The first game of the season for West Essex sports is always an exciting experience for both the players and fans. On March 31, the baseball Knights were set to open their season at home against Milburn, and with a new head coach, Anthony Genchi, fans were hoping for a bright start to the season. However, before the game commenced, another older and storied West Essex team took center stage: the 2006 Knights, who in 2006 pulled off one of the greatest upsets in New Jersey sports history.
Twenty years later, former head coach Scott Illiano led the celebration to commemorate the team’s great achievement. Fans and players listened closely as Illiano described the team’s strive and determination that whole season, which led to them winning the Greater Newark Tournament championship as the 15 seed in the bracket.
“I wanted to appropriately speak about the boys and the accomplishment they had,” Illiano said. “So I tried to honor what they did, what they meant to our program and what it meant to the school.”
While winning the tournament as the 15 seed was shocking enough, the Knights started the season quite poorly. Illiano, while head coach at the school, had ingrained a tactic into his team: decision time, which was invoked in any game where, in the fifth inning or later, the Knights were either tied, losing by one or winning by one. It was the critical situations that the team needed to execute each game, but the Knights could not execute to start the year. After a 5-4 start to the season, Illiano gathered the team together one day and talked to his team about their early-season struggles. Or rather, they spoke to him.
“I just said, ‘What is happening here?’ and then our catcher, John Bob, broke the ice,” Illiano said. “He started talking about how much the pressure of the game was affecting their performance. This was not some rah-rah speech from a coach; it was the players all on their own, coming to this paradox.”
The Knights, after finishing the regular season strong, went on to beat Barringer just to even make it into the tournament before beating Nutley, who was one of the favorites in the tournament. They then beat 10-seeded Montclair Kimberley Academy and 3rd-seeded Newark East Side before heading to Bears Stadium for their matchup against the greatest test of them all: Seton Hall Prep.
Seton Hall Prep had 8 players on scholarship, with one of them being future Cy Young winner Rick Porcello, and had dominated their way through the tournament. However, since this was the finals, each team had a week to prepare before the game, and the Knights took advantage.
“If we play them 10 times, they beat us nine out of 10, but not this time,” Illiano said. “We only need to beat them once. … If you can manage to pull this off, you’ll walk together for the rest of your lives.”
Right from the opening pitch, the Knights fought right alongside Seton Hall Prep and, in the biggest moment of their season, “decision time” came through once again. Tied at 2-2 in the fifth inning, the Knights’ offense came alive and scored three runs to make the game 5-2. Their pitching shut down the Pirates’ offense for the last three innings and propelled the Knights to their championship win.
Now, 20 years later, this team was given the recognition it deserved by the players and the crowd. Illiano and a few players discussed the season, what went into preparing for the tournament games and the feeling of not only being champions but upsetting one of the biggest powerhouses in all of high school baseball. After the game, in which the Knights would win 8-4, the ‘06 team met back together at the Clubhouse in Fairfield to share more memories and catch up with their former teammates. The night was filled with memories, laughs and former teammates catching up on life after twenty years apart. While their championship was a great achievement, the players had made bonds that lasted all this time. Now, 2 decades later, they took some time to appreciate the recognition of their win.
“Mark Ruggiro, who [was] an incredible leader and starting shortstop on that team and he said ‘How many guys do something so significant in high school that your school calls you back 20 years later to celebrate it,’” Illiano said.
While the night may have ended, the legacy of that team will never be forgotten. With both the win and the celebration, fans, players and the ‘06 team are hoping that some of that magic from 20 years ago can rear its head once again as the Knights hope to make another miracle run and add another piece of hardware in the school’s trophy case.
