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Union's first-year head coach Lou Clemente is hoping to help engender celebratory times for the Farmers in 2024 as the experienced, young diamond mentor takes over a program with plenty of terrific history. (Photos by Gene Nann and also courtesy of Union baseball)

Union Looks For A Revival With Clemente
As An Intriguing New Season Takes Shape

By JR Parachini
For sidelinechatter.com

A new era of Union Farmers baseball is about to commence to the sounds of Play Ball with lifelong Union resident Lou Clemente, the team’s new head coach, leading the way.
Clemente is just the program’s sixth head coach since 1959.

Union has several key players back from last year’s 8-17 squad that managed home wins over Oratory Prep, Elizabeth, Roselle Catholic, Westfield and Johnson. Following an 18-0 win at Jersey City school Dickinson, Union closed with a seven-game losing streak.

“We’re still trying to mold the players in to a team right now,” said Clemente, who starred in high school at Roselle Catholic, a 2010 graduate, and in college at Brookdale and at Rutgers, where he graduated from in 2014.

“We want to be able to do the little things well like moving baserunners, things like that,” Clemente, 31, said. “We want to protect the baseball and make sure that we don’t beat ourselves.”

Back to lead Clemente’s arsenal of hurlers are senior right handers Matt Mendez and Gabriel Gobbi. When not pitching Mendez is in center field and Gobbi at third base.

“They are right now 1 and 1A for us on the mound,” Clemente said. “Matt is very competitive and gives everything he has. He will eat up innings for sure.”

Mendez struck out 27 in 26.2 innings last year and had an earned-run average of 5.51. Gobbi fanned 29 in 32.1 innings and pitched to a 5.63 ERA.

“Gabriel is very intellectual with his pitches,” Clemente said. “He and Matt have similar velocities, but pitch differently.”

Mendez, who will continue playing at the next level for head coach Dan Mondelli at Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg, will bat in the middle of the lineup along with Gobbi.

“We want all of our pitchers to challenge batters,” Clemente said. “It’s the two Cs, command and compete, and then we go from there.”

Clemente said that senior shortstop Matt Perrotto will most likely bat leadoff and pitch in relief.

Mendez batted .328 last year with 22 hits in 65 at-bats. Mendez scored 15 runs, drove in 10 and had 21 singles, one double, 11 walks and seven stolen bases.

Perrotto had 19 hits in 81 at-bats for a .235 average. He scored 16 runs, drove in 18, walked seven times and also stole seven bases. Perrotto produced 15 singles, one double, two triples and one home run.

Johnny Velez, a sophomore right hander, struck out 19 in 19 innings a year ago and at the plate banged out 17 hits, drove in 12 runs and scored 10. He had 13 singles, three doubles and one home run.

Union is situated in the Union County Conference’s Mountain Division this year, with Summit, last year’s Mountain champion, moving up to the Watchung Division.

Even though the Farmers are in the conference’s middle division this season they will still have to contend with Watchung Division powerhouses Cranford and Gov. Livingston and right out of the gate.

Union has conference-crossover clashes with Cranford and GL on Monday, April 1 and Wednesday, April 3. The Cranford contest is Union’s season-opener and the GL game Union’s home-opener. Both are 4 p.m. starts

“Cranford and GL are, obviously, two prestigious schools,” Clemente said. “Every year they are among the top teams. Dennis McCaffery at Cranford and Chris Roof at GL have done amazing jobs with those programs and that is a credit to them.”

Clemente was GL’s junior varsity coach the past five baseball seasons that were played: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

“The biggest thing about playing the game of baseball is trying to stay focused on the things that you can control,” Clemente said.

UNION FARMERS
BASEBALL 2024
Pitching staff:
Matt Mendez, senior RH
Gabriel Gobbi, senior RH
Matt Perrotto, senior RH
Johnny Velez, sophomore RH
Nick Bertolotti, sophomore LH
Jayden Walton, sophomore RH
Matthew Heaton, senior RH
Michael Heaton, freshman RH
Catchers:
Ethan Beaumont, sophomore
Alejandro Guzman, senior
First basemen:
Nick Bertolotti, sophomore
Matthew Heaton, senior
Second basemen:
Adrian Garci-Cardena, freshman
Jeffrey Field, junior
Third basemen:        
Gabriel Gobbi, senior
Jayden Walton, sophomore
Shortstop:
Matt Perrotto, senior
Left field:
Nick Goncalves, junior
Center field:
Matt Mendez, senior
Aaron Acevedo, sophomore
Right field:
Jeffrey Field, junior
Aviel Hernandez, senior
Head coach: Lou Clemente, first year

UCC DIVISIONS NEW FOR THIS YEAR
Summit moved up to the Watchung Division after winning the Mountain Division crown again last year. Union dropped down to the Mountain Division, which now consists of former Group 4 powers Union and Elizabeth. Another former Group 4 power, Linden, dropped down to the Valley Division.

Cranford won the Watchung Division outright for the fourth straight season last year and did so with a perfect 10-0 league mark. Roselle Catholic repeated as Valley Division champs.

Although Union dropped down to the Mountain Division, the Farmers still have crossover games against Cranford and Gov. Livingston. Union opens at Cranford on Monday, April 1 and is scheduled to face GL on Wednesday, April 3 in its home-opener.

Cranford went 26-1 last year, losing its final game of the season in the North 2, Group 3 semifinals. The Cougars repeated as Union County Tournament champions.

UNION COUNTY CONFERENCE BASEBALL
FOR THE 2024 SEASON
Watchung Division (7 schools): Cranford, Gov. Livingston, Johnson, New Providence, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Summit, Westfield.
Mountain Division (7 schools): Brearley, Dayton, Elizabeth, Oratory Prep, Roselle Catholic, Union, Union Catholic.
Valley Division (5 schools): Hillside, Linden, Plainfield, Rahway, Roselle Park.

2023 FINAL STANDINGS
Watchung Division (7 schools): 1-Cranford. 2-Gov. Livingston 3-Westfield. 4-New Providence. 5-Johnson. 6-Scotch Plains-Fanwood. 7-Union.
Mountain Division (7 schools): 1-Summit. 2-Elizabeth. 3-Brearley and Oratory Prep. 5-Dayton. 6-Union Catholic. 7-Linden.
Valley Division (5 schools): 1-Roselle Catholic. 2-Roselle Park. 3-Rahway. 4-Plainfield. 5-Hillside.

UNION COUNTY OPENING DAY FOR ALMOST ALL IS APRIL 1
In Union County 18 of the 19 baseball-playing schools are scheduled to open on Monday, April 1. The other, Hillside, is scheduled to open on Wednesday, April 3 at home against Linden.

Linden opens at home against Plainfield on April 1.

New head coaches for 2024 include Roselle Catholic graduate Lou Clemente, a lifelong Union resident, succeeding Angel Navarrete at Union and Union Catholic graduate Kristian Cortizo of Elizabeth following Matt Belford at Elizabeth.

Navarrete, now the head coach at Marlboro, was at the helm of the Union Farmers since 2014, taking over after 1989 Union grad Frank Napolitano stepped down. Belford succeeded Ray Korn and had been the head coach of the Minutemen since 2010.

OPENING DAYS IN UNION COUNTY:
Monday, April 1
Dayton at New Providence, 11 a.m.
Rahway at Roselle Park, 11 a.m.
Brearley at Johnson, noon
Union at Cranford, 4 p.m.
Elizabeth at Westfield, 4 p.m.
Oratory Prep at Gov. Livingston, 4 p.m.
Plainfield at Linden, 4 p.m.
Union Catholic at Scotch Plains, 4 p.m.
Roselle Catholic at Summit, 4 p.m.
Wednesday, April 3
Linden at Hillside, 4 p.m.

McCAFFERY AND ROOF CLOSING IN ON MILESTONE VICTORIES
Two of the five winningest baseball coaches in Union County history are still very active.
As the 2024 high school baseball season is about to commence it is still 1987 Roselle Park graduate Dennis McCaffery at the helm of the Cranford Cougars and 1992 Governor Livingston grad Chris Roof in charge of his GL Highlanders.

McCaffery, now in his 25th season at Cranford after three years as an assistant there, is two wins shy of 500.

Roof, now in his 20th season at his alma mater GL after three years as the head coach at Millburn, is just two victories away from reaching 450.

Both of these coaches have guided their programs to state championships and to all of their Union County Tournament crowns. As a matter of fact, the last three UCT titles were won by GL in 2021 and Cranford in 2022 and 2023.

In his last year at Westfield in 2021, Bob Brewster passed Gordon LeMatty of Union and then Ray Korn of Roselle Catholic and Elizabeth to become the winningest coach in Union County history with 655.

When LeMatty was done coaching, the 1991 season turning out to be his 33rd and last at Union, he was No. 1 in victories not only in Union County but in the entire state.

Korn passed LeMatty for No. 1 in Union County during his final season at the helm of the Minutemen in 2009. Korn guided Elizabeth to its last UCT championship the year before in 2008.

WINNINGEST UNION COUNTY BASEBALL COACHES:
Bob Brewster, Westfield: 655
Ray Korn, Roselle Catholic and Elizabeth: 651
Gordon LeMatty, Union: 641
Dennis McCaffery, Cranford: 498
Chris Roof, Gov. Livingston: 448

McCaffery at Cranford and Roof at GL have turned their programs into the gold standard in Union County. Both were successful while McCaffery was an assistant at Cranford to best friend James Shriner and Roof an assistant at GL to his mentor Bill Howard, but since they became head coaches they have both taken their programs to even higher levels.

McCaffery is 11-1 in the UCT final and has guided the Cougars to state championships in Group 3 in 2010, 2012 and 2013. Cranford last reached the final in 2017 and then again in 2022 and last year was 26-0 before it was finally defeated in a sectional semifinal. His 2013 team that went 25-1 finished No. 1 in the state at season’s end.

After many near misses, Roof has led GL to UCT championships in 2016, 2018 and 2021. He has won it all in Group 2 in 2011 and 2015. His 2017 squad earned the state’s No. 1 ranking during the middle stages of the regular season. Although GL did not repeat as county champions that year, the Highlanders pulled off a dramatic, bottom-of-the-seventh, come-from-behind victory to win Central Jersey, Group 2 in walk-off fashion.

State championships, county crowns and division titles have become the norm at both Cranford and GL the past 25 years. With McCaffery and Roof still doing what they’re doing at opposite ends of the county there’s no reason to believe that their success will dip at all in the near future.

UNION COUNTY’S TOP 5 WINNINGEST BASEBALL COACHES:

Bob Brewster: 655-342-3 (.657)
1983-2021 – 38 seasons at Westfield
Brewster has guided the Blue Devils to Group 4 state championship games in 2011 (Toms River South), 2013 (Toms River North) and 2018 (Veterans Park, Hamilton).
Brewster has led Westfield to all five of its North 2, Group 4 titles: 1988, 2011,
2013, 2018, 2019.
Brewster has also led Westfield to 11 UCT championships, the most by any coach,
with his last coming in 2017.

Ray Korn: 651-308-1 (.679)
1974-1979 – 6 seasons at Roselle Catholic
1 state championship – Parochial A in 1978
1980-2009 – 29 seasons (he did not coach one of those years) at Elizabeth
3 state championships – Group 4 in 1983, 1986 and 1994
Korn also guided Elizabeth to Union County Tournament
championships in 1983, 1985, 1989, 1991 and 2008.
Korn was 110-91 (.547) in his six seasons at Roselle Catholic.

Gordon LeMatty: 641-272-4 (.702)
1959-1991 – 33 seasons at Union
2 state championships – Group 4 in 1972 and 1974
LeMatty also guided Union to Central, Group 4 state titles in 1966 and 1968
and the Farmers to the first seven of their eight UCT championships, the last one
coming in 1975. In addition, LeMatty led Union to the 1966 and 1970
Greater Newark Tournament crowns.

Dennis McCaffery: 498-143-1 (.777)
1999-2023: 24 seasons at Cranford
3 state championships – Group 3 in 2010, 2012 and 2013
McCaffery has also guided Cranford to all 11 of its Union County Tournament championships and has an 11-1 record in the UCT final. Cranford is 71-21 in state tournament play under McCaffery. Numerous division titles include the last four Watchung Division crowns outright. Cranford has only finished under .500 once (2002) during McCaffery’s tenure. Cranford is the last team to repeat as UCT champions – 2022 and 2023 - and is also the last team to three-peat: 1999, 2000 and 2001, which were McCaffery’s first three seasons at the helm and the program’s first three UCT titles. Cranford finished as the No. 1 ranked team in New Jersey in 2013.

Chris Roof: 448-179-1 (.715)
2001-2003: 3 seasons at Millburn – 54-34 (.614)
2004-2003: 19 seasons at Gov. Livingston – 394-145-1 (.731)
2001-2023: 22 seasons overall record – 448-179-1 (715)
2 state championships – Group 2 in 2011 and 2015
Roof has also led GL to all three of its Union County Tournament championships, those titles won in 2016, 2018 and 2021. GL reached the No. 1 ranking in the state during the 2017 campaign.

Follow JR Parachini on X (Twitter) @parachini_jr

Union's rich baseball history includes the 1997 and 1992 state championship squads. The '92 Farmers were No. 1 in state. (Photos by JR Parachini and courtesy of Union baseball)

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