Game was rained out Tuesday and switched to Cranford's Memorial Field; Cranford will now play at Roselle Catholic on May 20;
Cranford head coach McCaffery going for 200th win

By JR Parachini
Union County Sports Editor

Two of the top baseball teams in Union County will face each other for the first time on Wednesday when Cranford hosts Roselle Catholic at 4 p.m. at Memorial Field in a Mountain Valley Conference-Mountain Division clash.

Cranford 10th-year head coach Dennis McCaffery (199-67, .748) will attempt to win his 200th game for the first time. McCaffery was an assistant coach at Cranford under James Shriner for three seasons from 1996-1998 before becoming the head coach in 1999.

McCaffery and Shriner were two of the finest athletes to come out of Roselle Park in the 1980s.

The game was originally scheduled to be played Tuesday at Warinanco Field No. 3, but was postponed because of Monday's heavy rainfall.

Because Cranford's Memorial Field is the better of the two, the game will be played there, with Cranford now playing Roselle Catholic
May 20 on the road instead of at home.

Cranford won the MVC's Mountain Division in its first year in the league last season and so far is a perfect 4-0 in conference play this year. The Cougars are 9-4 overall and winners of three straight.

Teams in the MVC's Mountain Division this year include: Cranford, Johnson, Governor Livingston, Union Catholic, Roselle Catholic and Dayton.

Cranford has defeated Dayton, Johnson, Governor Livingston and Union Catholic so far, with Roselle Catholic the only conference opponent it has not yet faced this year.

I mistakenly reported that Cranford was 5-0 in conference play on several occasions. I was jumping the gun a bit on thinking the Cougars already played and defeated Roselle Catholic. No disrespect intended toward RC.

The Lions are the hottest team in Union County, owners of a 9-2 record that includes a county-best seven-game winning streak. Roselle Catholic has averaged 10 runs in its last seven games and has one of the top sophomores in the county in lefty pitcher and batter Lou Clemente.

The Union resident has already socked five home runs and is 4-1 on the mound with a four-game winning streak.

Roselle Catholic is only 1-1 in conference play so far, splitting with Dayton. The Lions lost at home to the Bulldogs 4-3 on April 1 and then defeated them 5-2 at Ruby Field in Springfield on April 11.

Roselle Catholic, which shared the MVC's Mountain Division title with Governor Livingston in 2005 for its first conference crown since 1991, has yet to face conference foes Cranford, Governor Livingston, Johnson and Union Catholic.

Cranford senior righthander Dan Moreno might get his first start of the season against Roselle Catholic. Last year at Warinanco Park on a Saturday morning, Moreno bested Rutgers-bound RC righthander Billy Murphy 3-2 in a pitchers' duel.

Cranford was 3-0 against Roselle Catholic last season, also winning 4-0 at home behind righthander James Knight and then coming back to win a wild 17-8 Union County Tournament quarterfinal at Cranford. RC led 5-0 and 8-6 before Cranford scored 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead for good.

Defending champion Cranford was given the No. 3 seed at Monday night's UCT seeding meeting, with RC awarded No. 5. The only way they could play each other in the UCT would be in the final.