The South Plainfield fans clearly approve of Coach Guida too - that's him in the cutout one fan has at the Group 3 semifinal vs. Mount Olive on June 3.
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on June 12, 2015 9:57 AM, updated June 12, 2015 12:41 PM
SOUTH PLAINFIELD — When you win a state championship, that really is not the end of the story. There are championship rings to be ordered, commemorative gear to be made, banquets to organize.
But hey, South Plainfield coach Anthony Guida is not complaining.
"I'm enjoying it by being very busy with designing t-shirts and our ring, we have our dinner [Friday] night," Guida said. "This is a good busy you want to be."
Guida is NJ.com's State Coach of the Year after guiding his Tigers to a 24-8 record, the Group 3 crown, the first in school history, and a No. 5 finish in The NJ.com Top 20 thanks to a remarkable stretch run.
"The kids had all the confidence in the world, no matter who was on the mound, who we were playing, where we were going," Guida said. "The bigger the game, the more they were up for it. They just went out and played their game, and that's all they worried about."
The Tigers have quietly been one of the state's most successful programs in recent seasons. Playing one of the state's toughest schedules on an annual basis, South Plainfield had won 20 or more games three times in the previous four seasons against entering this spring, with the only non-20 win finish being a 19-win season in 2012.
But South Plainfield had been a bit snakebitten in tournament play during that time, however. The Tigers had made two Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final appearances, a North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 final appearance, a sectional semifinal appearance and a GMC semifinal appearance, but failed to come away with hardware each time.
But this spring will go down as the breakthrough.
"We had been getting there," Guida said, "but we were able to finally get over the hump."
And they got over the hump in spectacular fashion. First, South Plainfield knocked off No. 10 Roxbury on the road in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 semifinals. The Tigers then made the trek to No. 11 and three-time reigning sectional champion Cranford and rallied in the seventh inning before stunning the Cougars in extra innings at Memorial Field.
After beating Cranford on its home field in the state tournament - an achievement that does not happen much - and finally winning a sectional title, South Plainfield could have easily been satisfied. But the Tigers did not let up and kept the run going, knocking off returning Group 3 finalist Mount Olive in the state semifinals before upending No. 7 Northern Burlington in the state final.
"Not these kids," Guida said. "They were happy, but I told them the bigger picture, the bigger goal is two more games. They enjoyed it, and then they came right out."
http://highschoolsports.nj.com/news/article/2392542091621689405/anthony-guida-of-south-plainfield-is-the-2015-njcom-baseball-coach-of-the-year/
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