Tag: Coach of the Year

by Mike Pavlichko

East Brunswick’s Travis Retzlaff named CJSR GMC Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year

First came the recognition from the league’s coaches, now from everyone else.

Or at least, in this case, Central Jersey Sports Radio, which has named East Brunswick’ Travis Retzlaff its GMC Girls’ Coach of the Year for 2025-26.

The Bears had a special season, winning 23 games, its best season since Keith Lane’s squad went 22-4 a decade ago and won the GMC Tournament championship.

This year, it was a second place finish in the Red National behind St. Thomas Aquinas, and a run to the GMC finals against the Trojans, who won their seventh straight.

But with a relatively young club – their biggest loss will be top rebounder Julianna DelosSantos-Branson – and standout Ava Catanho returning for her junior year, the Lady Bears should be well poised for success the next few seasons, perhaps even the league’s best shot to dethrone the Trojans.

To see a team without a lot of veterans do what East Brunswick did, getting the most out of a young squad – and keeping them composed in big games – takes a steady and patient coach, something that fits the bill for Retzlaff.

The Lady Bears also reached the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals, falling to Hillsborough.

Click below to listen to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with CJSR GMC Girls’ Coach of the Year Travis Retzlaff:

by Mike Pavlichko

Bridgewater-Raritan’s D.J. Catalano led Panthers to first title, is named 2025 Central Jersey Sports Radio Coach of the Year

Being Coach of the Year isn’t just about having the best team or the most skilled players.

Well, you probably have to have most of them, or you’re not playing for championships any time soon.

But often, it’s about something extra: overcoming some adversity, or simply making a key decision or two, more than the next guy. Sometimes, it’s Xs and Os, sometimes it’s something most don’t see. Sometimes it’s just a steady, guiding hand.

That’s the case for Central Jersey Sports Radio’s 2025 Coach of the Year: D.J. Catalano of Bridgewater-Raritan.

Catalano has been the head man in Bridgewater for just a few seasons, spending a year there under Rick Mantz in 2022 before taking over in 2023. It’s been a steady progression since then, from 3-7 to 4-7 to a 9-4 campaign this year, and the North 2, Group 5 championship.

The Panthers won their first four games this year, something they had not done since 2016, when they finished 11-1, losing in the finals to Westfield (for the second time in what two years, with a third to come in 2017). But then, potential tragedy struck.

Quarterback Declan Kurdyla went down in the Hunterdon Central game, and it looked serious. Ultimately, he missed two games, and came back two weeks later for a 30-18 loss at Hillsborough. At the cutoff, they were 6-3, finishing 1-3 in the division, and having dropped three of their last five games.

But with a top-seed in the state tournament, what better time for a playoff run?

And that’s just what they did, Catalano keeping the group laser-focused on the task at hand. They cruised past Linden, 35-6, in the opening round. They were masterful against Union City, a team many didn’t give them a shot against considering their high-powered offense averaging just under 40 points per game.

And, down 7-0 at halftime, they came back to beat Bayonne, 21-14, in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 title game, claiming the program’s first-ever NJSIAA hardware.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas talk with Bridgewater-Raritan head coach D.J. Catalano, our 2025 Coach of the Year:

by Mike Pavlichko

First-year skipper, Middlesex alum Blaze Iannetti named Central Jersey Sports Radio 2025 GMC Coach of the Year

One could look at the Middlesex roster of very talented baseball players, the support athletics gets from its administration, and the well-developed feeder program called the Middlesex Little League and see why the high school baseball team has had such success over the years.

The names may change, but the results, of late, have stayed the same. Five state Group 1 titles – not just sectional titles – since 2013, most of any school in that stretch other than Gloucester Catholic

But this year was extra special in Middlesex.

Under Justin Nastasi, the Blue Jays won titles in five of his nine seasons, from 2015 through 2021. But they had not won in three seasons prior to this one, falling to Point Pleasant Beach – the team they’d seem to beat every year – in back-to-back Central Jersey Group 1 finals, then again last year in the sectional semis.

Nastasi stepped down in the off-season, and up stepped Blaze Iannetti, a Middlesex alum who played for current AD Mike O’Donnell, and coached with Nastasi through most of that run. It seemed like a natural fit.

And it paid off dividends.

Though they didn’t win the GMC White Division title, they reached the semifinals of the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship tournament, falling 3-0 to Edison. And in the state tournament, their wheelhouse for the last decade or so, they went all the way.

Middlesex celebrates with the NJSIAA Group 1 championship trophy after a 3-1 win over Midland Park at the Wood-Ridge Athletic Complex on June 16, 2025. Head coach Blaze Iannetti is holding the trophy. (Photo: Alec Crouthamel)

Again, they beat Point Pleasant Beach in the CJ1 title game – four of their last six titles have come against the Garnet Gulls – and after a state semifinal walk-off at home against Schalick, they beat Midland Park Monday, 3-2, for the state Group 1 championship.

Managing a small school roster isn’t easy, especially when it comes to pitching. But Iannetti was a master this year, counting on his two stud arms in junior Dominic Long (the CJSR GMC Player of the Year) and sophomore Chris Kozak. (It’s also no surprise both had brothers on the 2021 team that won the Group 1 state championship.)

Click below to hear Middlesex head coach and 2025 Central Jersey Sports Radio GMC Coach of the Year Blaze Iannetti talk about the season with Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Hillsborough’s Mosko, steering Raiders through mid-season rough patch to win program’s first sectional title in 13 years, is named 2025 CJSR Somerset County Coach of the Year

Every team has its ups and downs in a season. Even those that finish that rare undefeated season don’t do it without any difficulty.

But it’s how they bounce back and overcome adversity that defines a team. And in the case of the Hillsborough baseball team, they did that just this season, bouncing all the way to the Central Jersey Group 4 title.

It’s something Matt Mosko didn’t get to do as a player for his hometown Raiders, but in his relatively new life as head coach – now in his fourth season – he and the program have their first since 2012.

After getting off to a 5-1 start, including a split with Hunterdon Central and a split with defending CJ4 champ Bridgewater-Raritan, the Raiders hit a bit of a skid. They went 3-9 over their next dozen games, the last of that stretch a 10-9 loss to eventual champion Immaculata in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals, a loss that could have sunk the rest of their season.

HIllsborough players stream out of the dugout after winning the Central Jersey Group 4 championship game against Old Bridge at Fred Cole Field on June 5, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

But they bucked up, and realized that with a nine-seed in the state sectionals, they could make some noise with a few wins. After a road win at Freehold Township, they knocked off top-seed Hunterdon Central in Flemington, came back home and beat Montgomery in the semis, then rallied late to score ten unanswered runs in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game at Old Bridge, bringing home the program’s first NJSIAA trophy in 13 years.

Click below to hear Hillsborough head coach and Somerset County Coach of the Year Matt Mosko talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Central Jersey Sports Radio Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year: Brian Hinz took over Monroe, brought Falcons to the precipice of two titles

The first year for a head coach can often be a feeling out period. A time to get to know your players.

It doesn’t always kick into high gear right away. After all, it’s high school basketball, and especially at public schools, there’s little you can do to re-tool a roster if the cupboard has been left bare.

That was far from the case at Monroe.

Brian Hinz had spent several years under Jeff Warner, as an assistant with the boys’ basketball program. But he came over to the girls’ side and spent a year under Leigh Vogtman before she stepped down and he took the reins.

Coming off an 18-10 season, the Falcons graduated some key players – Nicole Turco, Halley Cottrell and Avery Labaska – but returned others, like Evangelina Francisco and sophomore Kiera Longo. They also brought in transfer Zoe Wilcher from St. Thomas Aquinas.

And what did they do?

They went 20-10, a two-win improvement over the season before, and went to both the GMC Tournament and NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 finals. While both turned out to be losses – to Aquinas in the GMCs and eventual state Group 4 champion Hillsborough in the states – the season was a great success.

The Falcons finished 9-5 in the highly competitive eight-team GMC Red Division, which was a battle just about every night.

And for Hinz, in his first season as a varsity head coach, it’s earned him Central Jersey Sports Radio Coach of the Year Honors for 2024-25.

Click below to hear Monroe head coach Brian Hinz talk about the Falcons’ 2025 season:

by Mike Pavlichko

Central Jersey Sports Radio Boys’ Basketball Coach of the Year: Piscataway’s Bob Turco helped Chiefs turn themselves into GMC contenders again

See that headline up above? Most people would have written that to say “Bob Turco turned Chiefs into GMC contenders.”

But if we’d written that, he probably wouldn’t be too happy.

Turco left St. Thomas Aquinas after last season to take over a Piscataway program that has had more than its share of success over the years, but it had been a while since they were considered one of the top teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference.

It was a major coup for Piscataway.

After getting the Chiefs’ job at the end of last April, Turco kept the kids together, and had them play together as much as they were allowed to over the summer and in the fall. They bonded, competed and got better.

And when the season started, they kept getting better, kept improving. All the credit to them, says Turco. He saw their potential, but they bought in, he’ll tell you. They realized their potential, he’ll say.

For that, Turco will take it, but he’ll also tell you this award belongs more to his players than him, because they are the ones that turned themselves into contenders.

Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s an excellent coach.

He’s one of only two current GMC boys’ coaches who have ever won the GMC Tournament, the other being Colonia’s Jose Rodriguez, his former player at Carteret. He’s 398-129 in 19 seasons as a head coach at four schools – in addition to Piscataway and STA, he also was the head man at Notre Dame in Lawrenceville, which followed his first head coaching job at Monroe.

He’s also now been to the county finals at all four stops along the way, after making the GMC title game this year, falling to Colonia.

“I probably should retire now,” he jokes. But he won’t.

Those he counts as his mentors have impeccable credentials in their own rights. There’s Bob Molarz, who gave him his start as a seventh- and eighth-grade coach at Carteret. He spent a few years at Colonia where he learned how to run a program – and about defense – from Ken Pace. Then it was back to work with his brother, Dave, at Carteret. Later, the two coached against each other when Bob was at Monroe and his brother was at St. Joe’s in the 2010 GMC Tournament Final, the only siblings to face off as head coaches in that game. He worked under Ken Pace at Colonia as well, another GMC Tournament Champion.

OK, so maybe it’s not just the players’ award, too. Maybe it actually does “take a village,” as Turco would put it.

Click below to hear from Piscataway Coach Bob Turco, the 2024-25 Central Jersey Sports Radio Boys’ Basketball Coach of the Year:

by Mike Pavlichko

Woodbridge’s Joe Goerge named 2024 Central Jersey Sports Radio Coach of the Year

When it comes to choosing a Coach of the Year, we’ve always felt it had to be someone who did something more than just coach the best team.

Sure, there are many decisions to be made throughout the course of a season, but it’s sometimes those outside the game that warrant attention and recognition. And sometimes, it’s the backstory that goes with it.

For Joe Goerge, the 2024 Central Jersey Sports Radio Coach of the Year, it’s both.

Goerge has coached all around New Jersey – locally at Franklin, Dayton, and twice South Brunswick – also spending time on Staten Island. He left his second stint at South Brunswick in the Spring to take over after Joe LaSala stepped down in March.

Goerge is a veteran, but sometimes veterans can get set in their ways. Not so for him.

An option coach for much of his life on the sidelines, taking the Woodbridge job was an interesting proposition. Why? Because they didn’t run it.

And then, there’s the personnel. Quarterback Derek Anderson was coming off a season where he threw for 1,751 yards and 21 touchdowns with just one pick, while his twin brother, Bryan, had 30 catches for 524 yards and four scores.

Who’s gonna mess with that?

To his credit, Goerge didn’t. He sprinkled in a few option plays, which made the Barrons that much better, and they bettered their 6-4 record in 2023 with an undefeated regular season, going 9-0.

Woodbridge eventually lost to Northern Highlands in the North 2, Group 4 semifinals, but the Barrons recorded their third undefeated regular season in the last six years under Goerge, in just his first year at the helm.

What will he do for an encore?

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Woodbridge head coach Joe Goerge, our 2024 Coach of the Year:

by Mike Pavlichko

Montgomery’s Grundy named Central Jersey Sports Radio boys’ basketball Coach of the Year

The last time Montgomery was in a state sectional final, let alone won it, Karl-Anthony Towns was still playing high school ball in Metuchen.

But getting through injuries, a grueling schedule, integrating a Ukrainian with international playing expereince, and winning its first state sectional title in since 2010 all helped Montgomery boys’ basketball coach Kris Grundy earn the Central Jersey Sports Radio Coach of the Year award for 2023-24.

The Cougars challenged themselves out of their conference, which already provided a daunting enough schedule, with the likes of Hillsborough, Gill St. Bernard’s, Watchung Hills, and Rutgers Prep.

And they more than handled themselves throughout. In a 25-4 season, the Cougars only lost to two teams, twice each to Prep and Lenape, once each in the regular season, and once each in the postseason. Montgomery fell by three in the Somerset County Tournament championship game, and after winning the Central Jersey Group 4 title by beating Monroe, they lost to Lenape to end their season in the Group 4 semifinals.

Besides the daunting schedule, late in the regular season, talented sophomore guard Ethan Lin went down with a season-ending ankle injury. His experience last year with Steve Donahue out – also to injury – had been paying off. But Grundy was able to work it all out, with the supporting cast of Miggy Aguilar, Brandon Hill, Jack Fromelt, and an emerging junior named Bohdan Biekietov, a refugee from the Ukraine who landed here with his mother and sister in September while his father helps defend his homeland against Russia.

Click below to hear Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy talk about Montgomery’s 2023-24 season:

by Mike Pavlichko

Hillsborough’s Tierney named Central Jersey Sports Radio girls’ basketball Coach of the Year

With a starting five that projected to be comprised of two seniors and three freshmen before the season opened December 14th, expectations might have been an open-ended question for the Hillsborough girls’ basketball team in 2023-24.

They took some lumps early, with a 1-2 start that included losses to the top two teams in Somerset County, Rutgers Prep and Gill St. Bernard’s. But the Raiders continued undeterred, and eventually turned their season into a championship one.

Hillsborough wound up taking down Elizabeth on their home court to win the North 2, Group 4 title, earning the program its first-ever state section trophy. For shepherding her team through a challenging season, and bringing home some hardware they’ve never had before, head coach Courtney Tierney is the Central Jersey Sports Radio girls’ basketball Coach of the Year for 2023-24.

The Raiders also cracked the 20-win plateau for the first time in three seasons under Tierney, finishing 21-9. Their season ended with a loss to Morristown in the Group 4 semifinals.

Click below to hear third-year head coach Courtney Tierney talk about the Hillsbrough girls’ basketball team’s 2023-24 season:

by Mike Pavlichko

Bernards’ Jon Simoneau takes home 2023 CJSR Coach of the Year honors

In his first year as head coach, Bernards went 5-5. In Jon Simoneau’s second year, the Mountaineers finished 1-8.

And you wouldn’t be wrong to wonder if he was the right man for job. He was new. Could he be in over his head?

Just give the man some time.

Simoneau coached one more sub-.500 team in 2010 before running off a string of 13 seasons with at least seven wins in all but one year.

And now? This year, he brought Bernards its first ever state sectional championship, to go along with its two pre-playoff era titles in 1969 and 1970.

The team also shattered the record books, scoring more points than any other team in program history, and winning more games (12) than they ever did before.

For all that, Bernards coach Jon Simoneau is the Central Jersey Sports Radio Coach of the Year for 2023.

Click below to hear CJSR’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Bernards’ head coach Jon Simoneau: