Pastore and Comprelli and Tom McCann of Hudson Catholic.
A pair of Hoboken products shares first base, namely Joe Radigan and Jared Fowler. As mentioned before, Rotella plays second, with the highly talented but lightly heralded Francisco Romero, who plays for England at County Prep, holding down shortstop.
Hoboken’s Nick Trincellita is the team’s regular third baseman, with Dickinson’s Dwayne Dowell, Hudson Catholic’s Darren Lionakis, Gonzalez and Pastore sharing time in the outfield.
Dickinson’s Steve Ochelli, who earned Hudson Reporter All-Area honors this spring, along with Rotella, Paciga, and McCann, handles the team’s catching.
Although the roster appears to be star-studded, England is impressed with their mental approach.
"A lot of these kids are among the best on their teams, but none of them are egocentric," England said. "They’re all willing to work, listen to criticism. The kids want to be here and they want to play. And they’re willing to do whatever it takes. Some kids in the summer would rather be down the Shore, hanging out. But these kids have been a pleasure. None of them are complaining at all about playing time and that’s the most pleasant thing."
It may appear that this is a Hoboken team with not many Hoboken products, a fact that England didn’t overlook.
"When we played West New York, they were complaining about that," England said. "But to be honest, if we only had Hoboken kids, we wouldn’t have enough players to field a team. We reached out to Hoboken kids and gave them the first chance to play. But the numbers are not there. I believe that the ‘H’ on our hats stands for ‘Hudson County’ more than ‘Hoboken.’ We all have that pride in Hudson County. I just want to coach kids who want to get better. I don’t care where they live."
But if he had his way, England would take the Hoboken kids, if they were available.
"When I was a kid, you would have to fight for a spot to play on a team like this," England said. "But kids in Hoboken don’t want to play baseball anymore. It’s not the same as it was."
For now, England will go to war with the team he has – and it’s not a bad team at all…
Speaking of Hoboken youth baseball, for years, there wasn’t a more prominent and important figure in the Mile Square City than Joe Reinhard, the head coach of the famed Hoboken Ambassadors, who went to Russia in the summer of 1988. The lovable and boisterous Reinhard coached so many kids during his time with Hoboken baseball that he was as much a part of the game as the white pill itself. Our condolences go out to Reinhard, who lost his wife, Sharon, suddenly two weeks ago. Sharon Reinhard was just 45 years old. Our prayers are with the Reinhard family during their time of grief…