<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3mcAXR_0vkdG5A900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3mcAXR_0vkdG5A900" width="1200" height="1057" >This slideshow requires JavaScript.CRANFORD, NJ — A constant of Cranford High School athletics every spring was seeing No. 18 giving signs as the Cougar first base coach.For a quarter of a century, after the home plate umpire bellowed, “play ball,” you would see Dennis Joseph McCaffery in that role for the Cranford varsity baseball team.Beginning in 2025, that will not be the case anymore.McCaffery, 55, announced that he is stepping down as Cranford head baseball coach, a position he has had since 1999, after serving as an assistant for three years for one of his best friends, Jamie Shriner.McCaffery’s daughter, Liz, is a standout senior softball player at Rowan University and, as a junior this past spring, was one of the nine Division III Rawlings Gold Glove winners for her outstanding play at second base.Dennis John McCaffery is now a freshman baseball player at the University of Tampa, which in June captured its ninth Division 2 national championship.It was Dennis John, back in April, as a Cranford senior, who hit the home run to give his dad, Dennis Joseph, his 500th victory.“This is the only time in my life I can really do it, to see both of them play,” McCaffery said. “Both will be playing at the college level at the same time, Liz a senior and Dennis a freshman.”McCaffery’s 27-year tenure as Cranford’s Lincoln School principal will come to a close in December.“Being principal of the Lincoln School is one of the most rewarding things of my life,” McCaffery said. “It is incredibly challenging and rewarding. It kept my attention during the day and away from baseball.”McCaffery guided Cranford to 511 wins in 25 seasons, from 1999 to 2024. Along the way, the Cougars won three state championships, 12 sectional state championships and 11 Union County Tournament titles.“I have no interest in stats or records,” McCaffery said. “Players coming back to the program, coaches who played at Cranford and playing baseball the right way is what is most important.“Cranford baseball, we did it our way. We believed in what we did.”A 1987 Roselle Park High School graduate, McCaffery learned from his high school head coach Jack Shaw, his high school football coach John Wagner and Roselle Park’s superintendent of Schools, Ernest Finizio.McCafffery played on two teams at Roselle Park that reached the Group 1 final at Princeton. When he was a junior in 1986, Roselle Park fell short. The Panthers came back his senior year in 1987 to capture the Group 1 state championship this time.“Mr.Finizio looked after all of us,” McCaffery said. “They preached quality over quantity.“At Cranford, we prided ourselves on being fundamentally sound and working as hard as anyone in the state. There was incredible support from the coaching staff, Cranford Little League, the administration and the parents.”Cranford baseball was fun during McCaffery’s tenure and the Cougars won often. It was also very serious, however, and there was a special method to McCaffery’s formula for success.One afternoon at Westfield High School, the varsity was done with its game, but the junior varsity game was still going on. In the meantime, McCaffery had the varsity practice in the outfield of the varsity field until the JV game ended.“Cranford stands for blue collar, loyal and hard-working,” McCaffery said. “It’s a bunch of hard-nosed kids who just give it everything they have and at the end of the year have no regrets.”McCaffery is about as Union County as you can get. His success in baseball, including Big East Player of the Year at Villanova University and being drafted by the California Angels, has taken him throughout the country playing the game.“Union County baseball is as good as anywhere,” McCaffery said. “Governor Livingston just won a state championship. Teams like New Providence, Westfield and Dayton have done well lately.The Union County Baseball Association also does a fine job and is old school when it comes to its love of baseball. They have all the right intentions.“Everything you need you have right here in Union County. Union County is the best. New Jersey is the best.”Coaching under Shriner for the 1996, 1997 and 1998 seasons, Cranford won the Group 3 state championship in 1997 and, in 1998, reached the UCT final for the first time since 1978.When Cranford won the UCT for the first time in 1999, 2000 and 2001, Tom Polito was the winning pitcher in the championship game all three times.“We practiced, we hit before school, we lifted during the season and we worked our tails off,” McCaffery said. “What stands out the most is that we all still stay in touch.“Grown men now sharing memories is the best. It was a great run.“It was a great ride.”• Dennis McCaffery at Cranford: 511-154-1 (.768)• 1999-2024: 25 seasons at Cranford = There was no season in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.• Three state championships = Group 3 in 2010 (won at Toms River North), 2012 (won at Toms River South) and 2013 (won at Toms River East)• Eight state championship games = 0-1 at East Brunswick Tech, 3-3 in Toms River and 0-1 in Hamilton• McCaffery guided Cranford to all 11 of its Union County Tournament championships and closed with an 11-1 record in the UCT final. McCaffery and Bob Brewster of Westfield are tied at 11 for the most UCT championships won.• Cranford went 72-22 in state tournament play under McCaffery.• Numerous division titles included four straight Union County Conference-Watchung Division crowns captured outright in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023.• Cranford finished under .500 just once – in 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.• Cranford won the NJ Last Dance Tournament in August 2020.Top four winningest Union County baseball coachesBob Brewster, Westfield: 655-342-3 (.657)1983-2021 – 38 seasons at WestfieldRay Korn, Roselle Catholic and Elizabeth: 651-308-1 (.679)1974-1979 – 6 seasons at Roselle Catholic1980-2009 – 29 seasons at Elizabeth (Korn did not coach one of those years)Gordon Lematty, Union: 641-272-4 (.702)1959-1991 – 33 seasons at UnionDennis McCaffery, Cranford: 511-154-1 (.768)1999-2024 – 25 seasons at Cranford (there was no season in 2020)Dennis McCaffery’s record as Cranford head baseball coach1999: (28-3) – UCT; North 2, Group 3 champs2000: (25-6) – UCT; North 2, Group 3 champs; reached G3 final2001: (20-9) – UCT champs; North 2, Group 3 finalists2002: (10-13)2003: (19-8) – UCT; North 2, Group 3 champs; reached G3 final2004: (18-7)2005: (23-6) – Central Jersey, Group 2 champs2006: (21-6) – North 2, Group 3 finalists2007: (26-5) – UCT; North 2, Group 3 champs; reached G3 final2008: (19-6)2009: (18-6)2010: (26-5) – UCT; North 2, Group 3; Group 3 state champs2011: (20-5) – UCT champs2012: (22-4) – North 2, Group 3; Group 3 state champs2013: (25-1) – UCT; North 2, Group 3; Group 3 state champsFinished as No. 1-ranked school in New Jersey.2014: (17-7) – North 2, Group 3 champs2015: (21-5) – UCT champs2016: (18-11) – North 2, Group 3 champs2017: (21-8) – North 2, Group 3 champs; reached G3 final2018: (12-8-1)2019: (17-5)2020: NJ Last Dance Tournament champions2021: (20-3) – North 2, Group 3 finalists2022: (25-5) – UCT champs; N2G3 champs, reached G3 final2023: (26-1) – UCT champs2024: (13-11)Total: 511-154-1 (.768)Record In Union County TournamentChampionship games (11-1):Wins: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2022, 2023.Loss: 2017.Record in sectional finals (12-4):Wins (all in North 2, Group 3, except for 2005 in Central Jersey, Group 2):1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2022.Losses: 2001, 2006 (extras), 2015 (extras), 2021.Record in group semifinals (8-4)Group 3 – 8-3. Group 2 – 0-1.:Wins: 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2022.Losses: 1999, 2005 (Group 2), 2014 (extras), 2016.Record in group finals (3-5, all in Group 3):Wins: 2010, 2012, 2013.Losses: 2000, 2003, 2007, 2017 (extras), 2022 (extras).Years qualified for states: All 25Record in states: 72-22 (.766).* Cranford won at least one state tournament game in each of the past 20 seasons (2005-2024).* The only years that Cranford did not win a state tournament game since 1999 were 2002 and 2004.* Cranford won North 2, Group 3 six times in an eight-season span: 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.Mountain Valley Conference division titles (7):1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.Union County Conference division titles (9):2010 (Mountain), 2011 (Watchung), 2012 (Watchung), 2013 (Watchung),2015 (co-champs of Watchung with Governor Livingston), 2019 (Watchung),2021 (Watchung), 2022 (Watchung), 2023 (Watchung).State tournament seasons: (25)Winning seasons: (24)Division winning seasons: (16)Sectional championship seasons: (12)Union County Tournament championship Seasons: (11)Winning a group semifinal seasons: (8)Winning a group final seasons: (3)Photos by JR Parachini and Courtesy of www.rowanathletics.comDennis McCaffery steps down as Cranford baseball coach added by JR Parachini on September 26, 2024</div></body>

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Dennis McCaffery steps down as Cranford baseball coach

CRANFORD, NJ — A constant of Cranford High School athletics every spring was seeing No. 18 giving signs as the Cougar first base coach. For a quarter of a century, after the home plate umpire bellowed, “play ball,” you would see Dennis Joseph McCaffery in that role for the Cranford varsity baseball team.