South Plainfield hires former star player as head baseball coach

 

Greg Tufaro - MyCentralJersey.com
Published 9:26 p.m. ET Jan. 25, 2021
Updated 7:07 a.m. ET Jan. 26, 2021

Scott Gleichenhaus, a former star player at South Plainfield High School, has taken over the reins of the baseball program at his alma mater. 

The veteran mentor, who previously served as the head coach at Plainfield and Piscataway high schools, succeeds Anthony Guida, who stepped down earlier this month to spend more time with his family. 

Gleichenhaus left Piscataway following the 2018 season, shortly before his wife, Veliana, gave birth to the couple’s first child, Ollie, and most recently served as a volunteer assistant at South Plainfield, where the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the entire 2020 scholastic season.

“I don’t think we miss a beat with Scott coming in,” South Plainfield athletics director Kevin McCann said. “I think we were lucky that he decided to take the helm and lead us. It’s not every day you get somebody with his experience to take a team that Coach Guida took to another level. You just know Coach ‘Glick’ will maintain that and look to bring it to an even higher level.”

Scott Gleichenhaus, left, succeeds Anthony Guida, right, as South Plainfield's Baseball Coach

Guida compiled a 213-105 record at South Plainfield, where he led the Tigers to their first Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship in school history and helped them end a 40-year state title drought.

South Plainfield enjoyed winning campaigns in all but two of Guida's 11 seasons. In six of those years, the Tigers won at least 20 games.

“We are looking for great things from Coach ‘Glick,’” McCann said. “He knows the tradition because he was a part of it for so many years. He takes pride in South Plainfield and the program. I think he’s gung-ho and he wants to better it.”

Vinnie Abene, co-president of the Greater Middlesex Conference, said Gleichenhaus’ return as a head coach is good for South Plainfield and the entire league.

“When ‘Glick’ was here (as a head coach at Piscataway), he was always involved and did a lot behind the scenes, trying to make the conference better,” Abene said. “To have a guy like him come back and be familiar with the conference is going to make the conference better.”

Abene said “replacing Anthony was not going to be easy,” but “I think they found a guy in ‘Glick’ who not only knows the game, but he really knows his players. He’s an intense guy who is going to add a lot of fire to that South Plainfield team.”

Gleichenhaus, who teaches social studies at South Plainfield Middle School, graduated from high school in 1994 as one of Middlesex County’s top players.

Scott Gleichenhaus as a player at South Plainfield.

He secured a three-quarters scholarship to Long Island University before transferring to Widener University, where he helped the program win a conference title.

After earning his degree in education, Gleichenhaus commenced his teaching and coaching career, beginning the latter as an assistant at Metuchen.

Gleichenhaus said he’s always been jealous of conference coaching peers such as Spotswood’s Glenn Fredricks and South River’s Mike Lepore Jr., who have both been able to enjoy long careers at their high school alma maters.

“I’m a South Plainfield guy,” Gleichenhaus said. “I love the community. It’s like no other town.”

Gleichenhaus spoke with friend, Chris Cochrane, a former South Plainfield and Rutgers University ace who the Oakland Athletics drafted, about the opportunity to succeed Guida.  

“(Cochrane) said, ‘That’s a dream job,’” recalled Gleichenhaus, noting the conversation helped ease any doubts he may have had about returning to the diamond as a head coach with a toddler, who will soon turn 2 years old, at home.

Scott Gleichenhaus on the diamond with his son, Ollie.

“I knew I was making the right decision. You are a baseball guy having the opportunity to coach baseball where we played. There’s nothing like it in the world. I want to be remembered as someone who was willing to give back everything to the community that gave him everything. I want to coach every kid like I would want my kid to be handled and coached.”

Gleichenhaus said he is a 24-7-365 coach who perceives the vocation as a year-round profession. Approaching the game any other way, Gleichenhaus said, would be selling players short. The coach has already met virtually with his team.

“It’s a surreal feeling to be able to have this opportunity at this time,” Gleichenhaus said, noting he wants players to “use baseball as a springboard to something greater in life.”

Gleichenhaus said he can wait for the season to get underway. Coaches can start working with pitchers and catchers on March 26 and can begin practice with their full squads six days later.

“We’ve got so much baseball bottled inside of us,” Gleichenhaus said. “It’s going to all ooze out and explode."

https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/sports/high-school/baseball/2021/01/25/nj-baseball-south-plainfield-hires-alumnus-head-baseball-coach/4254930001/

SPHS Baseball Coach Anthony Resigns

Anthony Guida Steps Down As SPHS Baseball Coach

By CHRIS NALWASKY 

January 12, 2021 at 1:48 PM

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ - Every good thing must come to an end.

Anthony Guida resigned as the South Plainfield High School varsity baseball coach on Monday he and Athletic Director Kevin McCann told TAPinto South Plainfield.

Guida held the position since 2009 and the decision to step down was because of family.

“It was family oriented. It really was,” Guida told TAPinto South Plainfield. “It’s been in my head for a few years. I’ve had two coaches the last two years resign because of family. I’m sitting there and saying I have a family too. It’s getting hard on my wife and my in-laws. I’m at the point where I had to make a decision based on my family. I’m happy. I’m sad. I’m firm with it. I’m going to miss it. I’m leaving the program at a high level. They are going to be successful. Whoever takes over will have a good bunch of kids to coach.

Guida has racked up 213 wins for his career, and he reached the 200-win milestone on April 11, 2019.

In 2015, Guida was named the NJ.com Coach of the Year and Home News Tribune Coach of the Year on the diamond after his Tigers won the Group 3 state title for the first time. It was the last state title for the Tigers since 1975.

South Plainfield won its first Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship as well in 2018.

Under Guida’s watch, the Tigers have had nine winning seasons in Guida’s 11 years. There was no season in 2020 because of the pandemic. Guida has six seasons of at least 20 wins.

Guida graduated from fellow Middlesex County school, Monroe, in 1995 and went on to play for Rowan. He played in the outfield. Guida was previously the head coach at Dunellen.

Guida coached South Plainfield in the Last Dance World Series last summer where the Tigers went 2-1, including a walk-off, 5-4 win in their last game against Old Bridge.

Going forward, McCann hope to make a choice sooner rather than later.

“Coach Guida is going to be missed. He’s run an outstanding program for years and has had tremendous success. We’re going to look for someone who can continue that. As of now, we did post the position, and we’ve received interest from the outside and inside. We’ll see how that goes.”

Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/south-plainfield/articles/anthony-guida-steps-down-as-sphs-baseball-coach-talks-decision