1972 Baseball Team

1972 Baseball Team

The 1972 Baseball Team was Glen Rock High School’s most powerful baseball team. With strong balanced hitting and dominant pitching, the team finished the season with an historic 25-6-2 record and was crowned Group 2, North Jersey Champions.

Led by Hall of Fame Head Coach Carl Zaisser, the 1972 Baseball Team won the B-PSL
Championship by a wide margin. Entering the All-Schools Bergen County Tournament, they were seeded second but were upset by ultimate champion Wood Ridge 4-3 in extra innings. The team ended up being the winningest team in Bergen County that year and was named the #3 team in Bergen County (by The Bergen Record).

In the Group 2, State Tournament, the team defeated West Milford, Lyndhurst and then Lakeland to win the North Jersey, Section 1 Championship. Their next game against Butler for the overall North Jersey Championship was an historic battle. For 16 innings, both teams struggled to score a run in a game marked by outstanding pitching, aggressive base running and game saving defensive plays. One of the more memorable plays was when catcher Bob Postma survived a collision with a Butler player at home plate and held on to the ball after tagging him out. Finally, with Glen Rock’s starting pitcher Ernie Cannata and the Butler starting pitcher having pitched into the 16th inning, the game was called for darkness and ruled a tie. Two days later, the two teams played a second game. With Pete Del Grosso on the mound for the Rockers, they comfortably defeated Butler by a 15-3 score. However, they now had to play for the Group 2, State Championship in two days and play against defending champion Haddonfield. Because Del Grosso had pitched that “extra game” against Butler two days earlier, Cannata was forced to pitch despite the fact that there had been only four days since he had pitched that 16-inning Butler game. Cannata pitched a gutsy game, only allowing one earned run, but the team sadly lost by a 3-0 score.

The players on the 1972 Baseball Team were Glen Rock’s most decorated group of baseball players. Senior Postma (catcher) was named to the First Team, All County and fellow seniors Sean Krippes (outfield) and Del Grosso (pitcher) were named to the Second Team, All-County by The Bergen Record. Hall of Fame Inductee and junior Ken Veenema was awarded Honorable Mention. All four of those players were also named to the First Team, All- B-PSL. Senior Cannata (pitcher), junior Art Caporale (first base), and Hall of Fame Inductee and junior Gary Glass (third base) were named to the Second Team, All-B-PSL and senior Pete Rispoli (outfield) was awarded Honorable Mention, All-B-PSL. The team’s starters also included juniors and Hall of Fame Inductees Steve Fisher (outfield) and Mike Petrocci (pitcher and shortstop), who received significant honors in the following year. Several of these players had significant success playing baseball after high school.

Coach Carl Zaisser
Assistant Coach George Yost