Former players loved coach’s enthusiasm
By: Rudy Brandl
Steve Venuto never stopped coaching, no matter what the score of the game or situation within the season. His Manville High baseball teams embodied that same spirit and enthusiasm for the past 14 years.
It didn’t matter if the Mustangs were competing in a tight state playoff game against a rival team or in a lopsided non-conference contest. Venuto was pumped up and ready for battle. His players usually followed that competitive example, even when little more than pride was on the line.
How else can one explain the way Venuto’s 14-year tenure as MHS coach ended this past May? The Mustangs, winners of just five games in their first year of Skyland Conference play, were facing an outstanding team from Somerville that had won 21 games and advanced all the way to the Central Jersey Group 2 final. The game was played under sweltering conditions at White Oak Park in Somerville on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, a time when most teenagers are thinking about going to the beach.
Nobody gave the Mustangs a chance, especially after they fell behind by four runs entering the seventh inning. Even the ultra-positive Venuto knew the chances for victory were slim, but his ball players didn’t quit. They rallied to force extra innings on a dramatic two-out grand slam by Robert Wood and won the game in the eighth inning to send their skipper out in grand style.
"That was a great win," Venuto said. "It was a makeup game, it was early in the morning, hot, bugs flying around. It was tough to get going, there was no morale, but that just shows that you can’t figure out baseball. It’s just a great game."
John Perone, a four-year varsity standout who ranks as one of the finest baseball players in MHS history, always appreciated Venuto’s enthusiasm.
"He was always so pumped up," said Perone, Venuto’s leadoff batter and starting third baseman from 1995-1998. "He was so enthusiastic and had such a passion for it. He was a college athlete coaching at a small school with a small talent pool, but he had that competitive vigor."
Perone and classmate Randy Sidorski led the Mustangs to consecutive 11-win seasons and state playoff berths in 1997 and 1998. Ryan Seigler was the ace pitcher on the 1998 team that went 11-5. Perone collected his 100th career hit, a home run at Venuto’s alma mater Middlesex, during the 1998 season. The Mustangs dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 game at Shore Regional in the state playoffs that year.
"Those teams got me going as a coach," Venuto said. "We had a couple of runs in the Mountain Valley Conference. That got us going as a program."
Venuto enjoyed his share of ups and downs as the Manville skipper. He posted a 131-119 record with nine trips to the Central Jersey Group 1 playoffs in 14 seasons. Venuto won his only conference title in 2003 when the Mustangs captured the Mountain Valley Conference’s Sky Division crown with a 13-4 record.
Robert Snyder, a 2003 graduate who played four years of varsity ball under Venuto, will never forget Venuto’s phone call announcing the good news. The Mustangs, led that year by junior pitchers Eddie Gryzeski and Sean McCarthy and seniors Justin Jurkowski, Jimmy Thomaszfski, Jon Pfoutz, Jon Gangwer and Snyder, needed Bound Brook to beat Dayton to earn sole possession of the Sky title after splitting with Dayton. Venuto found out Bound Brook had won and couldn’t wait to share the information with his players.
"We were all hanging out at Eddie Gryzeski’s pool grilling out and he called to tell us Bound Brook won," Snyder said. "He was so fired-up. One of the things he always said is that it’s great to win a championship because nobody can ever take it away from you. As long as Manville High School is standing, that banner will be there. It’s something to be proud about. It was a nice way to go out as a senior. I still look up at that banner whenever I go back to the gym."
Playing under Venuto served as part of the inspiration for Snyder to become involved in coaching. He’s taken on increased responsibility coaching the Somerville American Legion baseball team during the summer and worked as a volunteer on the MHS football coaching staff. He expects to graduate from Kean University with a major in physical education within the next year and could end up teaching and coaching baseball at Manville someday.
"He taught me a lot through the years," Snyder said. "He taught me the game and how to pitch. Still to this day, he’s always trying to help me out. I have the same interests in the profession and his passion motivated me."
Perone also has become involved in coaching since graduating from Seton Hall University in 2002 (undergraduate) and 2004 (masters in corporate communications). He’s the head ice hockey coach and a volunteer baseball assistant at Jonathan Dayton Regional in Berkeley Heights, where he’s also a district computer operations employee.
Venuto has always taken pride in teaching his guys more than baseball. It’s very gratifying for him to see former players doing well, even if they’re wearing an enemy uniform.
"I’ve been blessed with a lot of talent and kids that want to play baseball," Venuto said. "Some of the guys moved on and got their education. If I played a part in that, that’s what it’s all about."
Venuto took over for veteran Pat LaMastro, who still serves as the school’s athletic director, in 1994. He didn’t have his first winning season until 1997, when the Mustangs went 11-8. The Mustangs were at least .500 for the next 10 years until the 2007 season.
The MHS baseball program enjoyed many successful years under LaMastro and previous head coach Ned Panfile, who was vice-principal when Venuto started teaching and coaching at Manville. Venuto wanted to continue the tradition and build a successful program.
"Pat had them well-coached and they always had good players," Venuto said. "He gave me an opportunity and he was very patient with me. He was a great mentor to me. He really cares and that made me grow as a teacher and a coach."
Venuto wasn’t content to produce victories on the diamond. He tried to improve the MHS baseball program overall. The addition of outdoor batting cages, a new backstop and beautiful, spacious dugouts are just a few of the improvements made during Venuto’s tenure.
"He’s done a lot for the school as a coach and a teacher," LaMastro said. "The kids respect him and he’s good with the kids and with his peers."
Venuto’s former players certainly respect and admire him.
"He’s a tough guy and he demanded a lot of us as players, but he was always fair and told you how it was," Snyder said. "He always tried to get you to be the best of your ability. He gave everyone a chance to succeed."
Venuto always tried to keep practices lively, something that isn’t always easy in miserable March and April weather.
"He’d hit you hard ground balls until you were black and blue," Snyder said. "He’d test you."
Venuto wanted to be sure his players were ready for battle, especially they were getting ready to face New Providence. Perone’s favorite Venuto story comes from a rainy day when the Mustangs were traveling to play their old Valley Division rivals in New Providence.
"Most people think about Bound Brook as our biggest rival but he hated losing to New Providence," Perone said. "We were all jerking around on the bus ride because it was raining and we didn’t think we would play. We figured it would be a bus ride and a washout.
"He got off the bus to see what’s going on and we’re expecting him to tell us we didn’t have a game. He comes back and says ‘my boys will play in the rain.’ Everyone let out this big roar, like something out of a movie. We went out and won the game. He made one of his speeches and we just ate it up."
A decade later, Venuto still demonstrated the same passion for the game. He was always rallying his players, either from the third base coaching box or the dugout. If the Mustangs were winning, he’d remind them to execute the fundamentals and finish the job. If the Mustangs couldn’t win the game, he’d urge them to win the inning. If they were getting hammered, he’d ask them to fight back and make it respectable.
Venuto entered every season with the same goals to qualify for the state playoffs and be in contention for the league title. While his teams accomplished this almost every year, they never produced a Central Jersey Group 1 title.
"I always wanted that sectional," Venuto said. "That’s still burning in my stomach. You never know, there might be another time."
Venuto will continue teaching health, physical education and driver’s education at Manville while completing work on his master’s degree and supervisor’s certificate. He could move up to an administrative position in the district in the future. He’d certainly love to stay in Manville.
"Manville’s a great place," Venuto said. "I had a lot of great support from the administration, the (school) board, the parents and the kids. I love the town and I thank everyone for their great support."